OCTOBER 131 



Some trees and shrubs one can only get from 

 nurseries in pots. This is usually the case with Ilex, 

 Escallonia, and Cydonia. Such plants are sure to have 

 the roots badly matted and twisted. The main root 

 curls painfully round and round inside the imprisoning 

 pot, but if it is a clever root it works its way out 

 through the hole in the bottom, and even makes 

 quite nice roots in the bed of ashes it has stood on 

 In this case, as these are probably its best roots, we 

 do not attempt to pull it back through the hole, but 

 break the pot to release it without hurt. If it is 

 possible to straighten the pot-curled root, it is best 

 to do so ; in any case, the small fibrous ones can be 

 laid out. Often the potful of roots is so hard and 

 tight that it cannot be disentangled by the hand ; then 

 the only way is to soften it by gentle bumping on the 

 bench, and then to disengage the roots by little care- 

 ftd digs all round with a blunt-pointed stick. If this 

 is not done, and the plant is put in in its pot-bound 

 state, it never gets on; it would be just as well to 

 throw it away at once. 



Nine years ago a hedge of Lawson's Cypress was 

 planted on one side of the kitchen garden. Three 

 years later, when the trees had made some growth, 

 I noticed in the case of three or four that they were 

 quite bare of branches on one side all the way up for 

 a width of about one-sixth of the circumference, leav- 

 ing a smooth, straight, upright strip. Suspecting the 

 gause, I had them up, and found in every case that the 



