POTTING 



703 



POUROUMA 



or shifting is another. Therefore, in both cases, we apply 

 an extra stimulus for a short time immediately after, 

 by keeping the plants closer and warmer. 



State nf the Soil. It should neither be dry nor wet. 

 If very dry, it will not pack so well in the pot ; the water, 

 if it passes freely at all, will find chinks and crannies 

 for itself, and it will be long before the general mass 

 becomes sufficiently moist to support a healthy vegeta- 

 tion. On the other hand, if wet soil is used, it is apt to 

 pack too close ; frequent waterings are apt to puddle 

 it ; the very closeness, even when the drainage is all 

 right, prevents the air from penetrating. To know the 

 proper dryness, take a handful ; if by tightly squeezing it 

 just holds together slightly, it will do; if it forms a 

 compact mass, so that it might be laid on the potting- 

 board without any risk of tumbling to pieces, it is too 

 wet. It is not necessary that the whole of the material 

 should be in a uniform state of moisture ; for instance, 

 we want some rough stuff to place over the drainage, 

 that may be drier. The soil is rather fine ; and to 

 improve its mechanical texture we insert little nodules 

 of fibrous loam or peat, little or big, in proportion to the 

 size of the pot, and the smallness and largeness of the 

 shift given. These nodules, if not too numerous, may 

 be drier. So in the case of a manure, which we may wish 

 to act both as a mechanical agent, and to give out its 

 nourishment not at once, but for a long period. It 

 should be old ; but it should be hard and dried. When 

 rapid action from manure is required, it should be finely 

 divided, and regularly mixed with the soil, or used 

 largely as a mulching or top-dressing. 



The Soil should be Rough and Open. Exceptions there 

 are, such as a covering for small seeds, which must be 

 fine ; in fact, if just pressed into the appropriate soil, 

 a dusting of silver-sand scattered over, and then a 

 square of glass put over the pot, it will answer better 

 than the finest-sifted soil. We would not use a sieve at 

 all, unless a very fine one to get rid of the mere dusty 

 portion ; and this should always be done before adding 

 sand as a lightening agent. The rule to follow, for 

 general purposes, is to use rough and lumpy, fibrous 

 soil, in opposition to that which is fine and sifted ; but 

 let that roughness consist in numbers of small rather 

 than a few of larger pieces, and when the latter are used, 

 let them be in proportion to the size of the pot, and the 

 size of the shift given. For instance, for a 4-inch pot, 

 the largest pieces may range from the size of peas to 

 horse-beans ; for an 8-inch pot, the largest pieces may 

 be like walnuts, but not many of that size ; and for a 

 1 5-inch pot, a few pieces may be as large as eggs, with 

 every other size downwards, and well packed with the 

 finer soil from which the mere dust has been extracted. 



Securing and Preparing suitable Soil. Heath-soil, so 

 necessary for hair-like rooted plants, can only be procured 

 from upland commons where the heath naturally grows. 

 Loam of almost every quality can be procured by taking 

 the surface turf from pasture and the sides of roads, 

 and building it in narrow ridges when dry, and using it 

 after being so built up for six or twelve months. Failing 

 these sources, for all plants not requiring peat earth, 

 suitable soil may be obtained from the sides of highways, 

 and by skimming off the flaky material from the tops of 

 ridges that have been trenched up for some time in the 

 kitchen-garden. In using the latter, however, you must, 

 in general, be content with small shifts, as you will not 

 be able to get the soil rough enough for large ones. The 

 plants, notwithstanding, will thrive beautifully, and size 

 for size will often yield more bloom than if you had 

 used large shifts and larger pots. If the latter is your 

 wish, you may use pieces of charcoal, or, what will 

 answer extremely well, get a few fibrous sods taken 

 off quite thin, dry them over a furnace, or, what is better, 

 char the grassy sides by putting them on an old spade 

 or other iron, and then place them over a fire ; allow 

 the sods to be exposed for a few days to sweeten ; and 

 then, if broken into small pieces, they will not only be 

 useful for placing over the drainage, but also for mixing 

 with any, but chiefly fine soil to keep it open. Where 

 rough soil is wanted for large shifts, it is best to pile 

 the turf, when dry, in narrow stacks, through which the 

 air may circulate, and yet the wet be excluded. In 

 using such a heap, after the time specified, there is 

 little occasion to turn it frequently afterwards, which 

 would be necessary in the case of other fresh soil not so 

 exposed ; for we must not forget that every turning we 

 give, while it renders the soil more aerated and sweet, 



renders it also more fine and dense, from the decomposi- 

 tion of its fibre. Charcoal, owing to its lightness, not 

 to speak of its chemical properties, is the best assistant 

 for rendering the soil porous ; and enough of this may 

 be got from every garden by charring the rubbish. 

 Failing that, however, broken brick, broken pots, and 

 lime-rubbish may be used with advantage, if there is 

 nothing in the peculiar plant to render one or all un- 

 suitable. 



Draining. A plant badly drained will never show 

 fine cultivation. Where worms are likely to intrude, the 

 convex side of the potsherd should be placed over the 

 hole ; but for amateurs, nothing is better than small 

 caps of tin or zinc to cover over the hole completely ; 

 and in either case, plenty of drainage placed over them, 

 the materials being smaller as it ascends. For anything 

 requiring nicety, there ought to be at least one-inch 

 drainage in a five-inch pot, and so in proportion. The 

 best covering for the drainage is a sprinkling of green 

 moss, to separate the drainage from the soil ; over that 

 some of the rougher materials should be placed, and 

 then some of the finer, on which the base of the ball 

 should rest. 



Potting or Shifting. The pots should be new or 

 thoroughly clean. No man deserves to have a nice 

 plant who would place it in a dirty pot, and rarely will 

 he be rewarded with one. When he attempts to shift 

 again, it serves him right to find that roots and soil 

 alike are so sticking to the sides of the pot, that he 

 must break the pot, or lacerate the roots, i. Before com- 

 mencing operations, see that the ball of the plant is 

 moist from the centre to the circumference. If not, you 

 can never moisten it afterwards without labour, which 

 may as well be spared. 2. If you wish to rattle your 

 plants on until a certain period, upon the successive 

 shift system, never allow the roots to mat round the 

 sides of the pot ; but reshift as soon as they get there. 

 3. If the roots should be a little matted, gently disen- 

 tangle them, even though in doing so you get rid of a 

 good quantity of the old soil, and spread these roots 

 out into layers, packing them as you proceed with soil 

 of various degrees of fineness. 4. The soil in general 

 should be as high in temperature, or nearly so, as the 

 plant enjoyed previously. Cold soil has injured many 

 a fine plant. We have said nothing of cutting roots, 

 because that chiefly applies to particular times and 

 instances. Generally, when after a period of rest, fresh 

 growth is to be induced. 



Immediately-after-treatment. Whatever system of pot- 

 ting has been adopted, a greater excitement to growth 

 than usual should be given. If well watered previously 

 to potting, and a largish shift given, little water will be 

 wanted at the root for a time; but that should be 

 several degrees warmer than usual ; and frequent 

 svringings in bright weather should be imparted, accom- 

 panied with shading, if necessary. If a small shift was 

 given, water will be wanted more freely at the root ; and 

 here, as well as in the other case, a higher temperature 

 should for a time be maintained, until fresh growth 

 has freely commenced, when air and exposure may be 

 more freely given. See ONE-SHIFT SYSTEM. 



POTTING-OFF is the term applied to moving into 

 pots, singly, seedlings or cuttings from where they have 

 been grown numerously together. 



POTTLE. See BASKET. 



POUPA'RTIA. (Called Bois dt Poupart, in the Isle 

 of Bourbon. Nat. ord. Terebinths [Anacardiaceae]. 

 Linn. lo-Decandria, 4-Pentagynia. Now referred to 

 Spondias.) 



Stove evergreen trees. Cuttings of ripe shoots in 

 sand, under a bell-glass ; peat and loam. Winter temp., 

 55 to 60 ; summer, 60 to 85. 

 P. borbo'nica (Bourbon). See SPONDIAS BORBONICA. 



du'lcis (sweet). See SPONDIAS DULCIS. 



tnangi'fera (mango-bearing). See DRACONTOMELON 



MANGIFERUM. 



POUROU'MA. (The native name. Nat. ord. Urti- 

 caceae.) 



Greenhouse tree with evergreen foliage. Cuttings of 

 ripe wood in sand, with bottom-heat. Fibrous loam 

 peat, and sand. 

 P. edu'lis (edible). Green. Colombia. 1873. 



