11(3 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



for their foliage, the times and methods of potting will 

 te diflerent from those applied to Clerodendrons, Ste- 

 phanotis, Dipladenias, Heaths, Epacris, Leschenanaul- 

 tias, Azaleas, and other flowering plants. As a general 

 rule, foliage plants should have more frequent and 

 larger shifts than flowering ones. Growth is thus 

 fostered and encouraged, and that is all which is 

 needed, or nearly all. In flowering plants maturity, 

 perfect and complete, must be secured as the basis of 

 free flowering, even among soft-wooded plants, like 

 Fuchsias, Pelargoniums, and others; over or unseason- 

 able potting is fatal to free and perfect flowering. 

 In plants grown in pots for their fruit, such as Straw- 

 berries, Figs, Peaches, Grape-vines, the correlation 

 between pinched, cramped, pot-bound roots, and fer- 

 tility, is even more indissolubly united. But, of 

 course, after all, the state of the roots is the best 

 index as to when and how to shift or pot plants. So 

 long as there is much soil left unoccupied on the 

 outer circle of earth in contact with the pot, and few 

 roots are visible, the plant does not need shifting. 

 " But how can we know that? " novices in gardening 

 may well ask. By simply turning the plant out of its 

 pot, and holding it on the palm of the hand, remov- 

 ing the pot from the earth. The earth-works, the 

 ball of the plant, and the state and condition of the 

 roots are thus laid bare. Should it need potting, 

 proceed as directed in the next section, and shift it 

 into a larger pot. If not, return it to its pot again, 

 taking particular care to place the pot over the ball 

 in the exact position in which it was before removal ; 

 for hardly any pot is exactly round, and as the pot 

 has moulded the ball — as the earth and roots within 

 it are technically called — to flt itself, they must occupy 

 the same relative position as before. Very trifling 

 instructions to give — yes ; but the neglect of them 

 ■ leads to the disease or total loss of the plant, as it 

 opens up a nearer and quicker exit for water through 

 the interstices by the edge of the pot than that by 

 slow percolation through the ball, the only water- 

 course through which the plant can be preserved in 

 health. 



The Actual Process of Potting or Shifting. 



— This is not a simple but a compound process, and 

 brings us into direct contact with pots, crocks, com- 

 posts, roots, balls, various methods of procedure, and 

 after-treatment of the plants. As regards the pots, 

 they must be clean, dry, and sound. Nothing 

 is more injurious than the use of dirty pots; 

 they contaminate the soil, and poison the roots 

 almost as soon as these are placed in them. Wet 

 pots are almost as mischievous as dirty ones ; the 

 outer portion of the compost sticks to the pots, de- 

 ranges the action of the drainage, and interferes with 

 the free passage of water through the new mass of 



soil. On the other hand, new pots, especially when 

 used in summer, are often too dry, and should be 

 steeped for some hours before using, allowing them, 

 of course, to become dryish again before use. Other- 

 wise, new pots of certain makes in dry weather often 

 drain most of the moisture out of the compost, to the 

 impoverishment of the roots. 



Unsound pots are not only unsafe to handle, but 

 dangerous for the j-oots in other ways, and should 

 never be used. As to the sized pots to use, the word 

 " cast," applied to pottery, is most suggestive, and 

 the old practitioners mostly advised an inch at a time 

 during the smaller stages, advancing to two, three, 

 and even four inches as the sizes enlarged. The one- 

 shift system, which we purpose describing, altered 

 most of this, as it leaped at one bound from a two or 

 four-inch to a twelve or eighteen-inch pot. Still, for 

 a great many plants the progressive system of potting 

 is the best, and it is stiU the general practice to ad- 

 vance in size tentatively. It is also the safest. The 

 successful exhibitors of prize stock feed often, and 

 remove all that is not eaten shortly after feeding. 

 This sustains the appetite at a higher pitch than any 

 other method. To some extent progressive shifting 

 by easy steps does likewise. Only a little food is 

 given at a time, and hardly is that consumed before 

 'the roots find a fresh supply provided for them in a 

 new or clean sweet pot. And provided the food is 

 agreeably sweet and tempting, the roots speedily 

 plunge into and devour it. It has hardly time to 

 become stale before it is used up. The pots must 

 also have one or more holes for the free removal of 

 water. And this brings us to crocks, which, what- 

 ever the origin of the word, here simply mean 

 drainage in the bottom of the pot, no matter of what 

 sort. However, there is nothing better than broken 

 pots, potsherds, bricks, shells, or charcoal. Even 

 freestone or sandstone is almost too heavy to form 

 good drainage. 



Place over the centre hole of the pot, or against 

 the three holes round the sides of the bottom, a piece 

 of potsherd two inches or so over. This should be 

 laid tolerably flat, so as to help to exclude worms 

 but not too much so, lest the exit for the water 

 should get silted up. Over these place a layer from 

 half an inch to four inches, ' according to the size 

 of the pot ; the larger the pot the more drainage, and 

 the coarser it may be. A better way of crocking larger 

 pots consists in placing an inverted small one, over 

 each drainage-hole, and filling up part or the whole of 

 the way between, with rough crocks or other hard 

 materials. Pots so treated render the ingress of worms 

 and other pests almost impossible. 



But this drainage of pots, while chiefly mechani- 

 cal, may readily be made manurial as well. This is 

 done by using such substances as oyster and other 



