64 AMERICAN GARDENER. 



out into bud and leaf ; but died soon afterwards. 

 I had soon afterwards got some foots. I repeated 

 my sowing and planting ; all the seeds and plants 

 grew and flourished. And, let it be observed, 

 that the boxes stood in the same bed, where cab- 

 bages and cauliflowers were sown without either 

 pots or boxes ; and that the plants of these grew, 

 and flourished exceedingly. The cause of the 

 plants rotting in the boxes was this ; though there 

 were several holes at the bottom of each box, and 

 though these were properly covered with oyster- 

 shells, the wood itself^ sides as well as bottom, 

 imbibed and retained too long, part of the water 

 poured on the top, and, as the boxes were plunged 

 into the earth of the bed, they imbibed moisture 

 from the watering of the bed also. There was. 

 constantly stagnant and sour water near the roots 

 of the plants ^ and this killed them. These boxes 

 were of deal. If tubs, or boxes must be resorted 

 to, they ought to be of Locust , or some other 

 hard and close wood. Locust is best, because 

 imperishable. See paragraph, 16. 



110. Some care is necessary in sowing and 

 planting in pots. The mould should be good^ 

 and made very fine. The first thing is to put an 

 eyster shell, or piece of broken earthen ware, in- 

 to the pot, to cover the hole at the bottom ; and the 

 hollow part of the shell, or other thing, should 

 be downwards. The use of this is, to keep the 

 hole often, that the water may find its way out of 

 the pot, and not lie stagnant at the bottom, where 

 it would become sour and injure, if not kill, the 

 plant. The earth, if there were no shell, would 

 fill up the hole, and, would, in time, become solid, 

 and thus prevent the water from getting out. The 



