150 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
December 20. 
Pursuing our observations upon Flower-pots, we 
we will next observe, that gardeners are very far 
from unanimous in their opinion as to the material 
of which they are made most beneficially. Some of 
them, perhaps a majority, go the length of declaring 
that they are best made of clay, burnt lightly, and 
consequently very porous; and there can be no 
doubt that this material has three powerful effects— 
it drains the soil in the pot rapidly, tends to reduce 
its temperature, and the burnt clay of its sides is grate¬ 
ful to the young roots, for these, almost universally, 
delight to attach themselves to, and to ramify over, 
its surface. Highly glazed, hard-burnt, slate, and 
painted pots have these effects all more or less dimi¬ 
nished ; and to avoid one of the disadvantages—drain¬ 
ing, or drying, too rapidly—more than one form of pot 
will be mentioned presently. Many practical men are 
vociferously in favour of particular forms and mate¬ 
rials ; and one, in a letter now before us, goes the 
length of saying, that “ no gardener can grow in 
any other pot a plant so well as it can be grown in 
one that is more or less porous.” Now, this is a very 
great mistake ; for, although one kind of pot may 
require more attention to the plant grown in it than 
a specimen grown in a pot made of some other 
material, yet with that extra care they will flourish 
equally. For instance, we have seen geraniums 
grown, almost side by side, in common pots, in slate 
troughs, in wooden boxes, and in cast-iron vases, 
and we could see no disparity in their vigour and 
beauty. Again, we know that Mr. Beaton—one of 
the best cultivators of these flowers—grows them, and 
has done so for a long time, in zinc pans. The 
more porous the material, the more frequent and 
abundant must be the watering; and the better con¬ 
ductor of heat the material may be—such as iron or 
zinc—the more attention is necessary to keep the 
roots from being either over-heated or excessively 
chilled. So that we verily believe, that almost every 
material of which a flower-pot can be made has some 
especial merit and disadvantage; but, at present, we 
are not in possession of comparative experiments 
sufficiently comprehensive to enable us to give a 
decided opinion in favour of any. The following 
have been employed to avoid various inconveniences 
attendant upon flower-pots of the usual form:— 
To facilitate draining, and yet to 
retain the tidiness secured by the sau¬ 
cer, Mr. Hunt has had flower-pots 
made with elevations, on which the 
pots are placed. But this is not the 
only advantage derivable from them. 
They prevent the entry of worms, may 
bo employed with common stands, 
allow a current of air to pass beneath 
them, and their form is elegant. 
Mr. Brown (2) has proposed a pot 
with hollow sides, the vacuity to be filled with water 
through a hole in the rim, or left empty, as occasion 
requires. The water, he considers, will prevent the 
plants suffering from want of 
moisture; and when empty, the 
roots will be preserved from be¬ 
ing killed by evaporation. But 
surely applying the water to the 
sides will be an extra inducement 
for the roots to gather there, an 
effect most desirable to avoid, and 
wetting the outsides of the pot is 
a very doubtful mode of preventing the reduction of 
temperature. 
Saul’s Fountain Flower-pot (3) Fi s- a - 
seems open to the same objec¬ 
tions, with the additional disad¬ 
vantages of not being easily 
drained, and being more expen¬ 
sive and cumbersome. The water 
is also forced in at the bottom 
of the pot, contrary to the course 
of nature in applying moisture 
to plants. “ An outer basin is made on the bottom 
of the pot, to which the water enters at a, and is 
carried round the pot in the basin, there being two 
or three holes through the pot’s bottom, b b b. By 
these means the water is drawn up from the basin 
by the roots of the plants (!), or, if it should be de¬ 
sirable to prevent it from being drawn up, the ex¬ 
terior orifices of the holes, which open into the 
basin or saucer, may be closed (!). The fountain is 
supplied with water by taking out the stopper c, the 
entrance into the basin at a being at that moment 
closed; and as soon as the water runs over at c, the 
cork or stopper is put in, and the stopper at a re¬ 
moved.”— Gard. May., March, 1843, 130. 
Mr. Stephens’s flower-pot (4) is Fig. 4 . 
intended to supply water to the 
plant where it is most wanted, and 
to protect it at the same time from 
•slugs and other creeping insects, 
which will not pass over the water 
between the two rims. 
Mr. Rendle, the intelligent pro¬ 
prietor of the Plymouth Nursery, 
proposed to improve the drainage of pots by elevating 
and piercing their bottoms. This, and Mr. Brown s, 
suggested to us that of which Fig. 5 
is a section. It is merely two pots, 
one fitting within another, having 
its bottom indented and pierced as 
proposed by Mr. Rendle, but not 
touching the outer pot by half an 
inch all round. This is a most effec¬ 
tual form to secure drainage, and to 
prevent the evaporation from the 
sides of the inner pot, the intervening stratum of 
confined air being a bad conductor of heat. It has 
the merit, too, of cheapness. 
Another pot (6), adopted 
by T. 0. Palmer, Esq., of 
j Bromley, Kent, bas been 
found by him to have the 
advantages that it induced 
worms to pass out, yet pre¬ 
vented their return; was 
very effectual to keep out 
ants, slugs, &c., as it stood 
in a saucer of water without 
any excess of moisture 
reaching the soil; and from this quality might be 
particularly suitable for lieaths. 
Fig. 1. 
Fig. 2. 
Fig. 5. 
\j 
Fig. 6. 
