FERTILIZERS 



fertilizers are not at hand, with fairly good 

 results, if care is taken to dilute considerably. 

 An application of this kind often acts bene- 

 ficially when there are worms in the soil. 



The old belief that it was absolutely neces- 

 sary to give a plant a larger pot and fresh 

 soil at least once a year has been largely 

 abandoned since the use of liquid fertilizers 

 has become common. By applying them 

 regularly, in moderate strength, it is possible 

 to keep a plant in the same pot, and same 

 soil, year after year, and this, too, in a healthy 

 condition. If it can be constantly supplied 

 with nutriment, it does not seem to matter 

 very much whether that nutriment comes by 

 way of a soil containing the vai'ious elements 

 of plant-life or in the shape of a liquid easily 

 appropriated by the feeding-roots and quickly 

 assimilated by the plant. The food, and not 

 the manner by which it is obtained, is the 

 main thing. The writer has an Aspidistra, 

 growing in a twelve-inch pot, which' has not 

 been repotted for over eight years. Nor has 

 it been given any fresh soil during that time. 

 Its roots are in a solid mass, and have been 

 in that condition for a long time. It throws 

 up many new leaves yearly, and does not seem 



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