442 General Notices. 



ment, to reconcile them to an abode foreign to their natures. First, the 

 soil will, of course, be a composition suitable to the particular plant or 

 plants to be potted ; but of whatever it may be composed, particular care 

 should be taken that it be not too wet or too dry. If the former, it be- 

 comes, during the process of potting, a compact mass, which, contracting 

 as it gets drier, leaves a vacuum between the exterior of the pot and the 

 ball of the plant ; thus allowing the free admission of light and air, which 

 is of course anything but beneficial to the plant. If, on the other hand, 

 it be too dry, it prevents for a considerable time, the free passage of mois- 

 ture to the roots ; and it will often be found, especially if the plant itself 

 is dry at the time of potting, that it will suffer greatly ere it receive suffi- 

 cient moisture to recruit the evaporation of its juices. Secondly, the pots, 

 if not new ones, should be scrupulously clean ; for if the advantage were 

 nothing more than the facility obtained in turning out the plant to exam- 

 ine, or reshift it, it would amply repay the trouble. But independent of 

 this, a plant enjoys better health in a clean than in a dirty pot ; and if no 

 other consideration would urge to cleanliness, appearance would, I pre- 

 sume, decide in its favor. Thirdly, drainage sliould combine two proper- 

 ties, to allow free exit to superabundant moisture, and to prevent the en- 

 trance of worms : and altho\igh the latter object is somewhat difficult of 

 attainment, we should seldom have to complain, if plants, when placed in 

 a situation where worms are likely to abound, were set upon a sufficiently 

 thick layer of cinder ashes, or some similar material (two inches thick.) 

 To allow a free passage to the superabundant moisture, let the crock cov- 

 ering the drain-hole be placed so as to form an arch, with a few smaller 

 ones placed round it, covering the whole with a slight quantity of moss 

 sufficient to prevent the finer particles of soil being washed round the larger 

 crock, which would efiectually obstruct the drainage, when the soil would 

 become sour and unhealthy ; and, as a natural consequence, the plant 

 would follow its example. Fourthly , the depth of potting should be regu- 

 lated by the mark which nature points out, and which is always conspicu- 

 ous in plants raised from seed ; at all events, let it not be placed deeper 

 than when it receives its first remove from the cutting or seed pot. To 

 bury an inch or two of the stem of a plant is very injurious, although a 

 practice of too common occurrence with careless potting. Fifthly, on 

 leaving a sufficient space in the pots to receive water, on no account let it 

 form a kind of basin ; that is, a hollow round the stem ; but let the soil 

 round the stem be as high as the rim of the pot, receding gradually to a 

 depth round the rim agreeably to the size of the pot, the nature of the 

 plant, or the situation in which it is to be placed. — {Gard. Chron., 1843, 

 p. 444.) [Good advice, worthy the attention of all cultivators of plants. 

 —Ed.] 



Cultivation of the Coxcomb. — Mr. James Drummond cultivates the cox- 

 comb to a very large size. He nourishes copiously, employing twice a 

 week a strong liquid manure, consisting of an infusion of sheep's droppings, 

 pigeon-house cleanings, soot and black soap. — (7f/. 1843, p. 447.) 



Experiments ivilh Guano. — Mr. James McNab read a paper before the 

 Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, giving an account of his experi- 

 ments tried with guano, both in powder and a liquid form, during the year 

 1842. From the results of these experiments, he cautioned amateur cul- 

 tivators against the use of this strong manure for young, soft-wooded 

 plants, grown in pots, such as pelargoniums, calceolarias, cinerarias or ver- 



