Potting 



( 232 ) 



Pratia 



Specially made Orchid pots are ranch shallower 

 than the ordinary forms ; but otherwise they are 

 similar, except in those cases where they are 

 perforated at the sides, or are of special patented 

 designs. 



Seakale and Rhubarb pots are like bell-glasses, 

 with a round lid attached to the knobs or handles. 

 When they are placed over Seakale or Rhubarb 

 crowns, and covered with manure to force them 

 where they grow, it is only necessary to remove 

 the dung from the top to get at the lid for cutting 

 or pulling the produce. 



Wooden and slate tubs would be more economical 

 for large plants than earthenware pots. Pot baskets 

 are wooden baskets for Orchids, of pot shape. 



POTTING. 



Condition of the Pots. When potting or re- 

 potting plants of any kind, dirty receptacles should 

 not be used. Pots that have been emptied should be 

 placed in a tub of water. When extensive potting 

 operations are proceeding a boy should be kept 

 washing, so that the pots may be used again when- 

 ever they are sufficiently dry. If dirty pots are 

 used, the ball of soil often gets broken and the 

 roots injured when turning them out. New pots 

 should be steeped before use. 



When to Pot. The precise time will depend 

 upon the kind of plant, its stage of growth, and 

 the season. The potting of seedlings from seed 

 pans or boxes will depend upon the size at which 

 it is most advantageous to perform this operation. 

 Cuttings of most plants should be well rooted 

 before they are disturbed. Seedling Chinese 

 Primulas, Calceolarias, and Cinerarias should be 

 repotted from time to time, never allowing them to 

 become potbound till in their final or flowering 

 pots. The same applies to winter-flowering and 

 many other plants being grown from cuttings, the 

 secret of success being to keep them growing till 

 they have attained the desired size. Plants that 

 have been cut back or pruned should be kept drier 

 for a time, and afterwards encouraged to make 

 fresh growth by placing them in a moist, warm 

 house and frequently syringing them. When the 

 buds begin to grow is the time to repot the plants. 

 Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Angracums, and most 

 other epiphytal Orchids should be repotted, if 

 necessary, when the young roots begin to develop 

 after the flowering period. Odontoglossums and 

 various other cool-house Orchids may be repotted 

 in early autumn or in February, so that they may 

 have time to become established before the advent 

 of hot weather. 



Procuring and Preparing Soils. In and around 

 large towns it is generally necessary to procure 

 different kinds of soil from the horticultural 

 sundriesman. On rural estates and others of any 

 size it is generally possible to get turf from an old 

 pasture, the main object being to obtain plenty of 

 fibre in it. . The .loss to the pasture may be made 

 good by giving it a good coat of manure, digging 

 or ploughing it down, and sowing the ground with 

 grass seeds. Useful soil of a light nature may 

 often be obtained by collecting the parings of 

 roadsides and the scouring of ditches. Being of a 

 porous, sandy nature it is useful for a great variety 

 of soft- wooded plants. By observation and judg- 

 ment a gardener may often procure loam of 

 different qualities, light and heavy, well permeated 



Pot Marigold (see Calendula). 



with the fibrous roots of grass. These may be 

 stacked in different heaps for six or twelve months, 

 to become mellow before use. A layer of farmyard 

 manure may be placed between every two layers of 

 turf, to enrich it for plants that require it. Peat 

 for Heaths, Azaleas, and Rhododendrons should be 

 procured in the form of thin turves from dry heaths 

 or moorlands covered with short Ling or Heather, 

 in order that plenty of fibre may be present. It 

 should be stacked like loam. Bog peat is only 

 useful for Rhododendrons in the open ground after 

 it has lain for some time and been turned once or 

 twice to mellow it. Brown peat for Orchids has to 

 be procured from peaty heaths that are dry and 

 springy with the roots of Bracken. 



Condition of the Soil. Much potting has to be 

 done in the early part of the year, when the stacks 

 may be saturated with moisture. Soil should not 

 be used in such condition, but partly dried by 

 storing a quantity of each kind under the potting 

 benches or in a dry shed for some time previous to 

 the commencement of operations. For soft-wooded 

 and all tender plants, during the early months of 

 the year the soil should be warmed by placing it 

 in the plant house over-night before use. It should 

 be sufficiently dry to crumble readily when a hand- 

 ful has been squeezed and laid down. No soils 

 should be sifted except for seeds, but broken up 

 by hand or the trowel so that it will be lumpy, the 

 size of the lumps depending upon that of the pots. 



Draining. All pots should be well drained with 

 potsherds carefully placed by hand. The quantity 

 of drainage will depend upon the size of the pots 

 and the kind of plant. Those requiring much 

 water, or which have to remain many months or 

 years in the same pot, should have plenty of 

 drainage. 



Top-dressing. In some cases it will be advisable 

 to remove the surface soil from pots and replace it 

 with rich and fresh material to save repotting ; 

 but this may be discussed under the plants that 

 require it. 



POUROUMA. 



A stove tree (ord. Urticacese) with evergreen 

 foliage and allied to the Bread Fruit (Artocarpus). 

 Edulis, the only introduction, is fit for the economic 

 house of a botanic garden only. 



POURRETIA. 



Stove herbs (ord. Bromeliacea?) with lanceolate 

 or strap shaped leaves. The members of the genus, 

 named as above by Ruiz and Pa von, are now placed 

 in Puya (which see). Other species added by different 

 botanists are now referred to Pitcairnia, Tillandsia, 

 etc. Achupalla and coarctata are species of Puya. 

 Frigida is Dyckia frigida. (See DYCKIA, PIT- 

 CAIRNIA, PUYA, and TILLANDSIA.) 



PRASOPHYLLUM. 



Terrestrial Orchids (ord. Orchidacese) with a 

 solitary leaf, a tuberous rootstock, and unattractive 

 flowers. 



PRATIA. 



Slender, creeping, perennial herbs (ord. Campan- 

 ulacejc), rarely erect. Propagation, by seeds and 

 cuttings in heat in spring, at which time the 



Poitpartia (see Sjiondias). 

 Prairie Clover (see Piialostcmon). 

 Prairie Dock (see Siljiliium tercliintkaceum'). 

 Prairie Rose (see Rosa setigera). 



