Draining^ Flozver-Pots. 



347 



DRAINING FLOWER-POTS. — No. II. 



By A. Veitch, New Haven, Conn. 



The physical properties of the soil in which plants are potted has some- 

 thing to do in determining whether much or little drainage-material should 

 be used. What we mean by physical properties in this connection is the 

 relation which one particle bears to another, and to all the reot in the ag- 

 gregate, as regards bulk and specific weight. If we take, for illustration, a 

 sample from a gravelly or sandy district, we shall find that there is great 

 diversity as regards these particulars ; which diversity gives it a shifting 

 and unstable character. It is true, when plants are just potted in it, and 

 for some time thereafter, all goes well ; but by and by, and after repeated 

 waterings, its whole texture and framework is changed, — changed by more 

 or less of the finer particles being carried by the descending water to a 

 lower level, and filling up the interstices toward the bottom of the mass. 

 From this tendency to change, the holes in the pots are in imminent dan- 

 ger of being closed or partially obstructed ; and when the outflow is thus 

 retarded so as to .set back the water in the pot, the whole would speedily 

 become disorganized, and settled down upon itself, never again to be a fit 

 medium for the transmission of water, or the development of feeding roots. 

 By adopting the non-crocking theory while dealing with a soil like this, 

 this state of things would not be improved, but rather made worse ; and 

 the only preventive we yet know is the old-school method of building good 

 drains, and taking care they never get choked. These views, I believe, coin- 

 cide with the experience of every gardener in and about New Haven. We 

 are not so favorably circumstanced as regards mould for pot-culture as 

 many are in other sections of the country. The site of this city and imme- 

 diate neighborhood is a prehistoric sea-beach, traversed by river terraces 

 and dried-up channels ; and all around unmistakable evidence is afforded 

 of this by the large deposits of sand and gravel. It is true, throughout the 

 ages, a sparse deposit of vegetable matter has been accumulated, varying 

 in depth from nothing to two feet, and that in most places largely made up 

 of the underlying materials ; but, beyond the arenaceous beds, a transition 

 takes place, and anotlier and better quality of surface-soil becomes general. 



