FLO 



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FLU 



Mr. Beck makes them very successfully 

 of slate ; and the prejudice against 

 glazed pots is now exploded. 



It was formerly considered important 

 to have the pots made of a material as 

 porous as possible ; but a more miser- 

 able delusion never was handed down 

 untested from one generation to an- 

 other. Stone-ware and china-ware are 

 infinitely preferable, for they keep the 

 roots more uniformly moist and warm. 

 Common garden pots, if not plunged, 

 should be thickly painted. Large pots 

 have been recommended to be em- 

 ployed, and there is no doubt that this 

 is a system much abridging the gar- 

 dener's labour ; but as with due care 

 small pots will produce magnificent 

 specimen plants, we cannot recommend 

 an adoption of large pots, ensuring as 

 they do such an immense sacrifice of 

 room in the hot and greenhouses. 

 Captain Thurtell, one of the most suc- 

 cessful of growers of the Pelargonium, 

 never employed pots larger than twenty- 

 fours. 



It is usual to have saucers in which 

 to place flower pots when in the house, 

 and so far as preventing stains and the 

 occurrence of dirt, they are deserving 

 adoption ; but as to their being used 

 for applying water to plants, they are 

 worse than useless, except to plants 

 almost aquatic. The great difficulty 

 in pot cultivation is to keep the 

 drainage regular ; and no more effective 

 preventive of this could be devised 

 than keeping a pot in a saucer contain- 

 ing water. No plan for most cultivated 

 plants could be invented more contrary 

 to nature ; for we all know that she 

 supplies moisture to the surface of the 

 soil, and allows it to descend, thus sup- 

 plying the upper roots first. For draw- 

 ings of various flower pots see The 

 Cottage Gardener, No. 64. 



FLOWER FENCE. Poincia'na. 



FLOWER STAGES are made for the 

 exhibition of flowers at shows, in the 

 greenhouse, and elsewhere. The fol- 

 lowing are some very judicious observa- 

 tions on the subject : The first object 

 in the construction of stages should be 

 to have them so formed and situated 

 as to afford facilities for grouping 

 plants ; the second should be to give 



plants more the appearance of growing 

 in borders than upon artificial struc- 

 tures; and the third to keep the pot 

 out of sight. This is requisite for two 

 reasons : first, because they are no 

 ornament ; and, secondly, that it is 

 always desirable to protect the plant 

 from being scorched by exposure to 

 the sun. It is also desirable to adopt 

 another mode of construction, for the 

 purpose of giving plants that aspect 

 which is most suited to their habits ; 

 and, therefore, instead of placing the 

 stages from the front to the back of 

 the house, as is generally the case, let 

 them be placed in groups of stages, 

 thus producing an effect similar to the 

 borders in a well - arranged flower- 

 garden. The spectators, in their pro- 

 gress from group to group, would be 

 attracted by the separate display in 

 each, instead of having their attention 

 drawn away by a whole blaze of beauty 

 at once. 



Mr. Ainger, also, makes these good 

 suggestions : Stages are frequently 

 formed of an equal or nearly equal 

 series of ascents, in consequence of 

 which the upper plants are by no 

 means so well seen as the lower ones. 

 The proper plan is to commence by 

 small elevations, gradually increasing 

 as the shelves recede from the eye. 

 The lowest shelf to be eighteen inches 

 from the floor, the first rise is six 

 inches, the next nine, twelve, fifteen, 

 eighteen, twenty-one, and so on. The 

 upper shelves should also be broader 

 than the lower, for larger pots. The 

 advantage of this arrangement as com- 

 manding a better view of the flowers 

 is obvious. 



FLUES are pipes formed of brick or 

 slate, for conducting heated air through 

 stoves or other buildings where a high 

 artificial temperature is desired. It 

 is a mode of heating much less used 

 than formerly, being superseded by the 

 much more manageable and effectual 

 modes of heating by hot water; and 

 flues have the additional disadvantages, 

 that they require frequent sweeping, 

 and that they emit a sulphurous fume 

 that is injurious to plants and disagree- 

 able to the frequenters of the structures 

 I so heated. This has been obviated by 



