General Notices. 319 



the glass, and more subjected to the agency of air, &c., they began to flower 

 much sooner, and more abundantly." (p. 37.) 



After pointing out the great advantages which will attend this system of 

 potting, the following judicious practical details are given. 



" The main point to be observed in potting plants, according to this as well 

 as the customary mode, is to drain them thoroughly. To do this properly, 

 it is requisite that a thick layer of broken pots or ashes, or some such material, 

 be put in the bottom of the pot, and not merely a few pieces of potsherd. 

 There should be at least an inch of drainage, and over all this should be spread 

 a small quantity of dry moss, or a few lumps of very turfy peat or loam, in 

 which all the vegetable matter is dead, but which contains a good deal of 

 woody fibre. Either of these substances will assist the passage of the water, 

 by preventing the fine earth from getting down amongst the drainage and stop- 

 ping up its interstices, while they will also, by retaining some degree of 

 moisture in themselves, keep the roots cool and damp whenever the earth 

 happens to get excessively dry. What is of nearly equal consequence is the 

 texture of the soil. It should by no means be reduced, pulverised, or sifted, 

 any more than as the first of these may be needful. Vegetable fibre, and 

 stones that are not too cumbersome, should be suffered to remain. Where 

 heath-mould is employed, it ought to be full of roots, and be left, to a large 

 extent, in rough irregular lumps, about an inch or so in breadth. There is 

 infinitely too much preparing and manipulation in most composts ; and the 

 freedom with which heaths root into lumps of turfy peat shows at once that 

 they would be more at home if potted entirely into something approaching to 

 the natural texture of the soil in our heatheries or moors. The same principle 

 will apply to all soils, and this constitutes a valuable part of the system of 

 potting we describe. 



" A further part of the plan is to keep the neck of the plant, or that portion 

 of the stem next the roots, rather higher in the pot than the level of the soil. 

 This is often done with heaths, and is just as useful to other fine-rooted spe- 

 cies. It keeps down exuberance, and promotes inflorescence. It saves many 

 a delicate plant from being killed by water ; while, by maintaining the vital 

 part in a drier state, it makes them less sensitive to the sudden and casual 

 occurrence of cold in the winter. 



" But the process most conducive to the bushiness of the plants is the fre- 

 quent reduction of their young shoots. This must be very rigidly attended to, 

 when they do not of themselves bear a sufficient number of laterals. It may 

 be that the branches will require stopping three or four times in the first sea- 

 son ; but this will occupy very little time, and is of such extreme moment 

 that without it not a few plants would be quite unsightly, whereas, with its 

 aid, they have become the most ornamental of our exotic decorations. Where 

 it is rightly practised, it will almost necessarily cause the removal of all the 

 early flowers ; but with those plants that do not need to be thus treated, and 

 with others that continue to show their blossoms despite such pruning, 

 it will be highly advisable to take away all the flower-buds as fast as they 

 appear. 



" As to the application of the system, it embraces all flowering shrubs, 

 whether belonging to the stove or greenhouse, but more especially those 

 which have not been produced by art. Heaths, pimeleas, lechenaultias, &c., 

 have all been found to be vastly benefited by it. At present it is not known 

 how long specimens so managed will last after they have begun to flower. 

 We should presume, however, that they will continue in beauty for three or 

 four, or more years, with only a very trifling shift each spring, after the 

 second season, and that they may then be discarded, to give place for similar 

 progeny. The beauty of a greenhouse or stove does not consist in having 

 very large or very old specimens, but in keeping plants of a moderate size that 

 are particularly healthy and lavishly prolific of flowers." (p. 41.) 



In a subsequent article in Paxton's Magazine, by Mr. Wood himself, we 

 have the following concise and systematic definition of his system. 



Y 2 



