48 
OPERATIONS FOR MARCH. 
however, on the point that great and abrupt changes are prejudicial ; for though frequent and 
gradual shifting occasions a little more trouble, and may possibly give the plants a partial check 
at the time of its occurrence, it is admirably calculated for inducing that healthy and constant 
progress which is a chief desideratum in plant-culture, and affords the manager opportunities of 
adapting his treatment to the state of the specimens. 
There is another class of plants, not belonging to any particular tribe, but composed of speci- 
mens of all descriptions, of which we have said that it is best to keep them in the pots in which 
they are growing. Their condition can only be ascertained by examining the roots ; and to do 
this, the rim of the pot should be knocked gently on the edge of the potting-bench, keeping the 
stem of the plant between the fingers, on which last the ball of earth may rest when it glides out 
of the pot. If the roots have not numerously reached the outside of the ball, and the earth is, 
notwithstanding, neither hard and dry, nor saturated and sodden, but apparently fresh, open, and 
capable of admitting the circulation of fluids, or the passage of roots, the Avhole should be care- 
fully restored to the same pot, and left till there is an absolute necessity for a change. 
The third group we have indicated, comprises plants which, so far from needing to be placed 
in larger pots, require nothing so much as shifting into smaller ones. It is granted that the cases 
of this sort will be few in well-managed collections ; but these few frequently embrace the most 
valuable species, and the number is much greater in the majority of places. Such plants can be 
detected by an experienced observer, from the stuntedness and want of vigour in their branches, 
and the peculiar paucity, yellowness, and sickliness of their leaves. On turning them out of the 
pot, it will be found that the soil is either soured by being loaded with water, or hardened into a 
solid mass, and that the roots are scanty, unhealthy, and nearly destitute of fibre. The best remedy, 
in both instances, is to clear away the old earth by washing ; trim off" the diseased points of the 
roots with a sharp knife ; remove, with the same instrument, the imperfect branches, and put'the 
specimen, with a fresh compost, in a pot just large enough to contain its roots. By watei-ing it 
cautiously, and placing it in a genial atmosphere, it will then speedily recover. 
Orchidacese, as we have frequently remarked on previous occasions, may be treated diff"erently 
from other plants in regard to potting. Instead of shifting them repeatedly throughout the year, they 
should have only one potting, which can be regulated by their known habits. A more gradual 
process would seriously injure their roots, and from the porous nature of the materials in which 
they are grown, there is scarcely any chance of their becoming saturated with water. After 
potting, the heat of the orchidaceous-house may be increased, and it should be rendered somewhat 
moister in proportion. Shading can be applied when the sun gets sufficiently powerful to affect 
the plants materially. 
The temperature of the stove may lilvewise now be elevated a little, and where bottom-heat is 
employed, the bark or leaves producing it should be stirred or renewed. Pelargoniums, too, will 
be improved by a temperature slightly above that of the greenhouse ; at least, the atmosphere 
should be somewhat more confined. And Camellias, after flowering, demand additional heat and 
moisture. Vicissitudes of temperature, and extreme drought or humidity, should be avoided 
while the Irtter plants are producing their blooms, or they will be very likely to slied them 
prematurely. 
In the flower-borders, the division and reduction of herbaceous plants, and the transplantation 
of perennials and biennials from the reserve garden, should occupy primary attention. If these 
things be effected in November, or the commencement of winter, the plants are commonly damaged 
or lifted out of the ground by frost It should be observed, that the younger and outer 
portion of clumps of herbaceous plants is the most healthy, and should be selected in preference 
to the centre, which has been more or less exhausted by previous flowering, and by continuance 
in the same soil. 
This is emphatically the seed-sowing month ; since not only annuals, but the seeds of perennial 
plants, shrubs, and trees, are now to be committed to the earth. As a general rule, they should 
be covered lightly with a friable soil, and watered sparingly when the weather is dry. Annuals 
ought by no means to be all sown at once, as is the usual practice, but, commencing directly, 
sowings should be made every fortnight for three months. The result will be a constant display 
till the end of autumn, and not a period of extraordinary brilliancy succeeded by one of equal 
desolation. 
