270 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 2‘.). 
1 
i 
surprise when I saw this new seedling in a bed of seed¬ 
lings in Mr. Jeffries's nursery, and knowing that there is 
not another plant in England which could produce it, 
except Spleenii itself, for it is as like Spleenii as any of 
the Diadematums are to each other. After a number 
of hard cross-questions, Mr. J. could not well stand his 
ground; the old breeder and I were referred to the 
Mrs., who “knew all about it.” One does not like to 
run aground too close in an argument against a lady, 
out still the thing ought not to be left a mystery, as, if 
means had been found to seed one barren geranium, 
why not the whole of them ? But no ; there is no mys¬ 
tery in the matter; this new bedder is a sport from 
Spleenii , with the stripes of the flowers and shades only 
shifted, and to Mrs. Jeffries we are indebted for this 
new addition to our bedders, which is to bear her name; 
and if all were known, we should find that “ sports,” as 
this freak of nature is called, would throw more light on 
the cause of barrenness, than wc have yet dreamed of 
in our philosophy. D. Beaton. 
MANAGEMENT OF CAPE HEATHS. 
(Continued from page 256.) 
Potting.— Having referred to pots, drainage, and 
compost, I come now 
fthly. To the time of, and preparation of the plants 
for, potting and shifting .—I am supposing that the 
plants, however young, have each got a pot to itself, 
however small. The treatment necessary, when three 
or four stood in one pot, was incidentally given under 
the treatment of cuttings. The time of fresh shifting 
must be regulated by the state of the young plant, and 
many other considerations. If it were not for this, the 
earlier after the end of March and the beginning of 
April, the better would it be for the plants, as then they 
would be so well established in their pots as to stand 
harder and rougher treatment during the winter;— 
unless under peculiar circumstances, I would never 
advise shifting at all after the second week in September. 
Young plants can scarcely have too small a jiot at first, 
provided it is shifted again as soon as its roots reach the 
side of the pot, and these small shifts repeated, and no 
checks allowed, until it fills a four or five-inch pot. What¬ 
ever may be the mode of potting ultimately resorted to, 
I should not think of giving a large shift to a free or 
slow-growing Heath until it was large enough to fill 
the size of pot above referred to. The sooner, therefore, 
young plants are shifted, the better, and the more so, 
that another shift or two may be given the same season. 
In their case there is no reason why wc should wait for 
either blooming or pruning. If such tit hits show 
flower at all, it would be the best economy to nip the 
bloom-buds off, and do all the pruning that is necessary 
by stopping a rampant shoot between the thumb and 
finger. I mention this, because some kinds will show 
bloom shortly after they leave the cutting-pot, but these 
early blooms must always be sacrificed if wc wish to 
get a good plant in the quickest time. We must keep 
future ornament, rather than present display, in view, 
in the case of these young plants, and the sooner and 
oftencr we shift them the better, provided we do not 
allow these frequent small shifts to injure the plants by 
our inattention. Where due care cannot be given, it 
will be safer to give a young plant a shift, so as to yield 
a space of from one-half to thrce-quarters-of-an-inch 
from the ball to the side of the pot, instead of giving it 
two shifts ranging from two-eighths to three-eighths-of- 
an-inch each. These dimensions of shifts will be quite 
large enough for plants taken out of large thumbs and 
small 00’s. As wc get on to four and five-inch pots, wc 
give larger shifts in proportion. After that period, 
growers can decide at their leisure, whether they will 
keep on with this successive mode of shifting, or at 
once transfer a plant in a five-inch pot, into one of ten, i 
twelve, or fifteen. In the first case, the time of finishing j 
blooming, pruning afterwards, and growth commencing 
again, must regulate the time of shifting, provided that 
time is not much later than the period specified. If it 
be, then either a very small shift should be given, or it 
should be deferred until the following spring. Many 
close, slow-growing kinds require so little in the way of 
pruning, that they may be fresh potted any time, when 
done flowering. 
When the large-shift system is resorted to, it should 
always be done in early summer, that there may be 
time for rapid growth and hardening of the wood before ] 
the close of autumn. In the case of late spring and 
summer flowering species, it would be advisable to 
sacrifice a season’s bloom when the large shift was ! 
resolved upon, so that the potting might be proceeded I 
with early. Such matters attended to, all decayed 
flowers gone, all old ties, if any, removed or seen to, all 
old decayed foliage carefully extricated from the plants ; 
and they, as respects their balls of roots, regularly 
soaked in water, and then allowed to part with all 
superfluity of moisture, the potting may be proceeded 
with. 
4th. Mode of Potting. —This, too, must bo regulated 
as to circumstances. Let us instance a few. Here is a 
nice little healthy plant in a three-inch pot; we turn it 
out of the pot, and find the roots beginning to mat 
slightly, close to its sides. With a small pointed stick 
we disentangle these roots, and prick over the ball, so as 
to render a smooth surface a rough one, and thus open 
up a clear pathway for the roots. A pot has been 
drained, the rough matter put above the drainage has 
been made firm, most of the old drainage of the plant 
is got rid of, unless interlaced with roots; the ball is 
then set in so that its surface stands lialf-an-inch below 
the rim of the pot, and leaving between it and the side 
of the new pot half-an-inch all round, to be filled up 
with the prepared compost. This is put in in layers, 
and in addition to striking the pot on the potting bench, 
a very thin piece of wood, similar to a bone paper-cutter, 
is run round several times as the layers are added close 
to the side of the pot, alike to fill crannies, and to 
solidify the soil without touching or hurting the roots. 
If there is any danger of hurting the roots, let this 
firming-stick’s services be dispensed with, as young 
plants soon to be shifted again will grow all the quicker 
from not having the soil too close and firm. As you 
proceed, layer after layer, place between, some little 
libry pieces of peat, tit hits of charcoal, and broken 
pots, in the proportion previously specified, and finish j 
with some of the finest compost, just placing as much j 
over the surface of the old ball as would give it a fresh j 
appearance, after picking oil' a little of the very surface 
matter. 
But there is another plant in a 5-inch pot, quite I 
healthy ; it has received what pruning it wanted, and is 
growing freely, and a nice bloom is wanted from it next 
year, and, better and better still, for years to come— 
abundance of flowering being more wanted than rapidity 
of growth. Let it be treated the same as the one above, 
only the compost must be a little rougher; the old ball I 
must be sunk a quarter-of-an-inch more, to allow for 
plenty of water (for bad drainage and deficiency of 
water aro the destructive rocks of Heath culture), and 
the space between the ball and the sides of the new 
pot may range from three-quarters to one inch. The 
soil, though loose, must be packed firmly, either with a 
stick or the points of the fingers; for when slow growing 
and abundant blooming are the combinations desired, 
no greater error can be tried than loose potting. This 
holds especially true in hard-wooded plants. On the 
other hand, in soft-wooded plants of but short duration, 
we easily combine rapidity of growth and freq-blooming, 
