SOILS AND POTTING. 113 



of a youth fresh from school, about to begin his apprenticeship 

 in a large place on the other side. He came into the potting 

 shed, whittling a stick ; on being asked what he was going to 

 do with that, he replied he was going to pot orchids with it. 



Plants which grow quickly, such as Geraniums, Heliotropes, 

 Coleuses, Fuchsias, and what gardeners include under the general 

 term of " soft-wooded plants," require less care ; in fact, as spring 

 advances and time becomes precious, quickly growing stock is 

 potted with very little ceremony. A quick hand will pot several 

 thousands of small plants in a day. 



A common practice among amateurs is to put out their window 

 plants for a summer's growth. It is often a surprise and also a 

 pleasure to watch such plants make luxuriant growth in their 

 natural elements — free and unrestricted root area with plenty 

 of air and sunshine. Usually their growth is altogether out of 

 proportion to the space they must occupy for the winter, and it 

 seems as if they would require much larger pots. If, however, 

 as is generally the case, the greater number are of the Zonale 

 type of Pelargonium, or what we know as Geraniums, they will 

 bear considerable hard treatment and may be roughly pruned in 

 and much curtailed in amount of root room, and very likely will 

 do as well as if more liberally treated. The same applies to 

 almost all window plants. The disposition is to be far too gener- 

 ous with pot room. The conditions under which window plants 

 must exist in living rooms are anything but congenial. I should 

 prefer to dispense with my old stock after the summer's growth,, 

 having raised a lot of young stock in the meantime. The disposi- 

 tion to be generous is natural. It has always been regarded as 

 " more blessed to give than to receive." One question the amateur 

 is sure to ask is, " What fertilizer can I give my plants to start 

 them up ? " when all that is needed is better light and air, or 

 more or less heat as the case may be. Artificial manures, no 

 matter how attractively labelled, are sure to do more harm than 

 good to window plants in winter time. If the plants are sick it 

 will be owing to some other cause, and manures would only make 

 them worse ; it would be like trying to cure a dyspeptic with a 

 course of high living. 



A word or two on the use of artificial manures in the liquid 

 form for potted plants may not be out of place here. It is in- 

 tended by their use to increase growth and general productive- 



