94 



GENESEE FARMER. 



June, 1845 



PLANT POTTING. 



The following extract from an article on plant- 

 potting', in the '^Garc'ener's Chronicle," will be 

 highly acceptable to our lady readers in particular, 

 who cultivate house plants. It is, in our opinion, as 

 correct and comprehensive as any thing on the same 

 subject could be. There is no part of the culture of 

 plants, in pots, of greater importance to their life 

 and health than the potting, and none, we are very 

 sure, more imperfectly understood. A large number 

 of those even, who profess to be experienced gar- 

 deners, are groping in the dark on this subject. Give 

 it a thoughtful reading : 



'•' The tirst point to be attended to, in the process 

 of potting, is to put a crock over the hole in the 

 bottom of the pot — and to do this in the proper 

 way requires attention. An oyster-shell answers 

 well for large pots, keeping the concave side down- 

 wards. Pieces of broken pots answer equally well, 

 povided they have a concave and a convex side, 

 otherwise a very small portion of the soil, which 

 might perchance get washed down to the bottom 

 through the drainage, would clog up the crevices, 

 and prevent the escape of the water. This, simple 

 as it may be, is the first important step in potting. 

 And let it never be forgotten, that a house owes 

 much of its stability to a good foundation-stone ; 

 and this, be it remembered, is the foundation-stone 

 in potting. 



The next particular demanding attention is drain- 

 age, which should be of broken pots, varying in size 

 according to the dimensions of the pot. In ordinary 

 cases, the depth of drainage should be from an inch 

 to an inch and a half. The potsherds which consti- 

 tute the drainage should be nearly of one size, which 

 will render the object more perfect. The broken 

 pots can be easily separated, so as to suit the differ- 

 ent sized pots, by means of sieves having large and 

 small meshes : using the larger shreds for the large- 

 sized pots, and the reverse for the smaller ones. In 

 order that the soil may be prevented from intermix- 

 ing with the drainage, a little chopped moss should 

 be sprinkled carefully over the shreds ; this will ef- 

 fectually keep the soil and drainage apart ; a consid- 

 erable portion of moisture is at the same time re- 

 tained by the moss, to which roots cling with singu- 

 lar obstinacy, because they rest on a healthy, well- 

 drained bed. This condition secures to every plant 

 healthy and vigorous action, whether it be in the 

 tiny pot in a ward's case, or over the thousand acres 

 which minister largely to the wealth of nations in 

 every hemisphere. Drainage is the soul of garden- 

 ing ; it is, in fact, life itself to every green leaf un- 

 der the cultivator's care. No plant can be produc- 

 tive, either in the garden or in the field, unless this 

 is secured in a positive degree. Plants in pots, 

 therefore, require the greatest care in this respect, 

 because thoy are in every way artificially circum- 

 stanced ; and this extraordinary deviation from na- 

 t'.irc requires, on the gardener's part, all his energies 

 and all his talents to overcome. Perfect drainage 

 secures to the superincumbent soil, under every cir- 

 cumstance, the means by which vigorous action is 

 induced, or can be maintained for any length of 

 time. Imperfect drainage destroys this action, by 

 producing a glut of watery matter, and places the 

 plant in a pnddln of soured soil, when nothing but 

 the very worst effects are produced. 



In former days, the kind of soil used in potting 

 was of a very fine description ; in these latter times 

 when cultivation is attended to, this kind of soil is 



entirely discarded, and rough, turfy material, full of 

 fibre, is now sought after, whether it is peat or loam. 

 The reasons for this preference are obvious — the 

 fine screened soil soon becomes a compactly close 

 body, which neither air nor water can pass through; 

 and we have already shown, that unless both these 

 elements have free access, we are swimming against 

 the stream. It may be said, that potting loosely, 

 and not pressing the soil too firmly in the pot, 

 would neutralize the effects of fine sifted soil : so 

 it would, in the first instance, but the continued ap- 

 plications from the watering-pot would soon bring 

 all the evils we have been describing. On the con- 

 traiy, if coarse lumpy material, full of vegetable 

 fibre is employed, it will require to be firmly pressed 

 into the pot ; notwithstanding this, the water will 

 percolate through the whole without interruption ; 

 and in the absence of water, air fills up the crev- 

 ices, as it should do — thus securing a rapid and 

 healthy action. Some of the very coarsest of the 

 soil should be placed immediately on the moss, in 

 order to render the drainage more complete. These 

 observations, with those which have preceded them, 

 relating to the same subject, will be some guide 

 to the amateur in a pleasing avocation — they will 

 enable him to proceed on clear and definite ground. 

 To the gardener in the higher walks of his pro- 

 fession — he that neither slumbereth nor sleepeth 

 on the road to knowledge — they may be in some 

 measure uncalled for ; but to many, we trust, they 

 will prove useful : and if plants, in future, arc 

 badly potted, blame not." 



CATERPILLARS ON TREES. 



In our last number we referred to the immense 

 numbers of caterpillars which had then made their 

 appearance, and suggested their immediate de- 

 struction. 



We fear that but few have read our suggestion, 

 and fewer still have acted in accordance with it. 



To-day (May 26) we have traveled through some 

 40 miles of the country, and we could not safely 

 say, that in all that distance, through one of the 

 most beautiful and best cultivated portions of the 

 country, where improvement is on the rapid march, 

 — we saw an orchard where any pains had been 

 taken to destroy the caterpillars. In many cases 

 whole orchards were stripped of the foliage — the 

 very trees in the door-yards hanging full — abso- 

 lutely frightful. The idea of a plague continually 

 occurs to us, in view <•[ such hosts of these mon- 

 strous, unsightly insects. 



What can people mean, by losing a whole crop 

 of fruit, destroying the health of their trees, and 

 swarming the country with insects, when one days 

 labor of a man, at the proper season, would save 

 all ? But we fear we are talking to very little 

 purpose, and the subject is by no means an agree- 

 ablo one ; so we will drop it with the remark, that 

 even if men's own interests would not prompt them 

 from allowing such havoc on the fair face of na- 

 ture, green and lovely as she now is . 



WEATHER— FRUIT CROP, INSECTS, &c. 

 During the past month, we have had greater 

 extremes of heat and cold than we ever remember 

 in the month of May — though to be sure our mem- 

 ory don't extend so far back as some people's. 

 About the middle of the month — or we believe 

 it v/as the 10th, 11th, and 12th, that were as hot 

 as midsummer — vcgatation seemed to fall pros- 



