AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



345 



POT 



be necessary, but it would not do to move 

 from the 23^-inch cutting pot to this size at 

 once ; three or four different shifts are neces- 

 sary. These shifts should be made, as a 

 general thing, not greater than from a 2j^-inch 

 size to a 3-inch, and so on. 



The time to shift a plant from a smaller to a 

 larger pot is known by the roots beginning 

 to show around the outer surface of the ball. 

 It is not necessary to shift when the first 

 roots touch the side of the pot ; let them curl 

 pretty well around the ball, but they must not 

 be allowed to remain long enough to become 

 hard or woody. They must be of that condi- 

 tion which we call " working roots," a condi- 

 tion not very easy to describe, unless to say 

 that the appearance of such roots is white, 

 soft, and succulent. In most cases the 

 slightest tap on the edge of the pot is sufficient 

 to turn out the ball of earth. Soil, in depth 

 according to the size of the plant, should be 

 placed in the bottom of the pot, the ball 

 placed in the centre, and the soil packed 

 moderately firm in the space, either by the 

 fingers or by a stick made of suitable size for 

 the purpose. When plants are first potted off, 

 or shifted, they should be stood with the pots 

 touching each other, if the diameter of the 

 plant is less than that of the pot ; but, as they 

 begin to develop growth, the plants should be 

 spread an inch or so apart to admit air between 

 the pots ; this greatly strengthens the plants, 

 and inclines them to a stocky growth. Though 

 we, in our own practice, use drainage in few 

 kinds of plants except Roses, yet it is perhaps 

 safer to the unpracticed cultivator to use it. 

 See Drainage. 



The amateur is warned against the common 

 practice of placing plants in too large pots. 

 As a general thing, when plants are received 

 from the florist they are without pots, and are 

 usually in a condition requiring them to be 

 shifted into a pot larger than they have been 

 growing in. For example, if they have been 

 grown in a pot of three inches diameter, place 

 them in one a size larger, or four inches in 

 diameter ; if they were in four-inch pots, give 

 them one five or six inches across, and so on. 

 Florists, as a rule, do not practice crocking 

 or draining pots until the pots get to a size 

 over four inches, and not often then, because, 

 having pots of all sizes on hand, they do not 

 need to give plants any larger shift than nec- 

 essary, and hence there is less need for 

 drainage ; but often the amateur has to 

 change a plant that has been grown in a pot 

 of three inches diameter into one of six 

 inches, and then it is necessary to fill up one- 

 third of this too large pot with broken 

 pots, charcoal, or some such material, to 

 drain off the surplus moisture that would 

 otherwise be injurious, in consequence of the 

 pot being too large for the plant ; but if the 

 pot into which it is shifted is properly ad- 

 justed to the wants of the plant, the putting 

 in of crocks for drainage may be dispensed 

 with. The need of a larger pot is shown by 

 the earth becoming so filled with roots that 

 they will cover the outside of the ball ; but 

 shifting into a larger pot should be done while 

 the roots are yet white. If left until the roots 

 get thoroughly matted, brown and hard, it is 

 too late, and the future growth will be seri- 

 ously retarded. If the plant has been allowed 

 ^ to reach this condition, which we call "pot 



bound," it is best to lay the ball of roots on 

 one hand and slap it smartly, so as to loosen 

 it. By this treatment the new fibres strike 

 out more readily from the hard roots than if 

 left with the ball still compact. After shifting 

 a plant give it one good watering, so that the 

 soil will be thoroughly soaked to the bottom 

 of the pot, but after that keep rather dry 

 until there are indications of new growth. 

 When it is inconvenient to shift winter-flow- 

 ering plants into larger pots, they will be 

 greatly benefited by stirring up the soil on 

 the surface of the pots to a depth of an inch 

 or so, or down to where the young roots ap- 

 pear, taking care not to disturb these too 

 much. Throw away the old soil and replace 

 by rich, fresh soil, in which one-twentieth 

 part may be bone-dust. This is called " top- 

 dressing." See "Winter-Flowering Plants." 



Pouch. A little sack or bag at the base of some 

 sepals and petals ; the term is also applied to 

 a sillicle or short-pod, as of the Shepherd's 

 Purse. 



Pounce. The powdered gum resin procured 

 from Juniperus communis. 



Pourou'ma. The native name in Guiana. Nat. 

 Ord. UrticacecB. 



A genus of about thirty species of trees, 

 natives of tropical South America. P. edulis, 

 the only species of interest, has leaves green 

 above and bluish-white beneath, as large as 

 those of Wigandia imperialis, and is an excel- 

 lent plant for sub-tropical decoration. The 

 fruit, which is produced in clusters like 

 Haze'1-nuts, is much esteemed by the natives 

 of Columbia. The genus is closely related to 

 Artocarpus. 



Pourre'tia. In honor of Abbe Pourret, a French 

 botanist and traveller in Spain. Nat. Ord. 

 Bromeliacece. 



A genus of ornamental green-house plants, 

 differing but little from Billbergia, and requir- 

 ing the same management. All the species 

 are natives of South America, and are pro- 

 pagated by suckers. Syn. Dyckia. 



Pourthiee'a. Named in memory of the French 

 missionary Pourthie, massacred in the Corea 

 in 1866. Nat. Ord. Rosacece. 



A genus established by Decaisne for a 

 number of plants peculiar to the Himalayas, 

 China, and Japan, long confounded with the 

 allied genus Photina, which they resemble in 

 general appearance. P. arguta, a native of 

 the Himalayas from Sikkim to the Kashya 

 Hills and to Burmah, is a graceful hardy shrub 

 with slender spreading branches and lanceo- 

 late, or elliptical, opposite leaves, pointed at 

 both ends, finely and sharply serrate, covered, 

 when young, with short scattered white hairs, 

 but becoming perfectly glabrous at maturity. 

 The flowers are pure white, borne in flat, few- 

 flowered, cyme-like corymbs followed by small, 

 globose, one or two seeded pomes. The 

 divergent habit of the branches and flower- 

 bearing, lateral branchlets, give to this plant 

 a peculiar and striking appearance. It 

 flowered for the first time in this country in 

 the Arnold Arboretum this season (1889). 



Poverty Grass. See Aristida. 



Freecox. Early ; appearing or flowering earlier 



than other allied species. 

 Freemorse. Ending abruptly as if bitten off. 



