OF POTTING. 275 



caused to spring from its larger branches and stems ; 

 and, in all cases when trees can be made to retain their 

 health in exposed pots, the period of the maturity of 

 their fruit is very considerably accelerated. (Hort. 

 Trans., vii. 258.) 



It seems to be nothing but the complete drainage 

 to which they are then exposed, that makes the 

 Orange and all its tribe, naturally inhabitants of the 

 hill-sides of the temperate parts of Asia, thrive 

 best when the roots come in contact with the sides of 

 the pots, &c., in which they grow. In all cases, the 

 drainage should be most carefully secured, by placing 

 an abundance of broken tiles f potsherds, &c, in the 

 bottom of a pot, so as to prevent the stagnation of 

 water (page 119) about the roots. 



Mr. Macnab, in his excellent practical treatise upon 

 the cultivation of Cape Heaths, points out very forci- 

 bly the value of good draining to that class of plants. 

 There is scarcely any danger, he says, of giving too 

 much draining; and, in order to effect this essential 

 object still more perfectly, he, in shifting his Heaths, 

 constantly keeps the centre elevated above the gene- 

 ral level of the earth in the pot or tub, so that at 

 last each plant stands on the summit of a small hillock. 



In order to counteract the risk of excessive drain- 

 age, without in reality diminishing it, great advan- 

 tage is derived from the introduction into the earth 

 of fragments of some absorbent stone. Mr. Macnab 

 uses " coarse soft free-stone, broken into pieces from 

 one inch to four or five inches in diameter ;" because 

 in summer these stones retain moisture longer than 



