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CAN LARGE SPECIMENS OF HARD-WOODED PLANTS BE GROWN IN SMALL POTS ? 
IS? 
The use of rough turfy soil has been carried to a wild extreme, and has caused the death of more 
plants than any other thing I know of, for though the plants may grow vigorously for a time, the 
rough soil, as decomposition proceeds, is sure to become a sour soapy mass, in which the roots 
perish the first time they get a little too much water. Mechanical action, which was the object of 
the use of rough soil, may be attained in other ways, and it is much better to depend upon pot¬ 
sherds and charcoal broken small and mixed with sand through the mass, to secure porosity, than 
upon the interstices between large lumps of soil. If the soil is broken small it is the same through¬ 
out, and not a stratum of soapy sodden soil in one part of the pots and a sand heap in others, and 
hence the roots make steady and regular progress. 
Now, what is good potting P A few years back we should have been told it consisted of tumbling 
the soil into the pots in as large lumps as possible; but, in the preceding remarks, I have shown that 
this was an error which I believe most gardeners have learned to avoid. The first requisite in good 
potting is properly prepared composts; the second, clean porous pots ; and the third, soil made as firm 
as it can be by the use of the fingers and thumb, but without resorting to the ramming system of com¬ 
pression. As the object of these remarks is especially to direct attention to the growth of plants in small 
pots, of course it will be desirable to commence with the plants in a young state, and hence they should 
be selected while they are in three-inch pots, taking care to pick out those of sturdy and vigorous growth, 
and with plenty of healthy roots. The stem of a good plant should be short and thick, the branches 
sturdy and evenly distributed, the roots fresh and vigorous, enveloping the ball in great abundance, 
but not matted together. When a plant is in this state, pot it immediately into one a size larger, 
taking care to make the soil firm, but never elevating the ball above the rim of the pot. 
After potting, the young plants should be placed in a cold frame or pit, be shaded during bright 
sunshine, and receive sufficient water at the root, and a light sprinkling overhead in the afternoon 
of every warm day. Of course care will be taken to keep the plants clear of insects, mildew, and 
dead foliage, and as cleanliness is the stepping-stone of success in plant management not an atom 
of extraneous matter of any kind should be allowed to accumulate either upon the plants, the pots, 
the soil, or the glass. As the plants progress in growth take care to stop and regulate the branches, 
and also, if you have courage to do so, denude them of their flowers for the first season, which will 
add much to their strength. When the new pots get full of roots assist the plants with a little 
weak liquid manure about twice a week, but be cautious in its use, and on no account apply it 
except to plants in free growth. The best manure water for all choice plants consists of sheep or 
deer dung and soot, in the proportions of four pecks of the former to one peck of the soot, mixing 
the whole with boiling soft water into a paste, and then filling the tub up with a hogshead of soft 
water. Keep this stirred daily for a week, and then throw in two or three lumps of quick lime, 
which will make the water quite clear. If it can be so managed the water should be drawn off by 
means of a tap, and it must be used in the proportion of one gallon of manure water to five gallons 
of soft water. Pits and frames may sometimes be sprinkled with this manure water, as the ammonia 
evolved will be found very beneficial to the plants. However be cautious, enough is as good as a 
feast, and great speed is not always progress in plant management. Shift the plants as they require 
more room, until they get into six-inch pots, after which it will be necessary to resort to liquid 
manure to make up for large quantities of soil, and then for free growing plants it is an experiment 
worth trying whether very weak liquid manure should not be used at all times in the growing 
season. In speaking of growing in small pots I propose that the largest sized pot should not exceed 
thirteen inches, or, as they are generally called, No. 8’s. In pots of that size I am sure very hand¬ 
some plants might be grown, and will be when proper pains are taken, and cultivators once take 
the trouble to try how much they can attain in a small space. 
When the plants get of pretty good size, and the pots are full of roots, no doubt they may be much 
assisted by protecting the pots from the scorching rays of the sun by a cover of some kind, such as 
placing each pot within a larger one, or by hanging a shade along the front of the pots. One of Mrs. 
Lawrence’s late gardeners once suggested to me the propriety of having a separate shade for each pot, 
