POTTING. 



226 



pri'mula . 



side down, holding the left hand on 

 the surface of the soil in the pot, and 

 with the neck of the plant between 

 the two middle fingers, while the bot- 

 tom of the pot is held with the right 

 hand ; and then the ball is loosened 

 by the edge of the pot being struck 

 against any fixed object, such as the 

 side of a potting bench, or the handle 

 of a spade stuck in the ground. The 

 ball containing the plant will thus 

 drop out into the left hand, and the 

 potsherds that have come out with it 

 being taken off with the right hand, 

 the ball thus prepared is set in the 

 middle of the prepared pot, and the 

 interstices between the ball and the 

 sides of the new pot are filled in with 

 earth and made firm bya potting-stick. 

 The pot may then be lifted up with 

 both hands and set down two or three 

 times with a jar, so as to consolidate 

 the whole. The pot is then to be 

 supplied with water to such an ex- 

 tent as to moisten the whole of the 

 earth which it contains ; and it may 

 be set where it is finally to remain 

 without the necessity of shading. 

 This operation is called shifting. 



In potting plants, whether in small 

 or in large pots, it is essentially neces- 

 sary that the inside of the pot should 

 be perfectly clean aud dry. If it is 

 not clean, and if particles of eaitli are 

 adhering to the sides of the pot, the 

 fresh soil put in when the plant 

 comes to be shifted will so adhere to 

 the matter attached to the sides as to 

 prevent the ball from being turned 

 out without breaking, and tearing 

 asunder the fibrous roots of the plant. 

 When the sides of a pot in which a 

 plant is to be planted, or a ball shifted, 

 are wet, the new soil soon becomes 

 sodden or soured, and also adheres so 

 firmly to the sides of the pot as not 

 to come out in shifting without break- 

 ing, as in the preceding case. The 

 soddening or souring in this latter case 

 appears to proceed from the choking 



up of the pores of the sides of the 

 pot. 



Potsherds or Crocks, are pieces of 

 flower-pots, tiles, or bricks, broken 

 very small, and used for draining 

 pots where it is required to retain a 

 certain degree of moisture round the 

 roots of the plants. Thus potsherds 

 should be used for hair-rooted plants, 

 such as th# Cape and Australian 

 shrubs, and also the North Ameri- 

 can Rhododendrons and Azaleas ; as 

 they require to have their roots kept 

 in an equable state of moisture, 

 which would be destructive to the 

 Cacti and other similar plants. But 

 cinders, when of a large size, are 

 very useful in draining pots for very 

 delicate succulent-rooted plants, as 

 they do not either absorb or retain 

 moisture, which crocks always do. 

 When cinders are sifted, the largest 

 may be reserved for this purpose, 

 and the ashes that fall from them, 

 or any coal too small to burn, will 

 be useful for setting greenhouse plants 

 on during summer, as they will pre- 

 vent Avorms from coming out of the 

 ground under them. Unless this 

 precaution be taken, worms will creep 

 through the holes at the bottom of 

 the pots, and do great injury to the 

 plants, hy tearing asunder the tender 

 fibres of the roots in passing through 

 the mould, and particularly in throw- 

 ing up their casts. 



Potting-Stick. — An instrument 

 made of wood, and resembling a paper 

 knife, but thicker and blunter at the 

 extremity. Its use is to push the 

 earth into the pots when plants are 

 shifted or transplanted, and it pre- 

 vents the necessity of using the thumb 

 for that purpose, as is generally done 

 by gardeners. Potting-sticks may be 

 made of different sizes according to 

 the size of the pots. 



Prickly Pear. — See Opuntia. 



Primrose. — See Pri'mula. 



Pri\mula. — Primulacece. — The 



