CULTIVATION UNDER GLASS 



of the plan Is, which require to have as much fresh air at their 

 disposal for breathing purposes as the stems and leaves. Earthen- 

 ware pots, etc., therefore, should be kept fairly clean, and this can 

 only be done by washing them. In a garden, boys are generally 

 utilised for the purposes of " potwashing," as well as other multifarious 

 duties unsuitable for men. The usual method is to soak the dirty 

 pots for a few hours or days in tubs or tanks of water. This loosens 

 the slime and dirt, and it is then more easily removed with a fair 

 amount of "elbow grease" and a scrubbing brush. In my young 

 days in the nursery even a scrubbing brush was not provided, and 

 the dirt had to be removed with a piece of old matting and some 

 ashes from the ashpits. To wash 1000 3-in. pots (60's) or 800 5-in. 

 pots was considered a fair day's work from 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., and stand 

 them out to dry into the bargain. Potwashing is just as simple now 

 as then, but the same importance is not attached to it especially in 

 market nurseries. In these a " rub round " with a wisp of hay or 

 old matting is often sufficient except for some of the choicer crops. 

 Potwashing-machines, however, are now in existence, and are used 

 in some establishments, private and otherwise. 



Crocking Pots. This is another more or less essential operation 

 when growing plants in pots. It consists in placing a layer of 

 broken pieces of pots in the bottom of the pots, over a larger and 

 flatter piece known technically as a "stopper." This stopper 

 should be as flat as possible, but many gardeners like to have it 

 curved with the convex side uppermost. The object of a flat stopper 

 is to make it more difficult for worms to get into soil from the hole 

 in the bottom. The presence of worms is most undesirable, owing to 

 the runs or channels they make in the soil, and through which the 

 water passes freely without wetting the main body of compost. 

 Therefore a flat stopper is much more likely to keep them out than 

 a curved one ; and this is a point worth considering when plants are 

 placed on earthen beds or stages, or in the open air for a time. 



The main object of crocking pots is, of course, to secure 

 adequate drainage for the soil. Unless the water is allowed to 

 pass away freely, it would remain in the soil, and after a few 

 more waterings had taken place, the hole in the bottom of the 

 pot would become silted up and blocked. The result would be that 

 no more fresh air could enter the soil, and this would become 

 soured and poisonous to the roots of the plants owing to the fetid 

 stagnant moisture and decaying organic material. 



It is an easy matter to see when the drainage of a pot is 

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