74 Drainage of Flower-Pots. 



If I am correct in this, does it not most emphatically prove that the es- 

 cape of moisture is nearly entirely from the sides of the pot, and not from 

 the bottom, and hence the futility of placing potsherds in the bottom for 

 drainage ? The merest tyro of a gardener knows that his plant quickly 

 shows yellow leaves in a hard-burned pot, and that the soil becomes sour ; 

 but, if he is of the school to which Mr. Veitch belongs, he may not be will- 

 ing to admit that this result is entirely in consequence of insufficient drain- 

 age of the sides. 



But a " tree is known by its fruits," a practice by its results : there is 

 now no florist of any extent in the vicinity of New York that uses drainage 

 in his flower-pots, be the variety what it may, be the plant large or small. 

 Also there are few of us who think it necessary to have more than o?ie 

 mould heap. Yet nowhere in the country is a greater variety or finer 

 plants seen than in the markets of New York. Mr. Veitch may have evi- 

 dence, perhaps to him unpleasant evidence, of this fact, any spring, with- 

 out coming to New York to see ; for we distribute them plentifully in New 

 Haven and other Connecticut towns, which his more scientific (?) practice 

 is unable to supply. 



Mr. Veitch says that his system (that of using drainage) has received the 

 sanction and support of the most intelligent and capable gardeners in modern 

 times. Before I agree with him, I would like to know how far his " modern 

 times" date back, and in what country these intelligent and capable plant- 

 growers reside. If in the Uniced States, and if his modern times mean the 

 present time, then I beg to differ from him about the evidence of intelligence 

 and capability ; for the fact is notorious here, that, whenever any grower 

 persists in crocking and such like antediluvian operations, his " intelligence 

 and capability " does not manifest itself in very rapid progress ; but, on the 

 contrary, he generally runs a one-horse concern to the end of the chapter. 



But, to show Mr. Veitch that I have no intention of " trifling with an im- 

 portant subject," I make the following proposition : He may select, when 

 he pleases, a score of plants from any genus he may choose to name (as 

 the challenged party I give him choice of weapons). Let him take ten of 

 them, and I will take the other ten. Let him grow them according to his 

 doctrine of drainage, I according to mine ; say for twelve months from 

 the date of starting, or long enough, according to the variety chosen, to 



