CALENDAR FOR MARCH. 
59 
CALENDAR FOR MARCH. 
Stove. As the distinguishing feature which should be ob¬ 
servable in plant culture, during the winter months, is that of 
repose, so in the spring and early part of the summer, should 
activity and assiduity stand out, as it were, in full relief, in the 
picture we may draw of a successful cultivator. This remark 
will prepare the way for stating, that the operations which re¬ 
quire to be performed are multifarious; but, it must be added, 
that none of them must be brought about, or performed, either 
by rote or chance. In gardening we cannot divest one operation 
of its attendant satellites, and speak of it unconditionally: thus 
of potting (for most plants will require repotting about this 
time) it would be highly improper to recommend the shifting 
of a collection of plants, either at the beginning or towards the 
end of the month; it would be improper, too, to advise in any 
way the repotting of a whole collection at any particular time. 
Shift such as manifest that the operation will prove beneficial 
to them; but take every precaution in applying water after 
repotting, not to saturate the soil. It may, perhaps, be well 
here to describe what should be the course adopted in repotting 
a good and valuable plant: first, determine if it requires shifting, 
with a view to increase the growth, as in the case of a healthy 
plant, or if it stands more particularly in need of the regimen 
adapted for an invalid. Assuming the former, the next step 
is to determine the capacity of the shift, that is, whether an 
extensive or a limited increase of space is desirable; then ascer¬ 
tain what is the proper soil for each particular plant; take the 
pot in which it is intended to place the plant (let it be perfectly 
clean and dry) ; we will suppose it to be one of those of which 
sixteen in number are sold to what is technically termed a cast; 
over the hole in the bottom of this pot invert a thumb pot, and 
around this fill up with charcoal, potsherds, or bricks, broken to 
about an inch in size; add a layer of the rough turfy portions of 
the soil; then, and not till then, carefully remove the plant, by 
inverting the pot, supporting the ball of earth and roots by the 
• left hand, and gently tapping the rim of the pot on the edge of 
