58 
THE FLORIST AND POSIOLOGIST. 
[ April, 
pots are green with “ mouldy damp and ropy 
slime,” the washing of such hecomes hard 
work. Glazed pots of moderate size might be 
used without extravagance all through the 
rooms, and even on the dining-table, being just 
as clean as a china plate or a glass tumbler. 
After I had introduced glazed pots, I re¬ 
collect seeing, in the garden of J. Baxendale, 
Esq., at Whetstone, a number of ornamental 
pots, with elegant saucers of my pattern, but 
none of them glazed, so that the porous terra¬ 
cotta would admit water to permeate it like a 
filter; still I was glad to see the thing at¬ 
tempted, though only half done. I was on 
another occasion shown through one of our 
London nurseries by the chief of the propagat¬ 
ing department for indoor plants, and he 
pointed out to me a method of propagating 
plants of sorts difficult to deal with in the 
ordinary way, by having the cuttings placed 
between two porous pots, the inner one of 
which was kept full of water, and the outer 
one plunged in a hot-bed ; and he claimed the 
invention as his own. I felt complimented, 
but said nothing, as the woodcut of such a 
contrivance may yet be seen in Loudon’s 
“ Encyclopaedia,” just as I gave it in to Mr. 
Loudon. I was glad to see that my labour 
had not been thrown away, for it was doing 
good service. 
The late Dr. Lindley expressed himself in 
favour of glazed pots, and the expense seems 
to be the only drawback to their general use. 
Generally speaking, the roots of plants need 
neither light nor air, which are so essential to 
the stem and leaves ; the ideas part at the 
collar, the roads divide, the radicle takes to the 
earth, the plumule takes to the air, so that 
the pot, whether glazed or porous, would not 
materially affect the health of the plant con¬ 
tained in it. Where pots containing ripe 
grapes are placed for ornament on the dining- 
table, there has always been some difficulty to 
disguise the vase of “ mother earth,” for where 
all else is beautiful, the red brick pot is sadly 
out of place. Now this could be easily obviated 
by glazed pots, so that the vines could be potted 
into them, to stand for fruiting, just as easily, 
and with little extra cost, as if earthenware 
pots were used, requiring an outer pot of china 
when the time came that they should appear 
on the dining-table. The kind of glaze is 
called in the trade salt-glazing, and the ware 
thus glazed is thereby made very strong and 
durable. The character of the pot as to shape 
is that of a drinking-tumbler, or the ordinary 
shape of an unglazed earthen pot; but when 
the saucer is put under it, the character changes 
to that of a wine-glass or goblet, with a foot 
and there is a ledge or bead running round the 
pot, so that the stagnant water cannot return 
to the earth in the pot, as it does in the 
ordinary flower-pot. The salt glazed w’are may 
be seen in the ordinary porter-bottles, and in 
some stone ink-bottles, and the tone should be 
a light stone-colour. I need not say that the 
makers can vary the colour to suit the views of 
the buyers with very little extra cost, but I am not 
writing now for what may be done, but relating 
what I have myself done ; and whilst I give all 
honour to the old brick pot, I must try to hide 
its plainness, when it has to be placed on the din¬ 
ner-table among its betters, gold, silver, china, 
&c. I have stated above that I saw the shape of 
my pots, in terra-cotta, in^Mr. Baxendale’s garden 
at Whetstone ; they are, therefore, already in 
the trade, and can easily be copied by the 
potters and makers of other kinds of wares ; 
but should glazed pots be wanted in bulk with¬ 
out stands, the cost would be only about half 
that of the vase form—the pot, with its orna¬ 
mental saucer. The length of time that such 
ware would last would reduce the cost in the 
long-run to little more than that of the red¬ 
brick pot; and as for argument about air to the 
roots, the time has gone by for cavilling on 
that score. The glazed pot may, indeed, do 
some good, by maintaining moisture, for the 
brick pot was and is always a great drying and 
evaporating agent, and if the glazed pot moder¬ 
ates that action, and proves a damper, it will 
do horticulture some service.— Alex. Forsyth, 
Salford. 
CROTON REGINA. 
f HIS is one of the finer of the bold- 
habited varieties of Croton —Coditvum 
variegatum —of recent origin, and re¬ 
ceived a First-class Certificate from the Eoyal 
Botanic Society in 1877. It belongs to the 
group which is well represented by C. Wil- 
Hamsn., and was introduced by Messrs. Veitch 
and Sons, of Chelsea, through their corre¬ 
spondent in Sydney, J. E. Young, Esq., who 
