202 
THE ELORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
that there is a watchfulness observed towards small things which is rarely 
carried through to larger ones. The Correa being naturally a well-formed 
shrubby plant wants very little care as to exciting composts ; one-third loam, 
from the top 2 inches of a pasture, laid together and rotted with all the turf 
in it, and two-thirds good turfy peat, such as is adapted for Heaths—that full 
of partly-decomposed fibre, which keeps the texture light and porous ; these, 
well mixed together by repeatedly stirring them and rubbing them through 
the half-inch meshes of a wire sieve, will be the best soil that can be used. 
Let a quantity of this be placed in a good-sized pot, the top made very level, 
and as solid as it will become by striking the bottom down upon the potting 
table ; the seed may be sown as thinly as possible and evenly over the surface, 
a little of the soil put in a fine wire sieve, and as much small stuff sifted over 
the seed as will cover it and no more. Place the pot in the greenhouse, and 
although it ought not to be wet, take especial care that it never becomes 
thoroughly dry. Seed-pans neglected a few hours at the critical moment when 
germination has begun, are sure to suffer ; the drought would kill the seed, 
but in large pots the earth is a long time before it gets too dry, because of the 
greater body. In wetting the seed, do not fall into the common error of water¬ 
ing the top half-inch of soil, under the notion that a little is sufficient for little 
subjects. You must water so gently that you must not disturb a grain of sand, 
for if you do you disturb the seed also. The best way to water all light seeds 
lightly covered is to dip a common clothes-brush into a pail of water, hold the 
hairs upwards, and draw your hand along the hairs with a gentle pressure 
towards you. The water flies off in such small particles as will disturb 
nothing, and yet in such quantities as will soon wet the seed. If the seed is 
not allowed to dry after it is sown, in due time every seed germinates. By the 
time the young seedlings have made good leaves they must be pricked out, 
and the most effective way is in 60-sized pots, all round close to the edge of 
the pot and an inch apart. Fill these pots with the same sort of soil, knock 
the pots against the table to let the earth*settle down a little, and with a piece 
of wood, cut flat, and a little pointed, like a knife, lift up the soil in the seed¬ 
ling pot, so as to release a few at a time without disturbing the roots. With 
the same instrument make small holes close to the side of the pot which the 
roots may touch, and close the soil upon them. The pots should then be put 
close together in the shady part of the house, and a hand-glass over them ; the 
drainage of these small pots may be a lump of the peat, such as does not go 
through the sieve, or an inch thickness of moss, or a flattish piece of crock to 
go over the hole, and small pieces to fill up level round it. The watering of 
these newly-planted seedlings must be as carefully done as in the earlier stages. 
The plants while young will require continued shading, and it will not do until 
they are fairly established in their first pots, a single plant in a pot, to treat 
them as established plants. Although a sunny hour within its influence would 
bake the sides of the pot and burn up the roots, yet the warmth of the pot, 
the facility with which air can get down to the roots, and the moisture which 
the pot absorbs, and in turn supplies, are all favourable to the advancement of 
the young plant when kept from the full influence of the sun. 
By the time the plants have made good growth and full roots they will be 
ready to take their places in the middle of the same sized pots which have hitherto 
accommodated half a dozen round the edges, and with drainage as before. In 
potting, carefully divide the ball into as many pieces as there are plants, and with¬ 
out disturbing each plant, place the root and soil together in the centre of the 
pot, fill up all round by poking down the compost with the fingers, but not too 
tight, adjust the plant so that it is no deeper in the soil than it was, water 
carefully without disturbing, and let them be placed under hand-glasses 
