5 



CHAPTER I. 



SOILS FOR POTTING. 

 Some years ago it was believed by many that certain 

 Plants required a certain compost in which to grow, and that 

 they ivou^d not grow in any thing save this one particular 

 preparation. Many of the Florists in this country, but more 

 in the older countries, still maintain that unless Silver Sand 

 is used, cuttings cannot be rooted with any great degree of 

 success, and if anything but Peat and Silver Sand is used for 

 potting Camellias, Azalias and Hkc plants, they will not do 

 well. This might have been believed up to the present time, 

 if all Plant Culturists had lived where these tvv^o ingredients 

 were in abundance, but this was not the case, and from ne- 

 cessity some were compelled to trj^ t o grow these and kindred 

 plants in other composts, and the success nttendi ng these 

 trials exceeded their highest hopes. We confess that plants 

 rfo &c?6c'e/- in a soil suited to their wants than in one not con- 

 genial to their nature, but it is ridiculous or ncnsensici.l to 

 argue that they will not grow and do comparatively well in 

 another composition, provided of course that the other com- 

 position is not directly opposed to what their nature demancss. 

 An eminent Florist whom we highly respect, clainis to use 

 but one compost, and grows a I h 's 2^:anis equally vrell in it, 

 but he ^^on'f grow aZZ ^iTifZs of plants, and he has every oppor- 

 tunity to satisfy the cravings of the plants in all other re- 

 spects, which would at least to a considerable extent counter- 

 act the effect of an unsuitable foLI. To the amateur, who al- 

 most universally labors under a host of disadvantages, it is 

 necessary that he, to be successful, must take advantage of 

 every point; hence we describe the different substances that 

 are generally used for Potting soils, and in our Specific Direc- 

 tions we tell 3'ou v/hat preparation our experience has taughr 

 us to be the most suitable for the different plants when croirn 

 in pots. If the comfosition vre recommend is not readily cb- 



