50 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
["April 24. 
the flowers have faded. I am alluding chiefly to the 
tender dwarf kinds; and in their case, treating them 
thus, as if they were semi-herbaceous, causes them to 
yield the greatest quantity of healthy strong blooms. 
These primings may be even rendered useful for increas¬ 
ing the number of plants. I mentioned, the other week, 
how the small young side-shoots might be treated; and 
a few of the tenderest of the Teas and Bourbons, though 
the cuttings should consist of a part of the old as well 
as the new wood, might receive similar treatment; but 
for the majority of moderate hardy and strong-growing 
kinds, such care will not be necessary. All that will be 
required, will be to cut the prunings into pieces of the 
last, and even sometimes of the previous year’s wood, 
from six to twelve inches in length, cutting across at a 
joint at the bottom, or, better still, at a lieel, where the 
last year’s shoot has sprung from the shoot of the pre¬ 
vious year, and having at least one bud in the upper 
part. Prepare a small border mi the north side of’ a 
wall, hedge, or other fence, by putting a layer of coal- 
ashes, with a little salt, at the depth of twelve inches, 
fill up nine inches with very sandy soil, containing a 
little leaf-mould, and finishing with from three to six 
inches of sand on the surface. Then firmly insert the 
cuttings in rows, water, put a few twigs among them 
for a few months, and, with the exception of a watering 
now and then, they will require no more attention. 
R. Fish. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Potting—One-shift System. —Concluded from page 86. 
4th. The peculiar treatment to insure success. First, 
in common with other modes oT potting, the p>ots should 
be sound, fairly burned, dry, and either new, or tho¬ 
roughly clean, outside and inside. The man who puts 
a plant in a dirty pot, has too much of the Goth in His 
composition to possess, in any circumstance, much deli¬ 
cacy of feeling. Secondly, good drainage —always essen¬ 
tial—must here form a chief element of success. In all 
plants intended to remain in the same pot for years, it 
cannot be too particularly attended to. Green moss, or 
chopped wheat straw, strewed over the drainage, is a 
good thing for preventing the earthy particles above 
being washed into and choking it up. Broken charcoal, 
from whence the dust has been extracted, is also very 
useful for this purpose. Indeed, larger pieces of charcoal 
may constitute the chief part of the drainage, which 
will be lighter than most things that could be used—a 
matter of considerable importance. On this account, 
alone, it is valuable .for mixing with the compost, to keep 
it open, independently of any chemical properties it may 
possess. Thirdly, soil. This, whatever may be its con¬ 
stituents, should be rough and lumpy; the bulk, in 
general cases, consisting of pieces from the size of peas 
up to that of beans and walnuts; and in cases of larger 
pots, a few pieces may be as lai’ge as hen’s eggs. In 
such compost the plants will grow rapidly; and even 
in the case of heaths, &c., they will maintain a healthy 
appearance for years. If the compost, should much of 
it be in larger pieces, the plant will not at all be greatly 
injured for the first season, or more, nor yet as long as 
the roots are contented to crawl around the surface of 
the lumps; but when they have reached the side of the 
pot, and necessity leads them to penetrate the large 
pieces, a declining appearance is apt to present itself; 
because these pieces, closely packed from their very size, 
are apt to become sour in the centre, as the purifying 
influence of air cannot reach them. Hence the com¬ 
plaints against the system, that though plants grow 
vigorously at first, they were short-lived. Such large 
shifts in the fine sifted soil of old could not succeed, 
unless in potted specimens, that received more care than 
can in general be given to plants. Using huge lumps of 
loam, or peat, would tend to produce a similar evil, 
though from causes apparently different. The middle 
course is the safe one. 
5th. In potting considerable care is necessary. A 
plant never thrives well when the surface of the ball is 
sunk sevend inches below the rim of the pot; and there 
is something uncouth in observing the centre of the ball 
sticking .up in the centre of the pot, like a mole-hill, as 
used to be the case in growing heaths, &c., before the 
principle of drainage and using rough soil were so well 
understood as they are now. In all cases, therefore, but 
especially where it is intended for a plant to continue 
for years, the compost should be pressed firmly before 
the young plant is set in the centre of the pot; aud as, 
nevertheless, it will gradually sink a little, the surface 
of the old soil may just be a little below the rim of the 
pot. If the roots are the least matted, they should now 
be gently disentangled, and packed carefully with the 
hand, in layers, putting the finest of the rough soil over 
the young rootlets, and the coarser towards the outside 
next the side of the pot; and squeezing all rather firmly 
together with the hand, taking care, however, that the 
soil is in that happy medium that may be termed neither 
dry nor wet, and yet sufficiently heated to occasion no 
immediate check by cold. 
6th. Watering is the most important of all points, 
and, where it cannot be properly attended to, the one- 
shift system should not be attempted. I have repeatedly 
said, tixat the principle to be generally attended to, is to 
reach with moisture every fibre of the roots, and then 
wait until your services were required. But, in ordinary 
cases, such advice is synonymous with advising the 
moistening of all the soil in the pot equally and tho¬ 
roughly. Do so with newly-potted plants on the one- 
sliift system, and you will soon have candidates for the 
rubbish-heap. For some time you must merely water as 
far as the roots extend-—the unappropriated soil must 
not be soaked, or it will become sour and unhealthy for 
the roots even before they get to it. If you wish to be 
convinced of this, set a well-drained pot, filled with soil, 
along with pots having growing plants in them, and 
give them all a dash regularly from the watering-pot, 
and just take the trouble of examining the composition 
in the plantless pot, after a few weeks’ experiment, and 
the soaked, soapy look will at once show you the in¬ 
fluence of roots in keeping the soil in pots in a good 
condition. No regular routine dash or dribble from the 
water-pot will do with the one-shift system. 
I should have said, under the preceding head of pot¬ 
ting, that, with rough soil, it is necessary to surface with 
a little that is finer, that the air may not enter too freely. 
7th. Temperature. On this system, for some time 
after potting, the plants should have from 5° to 10° 
more heat than they otherwise would require; and a 
close atmosphere until fresh growth is proceeding freely. 
A dash from the syringe frequently in hot days will be of 
great importance. Every incitement to growth must 
thus be given; and when that has been accomplished, 
then air must be freely imparted, and a drier atmosphere 
maintained, that the fresh wood so freely made may be 
thoroughly matured. This will be especially necessary 
with all lasting plants, or they will become rather gouty 
in winter. Temporary fleeting beauties will be encou¬ 
raged by the same treatment. 
8th. Time of Potting. Upon this system, in the case 
of all lasting plants intended to be our companions for 
years, this should take place in spring and early summer, 
in order, first, that growth may be quickly made, and 
then maturation of the wood be effected before the 
dark days come, when, in the generality of cases, the low 
temperature of winter will give them the rest they require, 
before breaking and flowering vigorously and profusely 
the following season. R. Fish. 
