250 
THE FLOKISI AND POMOLOGIST. 
you have separate houses for growing your plants in, and good fibrous soil, by 
all means adopt this system ; but if your soil is not first-rate, it is impracti¬ 
cable : and as a small plant in a large pot is very unsightly, I would rather 
recommend the older system. The pots ought to be of as soft and porous a 
nature as possible, because when a plant has received an over-supply of water, 
if the pot is porous it absorbs a considerable quantity, which it is ready to yield 
when the plant again becomes dry, thus materially assisting to prevent those 
extremes of drought and moisture to which those plants are so very liable. 
Drain well—that is not to say fill the pot half-full of crocks, but put one 
large piece on the bottom ; arrange carefully a few smaller pieces above that, 
all with their convex sides uppermost; and a few smaller still, and cover all with 
a thin layer of moss. 
Care must be taken that the plant be in a medium state as regards moisture 
when it is potted, because if it is too dry, you may water till the fresh soil be 
sour without giving the old ball a proper supply ; and if it is too wet, the 
operation, which should be one of pleasure, will become nasty and disagree¬ 
able. Neither must the plant be very firmly pot-bound; because if it is so, 
a stick must be used to prick out the roots, which is very apt to destroy a 
number of them. 
The roots are very tender subjects to deal with, and must be used very 
carefully, if anything like success is expected. Let us suppose our Heath to be 
in good condition ; if it is not, it had better be sent to the rubbish heap at 
once, because if a Heath once gets out of condition, there is very little hope 
for it—at least, it very seldom recovers, so as make a good specimen. If it is 
not too heavy, turn it out on the hand, remove the crocks carefully, then beat 
the ball with the palm of the hand, shaking it gentty the while, so as to loosen 
the fibres a little. Put some of the rougher parts of your soil in the pot; place 
in your plant to see that it is at the proper height to leave room for water. 
This, of course, must be in proportion to the size of the pot. Supposing it is 
what is called a six-inch pot, the neck of the plant should be about three- 
quarters of an inch below the level of the rim. If this is all right, and the 
plant exactty in the centre, fill in some soil all round, pressing it in with a thin 
stick, so as to make it very firm ; then give a thoroughly good soaking of w'ater, 
and remove to the greenhouse or heathery, which should be a light, airy house, 
fully exposed to the sun, having most perfect means of ventilation, and a little 
fire heat at command to avert injury from severe frost. A span roofed house, 
having a sparred stage in the centre, and benches round the sides, also sparred, 
is most suitable ; the top and side sashes ought to be moveable, and there 
should be ventilators near the bottom of the walls, so as to admit of a current 
of air to pass up through the plants. If a covering a degree or tw r o thicker 
than that used for shading could be made to roll not only down the roof, but 
also down the sides as far as the glass extends, the use of fire heat might be in 
a great measure dispensed with ; because in winter Heaths will stand a few 
degrees of frost much better than a few degrees of fire heat. The late Mr. 
McNab (father of the present respected curator of the Edinburgh Botanic 
Garden), who was a most excellent Heath-grower, used not to concern himself 
although he found his plants frozen to the benches. His plan in such cases was 
to apply fire heat only if he considered the frost likely to stand for some time, 
to prevent the temperature from falling lower, but by no means to drive out the 
frost, leaving that to be done entirely by natural means. 
Heaths are very clean growers—that is, free from nasty insects. Scale will 
sometimes attack them, but that is easily removed with a dry brush. Mildew 
is their only real enemy, because if it once gets established it is very difficult 
to eradicate. It is caused by the atmosphere of the house being close and 
