10 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



Kg. 10.— Seed Pan. 



Seed-propagating and other Pans, Saucers, 



&e. — These are made of various diameters and depths, 

 according to size. The most useful range from two 

 inches to four in depth. The price is about the 

 «ame as pots of the same diameters, as they are more 

 difficult and take longer to 

 make than garden- pots. 

 Square pans are much more 

 troublesome to make than 

 round, and are on that 

 account more expensive. 

 Their. only advantage is that they can be packed 

 •closely together without losing an inch of space. 

 'Garden-saucers are used for placing under pots 

 to prevent drip and economise water. Unless, 

 however, for such thirsty plants as strawberries in 

 -full gTowth in pots, saucers are now but little used. 

 'The base of the pot, constantly standing in water, 

 becomes saturated, the water not seldom rising by 

 capUlary attraction till the whole mass of soil is 

 ■converted into mud. Such mishaps, which have not 



have plunged headlong into the utmost possible 

 variety of shape and elaborateness of ornamentation ; 

 and their success has been so great in these direc- 

 tions as to have run the stonemason, the moulder, 

 and the sculptor rather close on their own lines. Of 

 course, not a few mistakes have been made in this 

 new departure of garden-pottery into the regions of 

 fancy and the domain of taste. Rejpresentations of 

 most things in heaven and on earth — and of not a 

 few not likely to be found in either — have appeared. 

 But on the whole the new departure has proved 

 successful, and, by lowering the price of works of 

 art, has made it possible to make some of the artistic 

 garden-pots and baskets almost as beautiful in their 

 way as the plants that fill them. A few illustrations 

 are given here — mere samples of these more fanciful 

 styles of garden-pottery (Fig. 11). 



So long as these and others do not interfere with 

 the sterling merits and the real utility of garden- 

 pots, the more varied and beautiful they can be 

 made the better. 



Fig. 11.— Eustio Pots and Baskets. 



'by any means been rare in practice, have rendered 

 the placing of saucers under pots unpopular. 



Larger saucers, however, prove valuable slug and 

 other insect guards. The pot in these cases is 

 elevated on a small pot, shell, or pot-stand, so as to 

 raise its base right up out of the water; and it is 

 obvious that the entire army of insects are thus 

 baulked in their eiforts to reach it by the water. 

 Notwithstanding this side-use of saucers, however, 

 there can be no question that they are going out of 

 fashion. So much is this the case, that it may almost 

 be said — the more pots made, the fewer saucers. 



Rustic Terra-cotta Vases, Baskets, 

 Figures, &c. — These bare names, which are far 

 from exhaustive of all that is attempted and done by 

 the modem manufacturers of garden pottery, give 

 but a vague idea of the number and boldness of their 

 designs and the general excellency of their perform- 

 ance within the domain of taste. 



Having, as it were, exhausted the art of pot- 

 making on its utilitarian side, not a, few makers 



GEOimi) OPEEATIOlSrS. 



LEYBLLINa. 



OPERATIONS upon the ground itseH are of 

 necessity the first steps in horticulture, and 

 they sometimes prove so difficult and unpleasant 

 that they also become the last. Properly set about 

 and pushed on, however, few operations afford more 

 healthy occupation, and hardly any good exercise 

 can be made more pleasant ; while, as to profit, it 

 may be boldly asserted there can be none without 

 previous operations on the ground. True, at times 

 a field may be found in the open, which is in reality 

 a ready-made garden nature has laid out level, or 

 on a regular incline or slope. The tUth is suf- 

 ficiently mixed ; deep, dry, and rich, it needs neither 

 better form, more disturbance, deeper drainage, or 

 manuring, to grow the most choice vegetable pro- 

 ducts to perfection. The more we meddle, the more 

 we might mar its quality and spoil its texture. But 

 such fields are rare as swallows in March, or white 



