242 
THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
prefer the intermediate course ; viz. from a 60 to 32, or from a 
48 to 24, and so on accordingly. I here only allude to strong 
healthy plants ; a sickly plant can never be improved by getting 
a larger shift. The plan to be adopted in this case is to reduce 
the ball, and repot it, in rather fine sandy soil, and place it in 
a shady close situation, until it recovers. 
It has been strongly insisted upon, by some cultivators, that 
heaths should be raised in the centre of the pot. From this 
the most absurd errors have been committed by many who 
were endeavouring to follow the advice, without at all exer¬ 
cising their own judgment; the result has been that some 
collections have been comparatively destroyed, and many 
splendid plants lost, through this alone. The principle may 
be good to a certain extent; but the extreme is attended with 
danger, and therefore ought to be avoided, because during the 
summer the sun’s rays must act powerfully on the elevated 
part: the soil being sandy, will soon become dry and imper¬ 
meable to water, and, in the endeavour to keep this sufficiently 
moist, watering is resorted to, the main roots become de- 
nudated, and the spongioles subjected to too great a quantity 
of that element. Two such opposite conditions, acting on the 
system of a plant at the same time, will soon destroy life, and 
thus many valuable species are lost by over kindness and atten¬ 
tion. Such are my objections to highly elevated heaths in 
potting. The only necessary thing to be attended to in this 
operation is to insure a good and perfect drainage, putting 
plenty of broken potsherds, or charcoal, at the bottom, and over 
the drainage some of the most fibrous and roughest of the soil; 
pot firmly, and as high as possible, without elevating them pro¬ 
minently. It may be done at any time, from January to 
October, care being taken that the frost does not reach them 
immediately after; indeed, if it be early when they are potted, 
a little fire-heat will do them very essential service. About the 
beginning of April, syringe over head every fine morning; and, 
as the season advances, partially shade from the mid-day sun. 
Exposure and Watering. As soon as they can with safety be 
fully exposed, the youngest plants should be plunged in some 
cool material in frames, freely exposing them in dull weather ; 
but when the sun is powerful they should be syringed every 
morning, and the lights put on, tilting them up at each end as 
