A^D C0>'SERYAT0I1I. 57 



CHAPTEE ir. 



THE AMATEUB AT WORK. 



Tnis chapter is intended to prepare the amateur plant- 

 grower for the routine of greenhouse Avork. It will not pro- 

 vide for every contingency, but it is hoped it will prove of 

 service to the beginner, and be otherwise than wearisome to 

 readers who have made some progress in the practice of horti- 

 culture. 



It is to be observed at the outset that the cultivation of 

 plants in pots is the chief business before us now, and that is, 

 in many respects, a ditlerent matter to the culture of the same 

 plants in the open ground. A plant in a pot is like a bird in 

 a cage, wholly dependent on the hand that feeds it and there- 

 fore in need of constant watching. A plant in the open 

 ground is like a bird on a tree, for, although it cannot fly to 

 find food and drink, it can send its roots far and wide to search 

 for what suits it, and many plants have the power to shift 

 their ground, so that if the rich border does not suit them, 

 they may, perhaps, try the grave] walk, and, if allowed, make 

 a vigorous growth amongst the flinty pebbles. To grow a 

 plant in a pot must be the aim of every amateur who possesses 

 a greenhouse, and the task is not a small one. For the illus- 

 tration of the subject let us take two extreme cases. The 

 first shall be that of the unskilled beginner, who provides a 

 large pot for a small plant, and some stuif which we must call 

 mud for the roots of the poor thing to ferisli in. Tou will find 

 examples of this case if you look for them, especially amongst 

 beginners in window gardening. Tou will find that plants 

 potted in black mud are kept soaking with excess of water lor 

 weeks together, until they are nearly dead, and then are 

 allowed to go dust dry, and end their miseries ignobly. The 

 other extreme is that aftorded by the man who grows plants 

 for the market. He provides for the public very large plants, 



