he put to it a small portion of cow-dung, but this very 

 seldom ; a little clean coarse sand was generally added. 

 These formed his compost for growing this flower ; 

 but he had another of a richer quality, with which he 

 used to top-dress his plants, and this he would do 

 sometimes twice in the year. When he killed any 

 sheep, he always reserved the blood, and mixed it 

 with the dung of poultry. These two ingredients he 

 added to his loam and sheep-dung, and these consti- 

 tuted his compost for surface-dressing. In fresh 

 potting, every year he trimmed and shortened the 

 fibres, and reduced the roots, with the mould adher- 

 ing to them, to the bigness of a moderate-sized ball, 

 but never shook the mould completely from the roots, 

 if they were sound and going on well, until the third 

 year ; he then would wash the roots in water, exa- 

 mine them closely, shorten the tap or main root, and 

 cut away any decayed or unsound parts ; but if any 

 plant appeared sickly at any time, he always served 

 it in the same manner. He was particularly careful 

 in making the holes at the bottom of the pots larger, 

 and putting in three or four pieces of broken tile to 

 drain the water off, and prevent it from becoming 

 stagnant at the bottom of the pots : this, though ap- 

 parently a trifling circumstance, ought always to be 

 well attended to. The proportions he used were, 

 one-third loam, two-thirds sheep-dung and hay-litter, 

 and one-tenth coarse sand. {Hogg's Auricula, 124.) 



