4 



CASSELL'S POPULAK GAEDENING. 



porarily, as the damp soil soon makes the tins rust, 

 and this is inimical to healthy growth when roots 

 come in contact with it. 



Pots. — It is a generally-received opinion that, in 

 -order to grow a plant properly in-doors, it must be 

 grown in a porous pot. But however convenient a 

 porous clay flower-pot may be for most purposes, it 

 has often been proved that it is not a necessity for 

 good cultivation. Nevertheless, it is the cheapest 

 receptacle that can be made, and with proper care 

 and attention there is nothing in which plants do 

 better, though pots have been used of other mate- 

 rials in which plants have grown just as well. It 

 used to be said that plants could not be grown in a 

 pot which is glazed, but this assertion has been dis- 

 proved. Indeed, they can be grown perfectly well 

 in zinc, and in ir'on pots, and in earthen pots glazed 

 inside and outside. But as all these forms of pots 

 ;are more expensive than the common flower-pot, it 

 is natural that preference should be shown for the 

 most economical form. 



Practically, however, the porosity of the ordi- 

 nary pot is an objection in one respect for in-door 

 use, because it causes too great a variation in the 

 temperature of the roots. If a plant be watered 

 with water of the same temperature as that of the 

 room or balcony in which it is grown, evaporation 

 takes place over the surfacQ of the pot, and the roots 

 round the inside of the pot are colder than the roots 

 in the middle of the pot. Again, this evaporation 

 causes the sides of the pot to become dry, and draws 

 the moisture out of the earth near the sides, so that 

 after a certain time the earth near the sides of the 

 pot is not only colder but also drier than the earth 

 in the centre. A plant with its roots in the open 

 :ground is not subject to these changes and alterna- 

 tions of heat and cold, of dryness and moisture ; and 

 -consequently aU hardy plants grow better out of 

 ■doors in the garden than in pots. It is by attention 

 to these facts, and by care in permitting these 

 changes to be as slight as possible, that the clever 

 gardener shows his superiority over others. But 

 amateurs cannot always devote to their proteges that 

 regular attention which it is the business of the 

 professional gardener to give; consequently, any 

 little hints or advice which will help to minimise the 

 bad effects of unavoidable irregularities will doubt- 

 Jess be acceptable. Upon these grounds we recom- 

 mend pots to be used (especially for window-siUs) 

 - which are glazed outside and rough inside. If the 

 \ pot be glazed inside, and the watering of the plant 

 \'oc accidentally neglected, the earth shrinks and 

 comes away from the smooth sides of the pot, and 

 the roots are exposed to the action of the air ; this 

 would aiot take place so readily if the inside of the 



pot is rough, since then both the roots and the earth 

 seem to cling more firmly to the pot. On the other 

 hand, it is an advantage to have the outside of the 

 pot glazed, because the glazing prevents evaporation, 

 and consequently the roots are not so much sub- 

 jected to those vicissitudes of cold and dryness to 

 which we have already called attention. 



Pots made in this manner are not. however, always 

 obtainable, except at a price which amounts to a 

 prohibition of their general use. The next best 

 thing to do is to paint the outsides of common pots 

 with two or three coats of oil-paint, taking care that 

 each coat is thoroughly dry before the next coat is 

 put on. Good taste will dictate the use of dull 

 sombre colours for this purpose, as it is the jilant, 

 and not the pot, which should be the object of at- 

 traction. Greater skill is needed to grow plants well 

 in painted or glazed than in common pots ; and 

 where paint is used, only the warm tints of common 

 pots, or different shades of stone-colour, should be 

 used. At the same time, the paint need not be 

 aU of one colour, and a little decoration of the pot is 

 not to be objected to provided that it is of a quiet 

 and subdued character ; the tints of browns, reds, 

 and olives are so numerous that there is a wide field 

 opened here for the exercise of taste in impro\Tng 

 the appearance of plants by the appropriate decora- 

 tion of the pots in which they are cultivated. 



The form of a pot is not a matter of much im- 

 portance to a plant, provided that there is room 

 enough for its roots to grow in a natural direction. 

 Some roots grow deeper than others, and for them 

 taller flower-pots must be obtained. But for most 

 plants it is foimd best to use a pot which has about 

 the same depth as is the width across the top ; this 

 allows of a good supply of drainage being put in, 

 and still leaves plenty of room for the necessary 

 quantity of earth, which should not qmte fill the pot. 

 The surface of the earth should not be flat, but lower 

 in the middle than at the sides, which insures the 

 water- going into the middle of the ball of earth, and 

 not down the sides only, as is so often the case with 

 plants badly potted. This only applies to rapid- 

 growing short-lived plants, and would injure hard- 

 wooded plants, such as Heaths, &c. 



Square Pots.— Pots are usually made round, 

 and smaller at the bottom than at the top ; but 

 for window gardening it would be, in some re- 

 spects, much better if they could be had square 

 and straight-sided. Each plant would thus have 

 allotted to it a larger quantity of earth to grow in, 

 and would have more room for its roots. Again, 

 if each square pot stood close to one or more other 

 square pots, the extent of external pot -surface ex- 

 posed to the air would be by so much reduced. The 



