MATERIALS FOR POTTING 



information. M. Delanghe turned out of its pot a plant 

 which to my surprise was potted like an ordinary palm 

 or fern. My informant then told me that it did not pay 

 him to buy peat for Orchids, so he had potted them in 

 what he termed ordinary Azalea compost, and what 

 proved to be a kind of leaf soil (terre bruyere). On 

 visiting MM. Peeters' Orchid nurseries I obtained 

 further information. M. F. Peeters, who uses this 

 compost with great success, told me that the compost 

 is not the ordinary leaf soil used in gardens, which is 

 obtained by collecting large quantities of leaves in heaps 

 and allowing them to decay, but is a fibrous forest soil, 

 consisting chiefly of half-decomposed leaves, principally 

 oak leaves. This soil should not be collected indis- 

 criminately, but only those portions that are light, soft 

 to the touch, and a little sandy should be selected. It 

 is best to run the soil through a coarse sieve, rejecting 

 new leaves that have lately fallen, and all decaying 

 pieces of wood and twigs. The best time to procure 

 leaf-soil is during the summer months when it is com- 

 paratively dry, as it may then be stored in a dry shed 

 without fear of fermentation. Previously to potting the 

 plants it is advisable again to sift the soil, this time 

 using the finest mesh sieve obtainable, so as to reject 

 the fine earth, for when this is retained the compost is 

 not sufficiently open, and therefore remains wet for too 

 long a period, causing the roots to perish. M. Peeters' 

 method is to select pots sufficiently large to allow the 

 plants for several seasons to develop without getting 

 over the rims. A single crock is placed over the hole 

 in the pot, with about half-a-dozen smaller ones around 

 it. The leaf-soil should be fairly dry, and placed firmly 

 and evenly round the roots of the plant, the rhizome 

 or crown of which should be kept just on a level with 

 the rim. The pot should be filled with the compost 

 to within an inch of the top, this space being then filled 



