1871 . ] 
SOILS FOE POT PLANTS.-NO. II. 
201 
Such loam should be cut to the depth of the close fibre—say two, three, or four 
inches, but not deeper, Loam which bears rough’ coarse grass is never good for 
the finer purposes of cultivation, though it may do for ordinary purposes, such as 
border-making and the like. Indeed, it may be laid down as a rule that the 
more healthy the soil, the finer the plants that will be produced from it. The 
soil being selected, cut the turves as directed, and cart them home and stack 
them immediately. In doing this we should have three different stacks ; one of 
strong loam, another of light loam, and a third of half-and-half, and the last 
double the size of the others, as it would be the most called upon. Loam should 
be collected when in a state of medium dryness ; in fact, just in the state to pro¬ 
mote slow decomposition when laid together, but nothing more. It is always 
best that the vegetative power of all perennial roots and weed seed also should be 
destroyed before the loam is used for plant potting; but this cannot be effected 
without subjecting it to considerable heat, more than can be commanded by simple 
decomposition. In such cases the process of charring may be resorted to, and 
it is thu3 effected:—A quantity of wood, such as pea-sticks, prunings, and the 
like, being collected, it is built into a conical heap, the same as for burning char¬ 
coal, placing the kindling material in the centre, with a flue-hole at the bottom 
to get to it, and a thick stake to form a chimney through the centre of the 
cone. Then the turves are built up a foot or eighteen inches thick, placing 
some small brushwood among them as the work proceeds. The stack being com¬ 
pleted, light the fire, giving it vent by loosening if not withdrawing the stake 
altogether, and leading the fire to other parts by making vent-holes where it does 
not seem to burn freely. The fire fairly lighted, cover the heap a foot or more 
thick with litter or rubbish of any kind to keep the heat in, and by the time it 
has burnt out you will find you have a mass of soil not at all charred, but the 
greater part of it heated to a sufficient temperature to destroy the roots of weeds 
or any seeds that may be contained in it, and the soil will also be considerably 
enriched by the process. 
Leaf-mould I never use, except for soft-wooded plants, and then I either 
collect it from accumulations in the woods, or prepare it especially. The latter 
is the best plan, when there is convenience for doing it. The plan is to litter 
well-fed horses in loose boxes with the leaves of beech or chestnut, avoiding those 
of the oak as much as possible, because of the tannin they contain, and allow them 
to accumulate until they get too hot for the feet of the horses. In this 
way, and by throwing the sides into the middle occasionally, they get impregnated 
with urine and the more solid portions of the excrement, and when thoroughly 
decomposed, as the fermenting mass will be in a few months, form the finest 
manure imaginable for pot purposes, with the advantage that it will have been 
sufficiently heated to destroy every trace of weed, seed, or insect ova—always % 
nuisance in natural leaf-soil. A portion of leaf-soil so prepared will be found 
admirable for admixture with loam, for soft-wooded plants of all kinds. 
