SUCCESSIVE SHIFTING.

441

the warmth to which the pot is exposed is immediately felt by the roots; and the latter, as they grow, ramify regularly through the mass of earth. The practical effect of this is well shown by the Rev. William Williamson, who thus describes his mode of treating the Balsam.

"As soon as they have got four leaves, I transplant them singly into the smallest pots I can procure, and in such a manner that the stem of the plant may be covered somewhat more than it was at first, and then all are to be again placed in the frame. In a short time, if there be a sufficiency of heat, that part of the stem which is covered with the mould puts forth fibres, by which nourishment is conveyed more immediately to the principal stem of the plant. As soon as the plants are a little advanced in growth, they are again removed (if possible without disturbing the earth) into somewhat larger pots, still planting them rather deeper than before. The same process is repeated five or six times, till, at last, they are removed into their final pots. I have found it best to give them their last removal after they have opened their first blossoms, as it gives additional brilliancy and size to the flowers. By following this method the plant acquires extraordinary vigour, throwing out its branches from the surface of the mould, exhibiting flowers nearly as large as a full-blown rose, and a stem measuring two, and sometimes three, inches in circumference." (Hort. Trans., iii. 128.) It must here be borne in mind that the plan of continually sinking the stem with every succeeding potting, although useful to the Balsam, because it puts forth roots in abundance from its stem, and to all plants having the same property, ought never to be practised with those having a different nature; for, if stems do not root as fast as they are buried, nothing but injury will follow from the sinking.

It is by paying constant attention to the shifting of the growing plant, by the employment of a very rich stimulating soil, and by a thorough knowledge of the kind of atmosphere which suits them best, that have been obtained many of those magnificent "specimen plants" which so justly excite the admiration of every body at the Metropolitan exhibitions of flowers.

In order that plants which have arrived at any considerable magnitude may suffer as little as possible from shifting, experience tells us that the operation is most advisable at the end of autumn when growth for the year is over, so that they may be ready to root with vigour when the growing season of spring

returns.

supposed that all the noble decorate English gardens are

It must not, however, be specimens of potted plants that obtained by repeated shifts. On the contrary, in some cases a plant is placed at once in the pot which is ultimately to contain it, and is thus enabled to grow as if in the open soil. This is called technically the "one-shift system," and was first brought under public notice by Mr. W. P. Ayres, the substance of whose statement was as follows:-The peculiarity of this system is, that, instead of taking a plant through all the different sized pots, from a thumb to a 24 or 16, or any other size that it may remain in permanently, it is removed to the permanent pot at once, or at any rate to one very considerably larger than is the general custom; thus, in purchasing small specimens of new plants, they may be placed at once in a 24, 16, or 12 sized pot, in which they will remain for four or five years. A cutting of Clianthus puniceus was given to Mr. Caie, gardener to the Duchess of Bedford; who at the end of twelve months had grown it into a plant 7 feet in height, beautifully branched, and covered with bloom; while the original plant under my care, although attended with regularity, would not bear a comparison with it. I learnt from Mr. C., that his cutting, directly it was established in a small cutting-pot, was removed to a No. 4 sized pot, well drained, and filled with rough turfy loam fresh from the field, and a little leaf-mould. About the same time Mr. C. offered me some small plants of Erica physodes and pinifolia, but they were in such a deplorable condition that I did not consider them worthy of carriage. To show me, however, how much I was mistaken, Mr. C. removed them from the small pots in which they were then growing into 16s, in rough turfy peat and silver sand, and in two years they were handsome specimens, 18 inches high, from four to five feet in circumference, and beautifully furnished with branches. Since

that time, I have practised this mode on various plants with success; but to Mr. Goode, gardener at Ealing Park, belongs the credit of applying this system more extensively and with greater success. Amongst the plants at that place, he has a great number in 24, 16, 12, and 8 sized pots, forming magnificent specimens, which are on an average from three to five feet in circumference, and which a year since were either in small 60 or thumb-pots. They have, in reality, made from three to four years' growth in one season, and are flowering in the greatest profusion. Among other genera, may be mentioned Boronias, Eriostemons, Leschenaultias, Pimeleas, Gnidias, Helichrysums, Ericas, Epacrises, Chorozemas, Polygalas, Roellas, Mirbelias, Dillwynias, Croweas, and Gompholobiums. The principal thing to attend to is to have the pots thoroughly drained; for if water stagnates in such a mass of soil, all hope of success will be at an end. In growing specimen plants, it is a good plan to drain the soil with an inverted pot, taking great care to prevent the soil from falling among the drainage, by covering it securely with Moss. Porous stones of various sizes, in considerable quantities, sticks in a half-decomposed state, and even charcoal for some plants, have been used, with satisfactory results. The roots of Leschenaultia formosa and of Chorozemas, thus treated, wrap round the porous stones and charcoal in the most beautiful manner. The principal things to attend to in this system of potting are, to use the soil as rough as possible. Plants potted in this way will not require so much attention as those potted in the usual manner; because one watering will serve them for several days-whereas in small pots, they require constant attention.

Innumerable criticisms of this method of cultivation were published when it was first brought into notice; but they are all forgotten, and no other valid reason can now be given for objecting to it than that it is too favourable for growth, and renders plants inconveniently large for most people's space and means. There can be no doubt that, under good management, if the gardener's object is to make a plant as vigorous as possible, it is better to avoid the troublesome details of shifting from one sized pot into another. No better evidence of this is needed than what

we see in nature. A plant in the open ground, or in the border of a well-managed conservatory, grows fast, acquires a rich deep green healthy colour, and produces its flowers and fruit as soon as it has arrived at the proper age; on the other hand, the same kind of plant, under the same circumstances, managed by the same gardener, but kept in a pot and subjected to a course of shifting, although it may be healthy at first, soon ceases growing, and becomes yellow, lean, and starved. It is not, indeed, the wish of every cultivator to grow plants for horticultural exhibitions. Beautiful as large well-grown specimens may be, it is not in every garden that they can be properly accommodated; and where that is the case, it is useless to attempt it.

Gardeners till lately entertained the opinion that in pot cultivation it is of great importance that the pot itself should be manufactured from some soft porous material. The latter was thought to have the merit of keeping roots in free communication with the air. But no well-grown plants are ever so placed as to have their roots cut off from communication with the atmosphere; the loose crocks used for drainage, and the interstices in the soil itself, enable the air to reach the roots without any assistance from the sides of the pots. Others were of opinion that the porous sides of soft-burnt pots act as a continual drain, carrying off the superfluous water of the soil. That is no doubt true; but there is as much inconvenience as advantage attending it, because, in dry weather, the earth in pots is disadvantageously dried by the escape of vapour through their sides, and cooled down by the rapid evaporation going on there. Besides, such a mode of drainage cannot be necessary if the bottom of the pots is preserved in a proper state. The absorbent power of soft-burnt garden pots, a quality due to their porosity, was also regarded as rendering them better than hard ones for cultivation. Experiment has, however, settled the question by showing that plants will grow in glass, in slate, in glazed earthenware just as well as in soft-burnt pots; and it is now admitted on all hands that if plants are ill-grown it is the fault of the gardener, not of the pot, whether it be hard or soft.

CHAPTER XVI.

OF TRANSPLANTING.

As soon as man attempted to beautify his residence with trees planted round it, he would naturally obtain them from the forest, and he then would find that, of many that he removed, all or some at least would die; if, however, he persevered he would at last discover that while constant failure attended his efforts at one time, comparative success would crown them at another; and he would thus be led to investigate, according to his skill, the causes of success and failure. Out of this would grow in time the art of transplanting, among the most important business of the gardener.

I fear, however, it is too generally practised as an empirical art, without sufficient attention being paid to the principles on which its success or failure depend; at least, one hardly knows how to draw any other conclusion from the opposite opinions held by planters, the dogmatical manner in which they are too often expressed, and the obscure and unintelligible phraseology of what are called explanations of the practice by amateurs, to whom it is not necessary to allude more particularly. If there is any one part of the art of Horticulture in which post hoc has been mistaken for propter hoc more commonly than another, it is surely in what concerns transplantation.* And yet the rationale is simple enough, if we do not labour to render it confused by imaginary refinements.

*It is scarcely necessary to say that these remarks do not, in any way, apply to Mr. Macnab's Hints on the Planting and general Treatment of Hardy Evergreens in the Climate of Scotland, an excellent treatise, which it is impossible to recommend too strongly to the attention of the planter.