1872. ] 
ON POTTING WINDOW PLANTS. 
225 
material. Next place the ball of roots in the centre of the new pot, having pre¬ 
viously put sufficient soil in the bottom to raise the surface of the old ball to 
within a quarter of an inch of the top of the pot; then fill in the soil well round, 
hhake it down, and when full press it firmly down with the thumbs, turning the pot 
round with the fingers during the operation. Don’t be frightened of hurting the roots 
by the pressure, but do it vigorously, for if the soil be left loose the water will 
run through as through a sieve. When this process is completed the surface of 
the soil will be a level, rather less than half an inch below the top of the pot, 
thus leaving room for a water supply. Don’t pile up the soil round the neck of 
the plant—a fault too often committed—such an arrangement naturally sends 
the water down the sides of the pot, when perhaps the interior of the mass of 
.soil is thoroughly dry. 
Though I have said that Spring is generally the best time for potting plants, 
mind I do not say it is always so. Take, for instance, a Geranium, which flowers 
early in Summer. When its flowering season is over it ought to be cut down, 
say to half its height, or even less. It ought then to be set out of doors in a 
shady place until it begins to form nice buds and small green leaves along its old 
branches ; this it will do within a few weeks. After exhausted nature has begun thus 
to show her returning energies, the process of re-potting should be attended to; but 
in this case it is best to shake all the soil away from the roots, trimming off the long 
straggling ones with a sharp knife, re-potting in a smaller pot than that in which the 
plant previously grew. This small pot will get well filled with roots before Winter, 
and in Spring the plant should be transferred to a larger pot in which to bloom, 
the same process being repeated each succeeding Autumn and Spring. After 
potting, unless the fresh soil be in a wet condition—which it should not be— 
place your pots out of doors on a level place, and give them a good watering, so 
as to fairly penetrate the mass. 
Supposing the accommodation for a plant in a window is limited as to size 
of pot, and you cannot arrange for a larger one, then, in lieu of re-potting as 
before described, you may fall back on the expedient of top-dressing. In doing 
this you should use a moderately sharp piece of wood—say a piece of old lath 
(mind not to use an old knife), and having carefully loosened the surface soil, say 
for an inch or more, avoiding any injury to the roots, remove it all and replace 
with fresh soil. As this operation will be performed only on those plants that 
have been grown for several years in the same pot, and which will necessarily 
have impoverished the original soil, it will be advisable to add some stimulant. 
Plants are not altogether total abstainers, and there are conditions in which a 
■stimulant will be beneficial. In this matter, alike for yourself and your plant, 
•let your motto be moderation, “ too much of a good thing is good for nothing.” 
Possibly you will ask what stimulant you are to use. I will mention two or 
three which are most easily attainable. One you or your rosy-faced little lad 
may pick up in the street or on any roadway frequented by horses, if you get an 
early start of the street-sweeper. This, mixed with the compost which the 
