PITIO'SPORUM. 



215 



PLANTING. 



•winter, it need not be sunk into the 

 soil at all ; but when it is to contain 

 a bark-bed, the depth of that bed, 

 which may be between two feet and 

 three feet, should be excavated from 

 the soiL When the pit is to be 

 entered by the gardener, in order that 

 he may walk upright there should be 

 a path immediately under the back 

 wall, and this will require the pit to 

 ■be at least seven feet in depth. In 

 this, and in all other cases, sufficient 

 drainage must be provided ; and if the 

 walls and floor are built and laid 

 hollow, the entrance of moisture and 

 the escape of heat will be prevented. 

 In general, pits which are heated by 

 tan or dung have the material placed 

 in the beds inside ; but in some cases 

 it is placed around the pit, in what are 

 called linings between two feet and 

 three feet inside, and as high as the 

 walls of the pit outside, so that the 

 heat penetrates through the wall to 

 the dung or soil within ; and to facili- 

 tate this, the lower parts of the walls 

 are built with open brickwork. Pits 

 of this kind are called Macphail's pits, 

 and are admirably adapted for growing 

 •hothouse plants, and for every de- 

 scription of forcing. 



Pitcairnia. — Bromeliaceee. — 

 Handsome herbaceous stove plants, 

 with pine. apple-like leaves, and very 

 singular scarlet or pinkish flowers. 

 They should all be grown in sandy 

 peat and rieh loam. 



Pitcher Plant. See Nepenthes 

 and Sarracenia. 



Pitto'sporum. — Pittosporece. — 

 Handsome evergreen bushy shrubs, 

 which require a slight protection 

 during winter. P. Tobira is a native 

 of China, which has been known to 

 live out of doors for several years in a 

 sheltered situation, but which should 

 be protected from very severe frosts. 

 It should be grown in a rich light 

 soil ; and it is propagated by cuttings, 

 which should be struck in sand under 



a hand-glass. Most of the species 

 have terminal tufts of white fragrant 

 flowers, and broadish shining dark 

 green leaves ; and they are all very 

 ornamental. 



Plantain Tree. See Musa. 



Planting is the operation of in- 

 serting plants in the soil, either in 

 the free ground or in pots. The sim- 

 plest kind of planting is that which 

 consists in removing small seedling 

 plants, or such as have been struck 

 from cuttings or layers ; and this is 

 commonly performed by making a 

 round hole with a dibber, and putting 

 in the root of the plant to the same 

 depth as it had been covered with 

 earth before, and making it fast by 

 thrusting the dibber into the firm 

 earth beside the hole and pressing it 

 to the root. In this operation, the 

 great art is to make the root fast at 

 its lower extremity. Thus, in plant- 

 ing eommon seedlings of annuals or 

 even cabbage-plants, if the earth be 

 pressed close to the root at the upper 

 part, and not at the extreme points, 

 the success will hardly be complete ; 

 and in tender plants, or in a dry sea- 

 son, a failure will be the result. In 

 planting plants of a larger size, a 

 small pit should be opened by the 

 spade or the trowel ; the bottom of the 

 pit having been formed into a cone or 

 small hill, the plant should be placed 

 in the centre-, and the roots spread 

 out equally over it on every side. The 

 roots are then to be covered with soil 

 gently pressed over them ; and the 

 operation must be finished by water- 

 ing so as to consolidate the soil 

 equally, without making it firmer on 

 one part of the roots than another. 

 If the soil should have been previously 

 dug, trenched, or loosened to the 

 depth of a foot, or probably two feet 

 or three feet, the pit should not be 

 made so deep as to throw the neck or 

 collar of the plant below, or even on 

 a level with the surface, when the 



