PAELOR PLANTS. 79 



were to remain for some length of time, and be had considered it 

 beneficial in keeping the soil sweet. Mr. Wilder answered that it 

 was ; if the water in your cistern is offensive, put in a bag of 

 charcoal and it will soon become sweet. 



Mr. Rand, in answer to a question from Henry F. French, as to 

 the preparation of loam for pot plants, said that the best way is 

 to take the turfs from a pasture in the spring and stack them, and 

 in autumn a large part will be rotted, but they will be better the 

 next spring. Mixed with a little sharp sand, this will grow nine 

 plants out of ten. 



J. II. Woodford said that he had a rotary stand of plants in a 

 bay window, with an oil-cloth under it, and by turning up the 

 edges and placing a lath undernetith he was able to water thera 

 there, though the servants objected to wiping up the oil-cloth. 

 The plants looked very finely, and the foliage was healthy, but 

 keeping them so moist, the}- had green fly, and he was obliged to 

 take them to the sink and syringe thoroughly. Plants feel the 

 changes of the season, and to succeed they should be potted early, 

 say in July or August. He would use very coarse soil — he would 

 not object to lumps as large as a hen's egg, and would like to get 

 some old dry cow dung from a pasture and break up to put in the 

 bottom of the pots. 



Mr. Hovey said that it was ver^' important to turn plants round 

 at least once a week ; it is just as grateful to them as it is for us 

 to change our posture after sitting in one position all Hay. 

 Lumps of soil the size of a hen's egg could be used only in large 

 pots, but sifted soil has been the means of injury to many plants. 

 The Vallota is well adapted to parlor culture ; he had frequently 

 known it grown by ladies in their parlors better than by gardeners. 

 Mr. Rand said that the Vallota, unlike the Aniaryllis, should 

 not be dried off, but kept in continuous growth. The trouble is 

 that gardeners attempt to dry them off like the amaryllis. 



John B. Moore said, in regard to stirring the soil, that if we do 

 this for an inch or two in depth, common sense would teach us to 

 take away the soil and replace it with new. 



Henry F. French asked what was the object of repotting, and 

 whether there was an3'thing analogous to root-pruning in crowding 

 the roots into a small pot. 



Mr. Rand replied that there were several reasons for repotting ; 

 the first is to furnish new and fresh soil to replace that which is 



