SOILS FOR POTTING. 29 



limited knowledge of what he is undertaking, looks upon 

 this august authority in despair, and his heart sinks within 

 him when he knows that no silver sand is within a thou- 

 sand miles of him, and he is told, without qualification, 

 that it is necessary for his propagating bench, or as an 

 ingredient in his potting soils. He begins without it, and 

 as he will possibly make some failures, these failures are 

 laid at the door of the soil or sand that he has been 

 obliged to use, while the chances are, twenty to one, that 

 they were not. Not the least satisfaction I have in writing 

 this book is, that of being able to attempt the simplifica- 

 tion of many of our operations to such an extent as to 

 put the means of doing the work within reach of any 

 one. Not the least simple of these operations is the 

 preparation of our Potting Soil. We have, we may say, 

 only one heap a big one it is but it contains only two 

 ingredients, rotted sods, from a loamy pasture, and rotted 

 refuse hops from the breweries, in about the proportion of 

 two of the sods to one of the hops. The sods are cut 

 during spring or summer, and laid, with grassy sides to- 

 gether, so as to decompose, and the heap is repeatedly 

 turned until it becomes friable. The rotted refuse hops 

 (one year old), or rotted manure, is then added, either at 

 once or when the soil is wanted for potting. For small 

 pots, from 2 to 4 inches we run it through a sieve of -J- 

 inch meshes, which thoroughly incorporates the parts ; for 

 larger pots, it is not necessary to run it through a sieve, 

 unless, perhaps, for the sake of thoroughly mixing, it may 

 be quicker to run it through a 1^-inch screen or sieve. If 

 the loam is rather clayey, we use more hops ; if rather 

 sandy, less than the proportion named. If refuse hops 

 are not attainable, thoroughly rotted horse or cow manure 

 will do nearly as well. From this mould heap the soil is 

 taken in which our plants of every description aro 

 grown and flowered; we make no exceptions, unless 

 in the case of the few fine-rooting plants, such as Heaths, 



