178 
AN IMPROVED KIND OF FLOWER-POT. 
the bottom by Roman cement, leaving a large drainage hole in the centre, I 
recommend your readers to make the trial, and its success will, I am sure, lead 
to the construction of pots of this proposed form. If it be desirable to confine the 
steam between the pots, a circular flat strip of zinc, cut through at one side, can be 
moved up, and closed over the rims. 
I need not add, that, by having the rim of the internal pot lower than that of 
the outside one, an excellent small tank will be formed for raising Lotus seeds, and 
delicate aquatic plants. Communicated hy Mr. James E. Carolan, Gardener to the 
Marquis of Headfort. May 1838. 
We have great pleasure in submitting this interesting paper to the attention 
of our readers, as we cannot permit ourselves to indulge a doubt with regard to 
the practical utility of the expedient it propounds. Indeed it appears surprising 
that this or some similar method has not been long ere this devised, and exten- 
sively adopted, for every cultivator must have experienced the injurious results of 
the usual system of potting and watering, and we feel convinced that many thou- 
sands of valuable plants have perished solely for the want of such a preservative 
as this contrivance affords. A considerable degree of experience with potted 
plants of all descriptions, has taught us that the operations of potting and watering 
are among the most important details of their cultivation ; but we have seen almost 
numberless instances in which, though the former was performed with the greatest 
possible skill according to the usual system, and the latter conducted with great 
discrimination and punctuality, certain plants have maintained a sickly and un- 
healthy appearance, and some have even perished, either on account of a deficiency 
or a redundancy of water. 
The improvement in the construction of flower-pots here suggested, will entirely 
remove the difficulty experienced in watering potted plants ; as, if the inside pot 
be made of a porous material, the application of water to the surface of the soil 
will be almost entirely superseded. By this method, any superabundance of 
moisture about the roots (by which hundreds of "plants are annually lost) will be 
prevented, and what is of still greater importance, the plants will be preserved from 
the exhausting heat of the sun in summer, which so frequently penetrates the pots 
and destroys the roots, in which indeed exists the vitality of the plants. 
In adapting this system to cuttings, we would recommend that the order of 
proceeding be inverted, and instead of planting the cuttings in the inner pot, they 
should be placed in the space between the two pots, which should in such case be 
filled with potsherds to within two inches of the surface, the remaining part being 
occupied with sand. The value of this method in striking cuttings, consists in the 
body of soil being small, so that it is more easily penetrated by air, and is thus 
preserved from becoming saturated with moisture ; and its importance may be seen 
by examining a pot that had been filled with cuttings, since those in the centre of it 
never succeed so well as those nearer the sides. The fact also that many of the most 
distinguished nurserymen adopt it with those sorts of plants which are difficult to 
strike, is a sufficient evidence of its superiority. The central pot, however, should 
