8o GARDENING BY M YSELF. 



fingers. But if the roots have taken too 

 firm hold of the pot to yield to such slight 

 persuasion, then put a blunt stick through 

 the hole in the bottom of the pot, and gen- 

 tly push against the crock that lies there. 

 If both these fail, your plant has been long 

 in need of repotting, and you must get 

 it out the best way you can. " One pro- 

 ceeds with a knife, and inserts it all round 

 the sides of the pot, and thus scoops it out ; 

 another favourite way is to break the sides 

 of the pot with a hammer.""^ I have seen 

 both these things done, and say to all my 

 readers, Don't! And you had better lay 

 the plant in water and soak it out, than with 

 one great tug to tear it out by the roots. 



Dig a hole in the border a little deeper 

 than your ball of earth, and set the plant in 

 a slight basin rather than on a slight hill. 

 Fill up neatly, water gently and by degrees, 

 — over tops and all, if there is not much sun 

 upon the leaves. And in planting out, as in 

 sowing, keep always in mind the general 



* " Practical Floriculture." 



