356 



PARKS AND PLEASURE-GROUNDS. 



common use — say six inches in diameter by four in 

 depth for the first potting, and ten by six for the second. 

 Perhaps it would be better to adopt the larger pots at 

 once, as these would allow the roots to spread, and 

 prevent the corkscrew set, which is the bane of pot- 

 culture. Another error is, that pines are generally re- 

 tained too long in pots, being kept during summer in 

 some back region or shaded frame in a garden or nur- 

 sery, to save the trouble of frequent watering; and 

 the result of this treatment is almost invariably a 

 stunted habit, which is very difficult to overcome. 

 Pines in pots should be encouraged to grow vigorously, 

 and should be put out as soon as they are able to bear 

 the open air. It is right to add, that nurserymen have 

 met with unmerited reproach in regard to the small- 

 pot culture of pines. We have examined few private 

 collections in which the system was not equally 

 prevalent. 



Planting op the Pinetum. — As a general rule, the 

 best season for planting pines is in October. If the 

 plants are in pots, or are growing in the vicinity of 

 their permanent site, and have been well prepared by 

 frequent removals, they may be successfully trans- 

 planted during moist weather in April or in the begin- 

 ning of May. At each of these seasons the soil should 

 be thoroughly saturated with water, when the opera- 

 tion of planting is two-thirds completed. The plants 

 should not be placed deeper in the earth than they 

 were previously; and it contributes much to the early 

 prosperity of the plant that the roots be covered with 

 leaf-mould or well-rotted, turfy loam. It is injudicious 

 to stake the trees any further than may be necessary 

 to prevent windshaking, for a year or two. While the 



