34 The New Practical Window Gardener. 



gathered together and stored away in a heap to rot. 

 They require to be turned over in the heap several 

 times during the year to hasten their decay. They are 

 fit for use after having lain one year or more. Before 

 using leaf-mould pass it through a sieve to remove all 

 stones, sticks, and other rubbish gathered with the 

 leaves. Silver sand is the best sand to use, but when 

 not obtainable, river or pit sand, if pretty sharp, wUl 

 do very well instead. You must never use sea sand 

 because of the salt it contains, which would very likely 

 kill your plants. In making up your compost, care- 

 fully keep out all worms and pieces of wood. Pieces 

 of wood and beech-mast often cause a white fungus to 

 germinate among the roots, throwing the plant into an 

 unhealthy state. 



The soil being now ready we will turn our attention 

 to one of the most important things to be considered in 

 potting plants, that is, free drainage ; this is absolutely 

 necessary for their health and well-being. If the 

 drainage is bad, and the crock-hole gets choked up, 

 the surplus water does not run off, but lodges in the 

 ball, which soon gets soured and sodden, rotting the 

 roots and throwing the poor plant into an unhealthy 

 state, and then it leads a miserable life tUl its owner 

 gets tired of it and throws it away, or allows it to die a 

 wretched death of itself. Many a plant is destroyed 

 through neglecting this apparently simple thing, which 

 would have been a credit to its owner had it been pro- 

 perly drained. To prevent you falling into this easy 

 mistake, I will try to tell you how to give your plants 

 proper drainage. 



