8 



CHAPTER n. 



POTS AND POTTING. 

 We desire to say a few words in re^^ard to the pots or vessels 

 in wliich plants are grown, before we proceed to the operation 

 of potting. We know that thousands of ])\ants, annually sicken 

 and die because the vessels in which ihey are grown are not 

 suitable. We are aw^are that in many sections of the 

 country pots such as florists use are not to be obtained without 

 a great deal of trouble, hence, as soon as plants require 

 potting they are put in tin cans, glazed stoneware, boxes, old 

 paint buckets, and in fact anj^thing that is handy that will 

 hold earth and water. We wish to enter our protest just here 

 by saying that nearly all plants require air at the roots, conse- 

 quently such treatment is radically wrong ajid positively injuri- 

 ous. The above statement is the rule, but certainly there are 

 exceptions to it. Some plants will live in water ; tlie^ will not 

 object to growing in anything that will supply their particular 

 wants; if this want be water, then grow" them in something 

 that will contain water; if the want is air, then they must be 

 grown in a porous vessel, that will admit a copious supply 

 of air. 



The best pot is the kind most Florists use. They are made 

 from the finest fire clay, made in moulds, and are *' turned on 

 a jigger;" this mode is superior to the old way of " pressing" 

 as by this mode the pot remains porous, while by the old way 

 the clay was made quite solid and only very slightly porous. 

 The pots are then burned to a brick red ; if burned any harder 

 than this the clay vitrifies, and all the pores are closed ; these 

 pots, when burnt harder than usual, are used for Aquatic 

 plants, but for most plants they are but little better than a 

 wooden box or tin can. 



Anticipate the needs of 3'our plants, and have some of these 

 pots on hand for the plants you have or those you ma^' buy. 

 When it is utterly- impossible to get pots of the above descrip- 

 tion, it then becomes necessary to use a substiiute. We 

 would advise that the bottom of the vessel used be perforated 

 with a number of small holes, say }/i inch in diameter and not 

 more than an inch apart. We prefer wooden boxes of suitable 



