12 On the Management of Plants in Rooms. 



ed kinds, such as ericas or heaths, diosmas, &c., like a peat 

 soil, with a good quantity of white sand well mixed ; two or 

 three inches of the surface of the soil from an old oak wood 

 will answer the purpose very well. There are some persons 

 that think there is a stated time for potting* or shifting plants. 

 This is an error. There never ought to be any particular 

 time ; it ought to depend a great deal on the state of health 

 and growth. Some plants may require shifting twice or 

 thrice a year ; others but once ; the best way to ascertain 

 whether a plant should be shifted, is to turn it carefully 

 out of the pot, and examine if the roots are matted about the 

 sides and bottom of the ball, and if such is the case, the plants 

 evidently require fresh potting. But it is not always neces- 

 sary to put plants into pots or tubs larger than those they were 

 taken from ; if that were always done, they would soon get 

 out of all bounds. The ball may, with propriety, be reduced, 

 perhaps, to half or third its former bulk. In preparing pots, be 

 sure to put a handful of potshreds, or bricks broken up small, 

 in the bottom of each ; then put as much soil as will 

 raise the surface of the ball to wi(hin about an inch of the 

 brim ; then place the plant exactly in the centre, and with 

 a small wedge-shaped stick, fill in the soil between the ball 

 and the sides of the pot, being careful that no cavity is left; 

 the soil shoidd be filled to within half an inch of the brim of 

 a middle sized pot ; if a very large pot, an inch should be 

 left for water ; by no means heap the pot with soil, as is too 

 often done, especially by the ladies. After the plants are 

 potted, they should have a gentle watering, and be kept 

 from the mid-day sun for two or three days. 



Arranging the plants on the stages or in the windows. — When a 

 table is allotted for the plants, let it be placed as near the 

 window as possible ; place the smallest ones next to the 

 glass, and so on with the second and third sizes, finishing 

 with the tallest back, so that they may all have an equal 

 share of the sun and air ; — by no means place them the re- 

 verse of the mode just mentioned. But some of your fair 

 readers may observe, that the beauty of the plants will be 

 hidden from their visiters, especially those who prefer show 

 to the health of their plants. This inconvenience may be 

 avoided by having small stages made to fit the windows, 

 placing them on castors, that they may be turned so as to 

 view the plants, or drawn back in a very hot sunshine. I 

 should think there would be no lover of plants but would go 

 to a trifling expense in order to have them look well. Ob- 

 serve to give air every day, except in very severe frosts. 



The watering of the plants. — The following question has been 

 often put to me, — How often should plants be watered ^ In an- 

 swer to the question, I would observe, that there never ought 



