THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
367 
March 13.J 
is a very important affair. Having thus shown the tyro 
in pines, the position of the question at the end of 
February, we cannot do better than offer some advice 
about potting, for it is necessary that this be done in 
such a way as that the soil they are placed in may 
remain comparatively fresh, in regard of its organic 
texture, until the fruit is ripe ; to effect this, fresh and 
turfy soils should be resorted to, coupled with the most 
careful drainage. 
We stay not here to attempt to settle the difference 
(as to soils) betwixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee, per 
sonages who, with all their altercations, have never 
fairly brought their quarrel to a close; and we cannot, 
therefore, report progress. This much is well known, 
a good turfy loam, about halfway between what is termed 
stiff loam and light loam, is complete in itself for the 
culture of first-rate pines. Such in our opinion is best, 
if procured in the September previous to the spring 
shifting, and piled up in a sharp and narrow ridge in 
the compost yard, taking care that no rains are permitted 
to enter. Thus stored up for a few mouths, it will chop 
down with the spade most readily, and plenty of this 
kind of labour will bring it into a state of division 
sufficient for the purpose, without resorting to the sieve 
or riddle; for if we used the latter, it should be to 
separate and reject the mere earth which is liberated in 
the act of chopping. The spade should be applied until 
scarcely a lump remained larger than a pigeon’s egg. 
The size to which the material is reduced, however, 
should be regulated somewhat by the size of the plants 
to be shifted ; for in the last shift—that is to say, into 
the fruiting pots—very coarse pieces of turfy materials 
maybe thrust here and there, all round the ball of earth, 
as the filling up proceeds. 
Most cultivators use manure of some kind with the 
loam, and we think that to the extent of about a fifth 
part of the mixture it is good practice, and probably 
nothing is better than the old linings applied to hot-beds 
of the former year; or even the half-decayed beds 
themselves, especially if formed of dung and tree leaves 
mixed, for the latter longer retain their organic character, 
and this is the point we would aim at. In fact, the 
kind of material and potting which a first-rate orchid 
grower would use for what he terms his ground orchids, 
will admirably suit pines in general. Therefore our 
readers may with much benefit refer to our highly 
practical coadjutor, Mr. Appleby, who has cultivated the 
pine, as well as the orcliideous tribes, in his day; and 
whose papers in the back numbers, bearing on this 
subject, may be consulted with no small profit. 
Such a mixture then, well stirred up and blended, will 
be complete for the culture of pines in general; but as 
the watering of pines is by no means an unimportant 
item in their culture, and as by over-watering (combined 
by an unlucky amount of cloudy and dark weather, 
which sometimes follows this process) the roots may 
become inactive for awhile through stagnant moisture, 
it is well to blend some material of an indestructible 
character (and one that possesses very low absorbing 
powers) amongst the compost. This facilitates the dis¬ 
charge of moisture, by preventing an undue adhesion 
or coherance of the particles of soil, and this by a double 
action, ensures the free egress of moisture, and by con¬ 
sequence a ready admission of the air, that great pro¬ 
moter of the vital forces in the roots. Indeed, it would 
scarcely be unsound analogy to compare a plant in a pot 
water logged to a fish in a basin frozen all over. No 
better material can be found for this purpose than char¬ 
coal, which may vary in size from a pea to that of a large 
bean. Such may form a fifth part of the compost before 
alluded to, and most cultivators add a little sand. 
And now for the potting process, which we must 
detail for the sake of young beginners. We have alluded, 
in previous papers, to watering requisite to plants with 
hard balls. The pine stock, therefore, should be looked 
over carefully a couple or three days previously, and 
those which are really dry should receive a liberal 
watering of tepid liquid manure. Those, however, 
which hre in the least moist, will by no means require it; 
especially such as the Black Jama'teas, for they root much 
quicker in the new soil when the roots are somewhat 
dry than if wet; and, indeed, in the latter case, will 
“ burn” much sooner with the least excess of warmth. 
We advise in all cases liberal shifts. Wants which were 
suckers any time during the last summer, and which had 
become established in seven-inch pots, may be shifted 
into pots two sizes larger, and thence, in three or four 
months afterwards, into their fruiting pots; indeed, 
where there is a tank heat, and room to spare, we would 
shift them at once into their fruiting pots. The compost 
being ready, and of course in a mellow and somewhat 
dry state, and the pots at hand, the business may proceed. 
Drainage materials must be liberally provided in the 
form of roughly broken crocks, to cover the hole in the 
pot, and some pounded material (from which all the mere 
dust is carefully rejected) to cover the crocks ; the latter 
material may be composed of equal parts pounded 
crocks, charcoal pounded, and some coarse boiled bones 
or oyster shells roughly pounded. This may be subjected 
to a riddle of half-inch mesh, and all that comes through 
the riddle may be added to the general compost. The 
rough crocks being placed in such a way, that two or 
three bold outlets for the escape of moisture and the 
free ascent of bottom heat are formed, the whole may 
be cased over with the pounded material. In all cases 
we would have about one-sixth in depth of the pot 
occupied by the drainage; this done, let a few of the 
turfy lumps amongst the compost be strewed over the 
whole, or if such will throw the ball too high, a little 
dead moss placed on the drainage; and now the ball of 
the plant must be placed, suffering none of the smaller 
portions of the compost to intervene between the ball 
and the crocks. The ball should in all cases be about 
one-sixth of the depth of the pot, below the level of the 
rim. 
As soon as the plant is turned out, the ball should 
be examined, and any loose or exhausted soil may be 
suffered to fall away, and any mere drainage material 
liberated carefully. Let us, however, protest against the 
least disturbance to the roots. If some of the old 
drainage does not at once loosen, let it go with the ball 
into the new pot. And now the process of filling up 
takes place; and about this there needs little ceremony, 
all that is needed being to continue throwing the rough 
or turfy lumps regularly here and there continually 
whilst filling in the compost. As soon as the filling has 
thus reached the level of the ball of roots, let a casing of 
the finer materials, of an inch or two in thickness, 
be coated all over the top; this serves to control the 
sudden influences of an occasional dry atmosphere. And 
here let us protest against any thumping of the pot on 
the potting bench; a kind of practice in which our old 
practitioners were great adepts, and which process merely 
serves to undo all that has been done, to nullify by one 
stupid act all the pains taken over the openness of the 
soil. Sometimes it becomes necessary to use a stick to 
cause the compost to descend, not to ram it tight with ; 
we should, however, rather recommend such liberal 
shifts as precluded the necessity of stick-work, which 
often does serious mischief. 
We need hardly remind the pine cultivator of the 
necessity of having a renewed bottom warmth duly 
provided before he sets to work; or if structures are 
scarce, and the pots must remain out whilst his bed is 
preparing, let the operator place them securely on the 
floor of some house, where a temperature of 70° can be 
insured to them until removed to their destination. 
Any dark place will do, the temperature is the only 
