342 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



sis and Ainebia echioides (Prophet Flower), the native and other heaths. These plants 

 would give an ample list for a very large space of ground. 



Pots and Potting. Flower pots or pans used for growing plants of any description 

 in should always be cleaned before being employed. If they are new, and have not been 

 exposed to the weather, dip them in water twenty hours before they are used, as quite 

 new pots, not so treated, often absorb much moisture from the 

 soil. All that have been used should be thoroughly washed, 

 and, if green, scrubbed clean in strong hot soda water and well 

 dried before they are again used. What are called crocks or 

 drainage usually consists of such split or broken pots as are 

 invariably found where flower-pots are used. If there are, 

 however, few of these, some soft red bricks broken up, not too 

 finely, make good drainage. One rather flat piece of crock or 

 potsherd should always be placed over the pot hole, and on that 

 from half to one inch of broken rubble, large or small, according 

 to the size of the pot. Still it should not be overdone. In 

 POTTING A PLANT filling with soil put on to the crocks a few of the coarser pieces 

 of the soil first, as the finer soil is then prevented from washing 



into and choking the rubble. Always use a proportion of one part in ten or so of sharp 

 white sand with potting soil. 



Rabbit Proof Plants. It is not easy to compile a list of plants that rabbits refuse to 

 touch, for these pests to the gardener will consume almost anything. Plants, too, that 

 rabbits refuse to touch in one neighbourhood, because doubtless of an abundance of more 

 appetising food, are devoured wholesale elsewhere ; and whether the winter be mild or 

 severe is another point, in truth during a very hard winter everything practically is 

 consumed. The following plants, however, are not favourite food for the rabbit : 

 Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Spurge Laurel, the Sabine or Juniper, Furze, the Forsythias, 

 Jasminumnudiflorum, Tree Paeonies, the Snowberry (Symphoricarpus), Butcher's Brooms 

 (Ruscus aculeatus and R. racetnosus), Boxthorn (Lycium barbarum], Spindle Tree 

 (Euonymus europceus), Privet, Yuccas, Hydrangea Hortensia, Wig or Smoke tree (Rhus 

 Cotinus), Box, and the Hibiscus (H. syriacus) ; hardy herbaceous plants, Flame-flowers 

 (Kniphofias, better known as Tritomas), Irises, Winter Aconite, Daffodils, Solomon's 

 Seal, Lily of the Valley, Periwinkle, Aquilegias (in variety), Dog-tooth violets (Erythro- 

 niums), Scillas, Delphiniums (Perennial Larkspurs), Primroses, Anemones, Aubrietias, 

 Violets, Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Poppies, Cineraria maritima, Stachys lanata 

 Muscari (Grape Hyacinth), and Arabis. 



Repotting. This means the changing of a plant from a small pot into a larger one. 

 The larger pot should not, as a rule, for all ordinary pot plants exceed the smaller sizes by 

 more than one size or two at the most, that is to say, if the smaller pot be a 48 that is, 

 selling at 48 to the cast it will be 5 inches across the top inside measurement. A good 

 shift is into a 6-inch pot or 32, or it may be needful to transfer the plant to an 8-inch pot 

 or 24 size. The plant is easily removed from the small pot by turning it upside down, 

 resting on the left hand, and with the right hand taking hold of the inverted pot. Give 

 the edge a sharp tap on a table or potting bench. The plant then slips out from the pot 

 at once. In refilling, first remove from the ball of roots all drainage, as the new pot should 

 be provided with fresh drainage before the plant is put into it. In the case of a very hard 

 ball, some of the soil may be removed with a pointed stick first. Then repot, not deep, 

 but firmly. 



Seed Sowing. How few persons, even those who have long been gardening, seem to 

 understand the proper way to sow seeds. Almost every one, and amateurs especially, 

 sow seeds far too thickly, with the result that they commit a double fault, for not only are 

 seeds wasted, but much extra labour is created in thinning the seedlings. Such seeds as 

 vegetables and annual flowers are generally sown fully three times too thick, as the great 

 thinning needful shows. Plants in their seedling stage are so crowded that they are 

 often strangled in their birth as it were. Seeds sown in pots, pans, or boxes under glass 

 need the same care in not sowing too densely. It is much better when plants have to be 

 transplanted to give them the chance of becoming strong before the change is made. 

 Heavy seed sowing benefits the seedsman at the expense of the gardener. 



Shelters. A very useful hint was given by Mr. G. F. Wilson of Wey bridge in the 

 Garden, of March 17, p. 197, when he wrote that: "Part of the garden at Oakwood, 

 Wisley, before some Poplars grew up, was much exposed to high winds, and for some 

 plants we wanted shade, so the question of shelter from wind and sun had to be con- 

 sidered." After describing some methods which were scarcely satisfactory, Mr. Wilson 

 says: "We at last arrived at a shelter which, we think, practically answers every 

 purpose, and is easily portable. We have a great many of these sort in use and have 

 thoroughly proved them. The iron hurdle is five barred ; it stands 3 feet 6 inches out of 

 the ground, and is 6 feet wide ; 3-feet common laths are tied by tarred string to the 



