Pot-house

“ In setting potted plants out of doors, it is nearly always advisable to plunge them,—that is to set the pots into the earth,—unless the place is very wet. The pots are then watered by the rainfall, and demand little care. If the plants are to be returned to the house in the fall, they should not be allowed to root through the hole in the pot, and the rooting may be prevented by turning the pot around every few days. Large decorative plants may be made to look as if growing naturally in the lawn by sinking the pot or box just below the surface and rolling the sod over it, as suggested in Fig. ”

“ In the evening I brought a good supply of clay into the house, and using the chest as a work-bench, busied myself until bedtime with moulding several vessels of different shapes and sizes for use in cooking and about the house. I fashioned a rude pot capable of holding about five gallons; a smaller one to hold a gallon or thereabouts; a water-jar with two handles by which it might be swung with a cord from the ridgepole,{45} to contain drinking-water ”

“ Mine Host was finely caught one day with a pot not being filled: Two Old Country men coming to our house in a morning called for a quart of wine, the Drawer believing they were to be choused, brought up a quart pot, but it was little more than half full, he intended they should have it raw, but it being a cold morning, they bad him rost it, that is put it to the fire and burn it ”

“ Many hands make light work, and madame of the grande famille of sixteen or eighteen children accomplishes her wash of seventy-five to a hundred pieces with signal ease and entirely without complaint through the pot’s assistance—the pot that hangs under the blue skies above the glowing coals—the out-of-door pot that magnetizes the willing hands of normal children.
Dye-pots, wash-pots, soap-pots are essentially and quite naturally enough presided over by women. ”

“ Geraniums and other hanging plants tumble over the edge of the flat roof tops, looking as though they lived on air, as the boxes or tins they are grown in are out of sight. Here the humblest cottager grew carnations, fuchsias, begonias, and pelargoniums with loving care in every old tin box, or saucepan, that he could lay hands on. One reason that pot plants are scarce is the enormous cost of flower-pots, which are mostly imported, and often if I wished to buy a plant, the price was more than doubled if the precious pot was to be included in the bargain. ”

“ After the bulbs are planted in the pots or other receptacles, they should be placed in a cool place, either in a cold pit or cellar, or on the shady side of a building, or, better yet, plunged or buried up to the rim of the pot in a shady border. This is done to force the roots to grow while the top stands still; as only the bulbs with good roots will give good flowers. When the weather gets so cold that a crust is frozen on the soil, the pots should be covered with a little straw, and as the weather gets colder more straw must be used. ”

“ More trouble, in potted bulbs and all kinds of plants, comes from too little drainage space than from any other one thing. Most boys and girls think it enough if one little stone or piece of pot is put in the hole of the flower pot. Not so; there should be from one to two inches of drainage material in the pot. That seems a great deal, doesn't it? But it will give not only drainage but air space, too, and this keeps the plant in good healthy shape. With too little drainage area the earth in a pot gets clogged and very often sour. A high pot needs more drainage matter in it than a low one. ”

“ Vines may be left in the room during the winter until the furnace slips a cog and then you can pull them down and feed them to the family horses. In changing your plants from the living rooms or elsewhere to the cellar in the fall, take great care to avoid injury to the pot. I have experienced some very severe winters in my life, but I have never seen the mercury so low that a flowerpot couldn't struggle through and look fresh and robust in the spring. The longevity of the pot is surprising when we consider how much death there is all about it. ”

“ The mother couldn’t help but smile at this attempted shifting of the blame to the pot, but she answered, in a moment, gravely:
“The pot, Charley, was made of clay; the same weak material from which little boys are made; who, when they forget to obey their mothers, are as likely to meet disaster as the earthen pot.” ”

“ The whole is done with clay, sand, water, a board on which the clay is mixed, a wooden beater, a stone, and a shell; no wheel is employed, but the pot is supported in an old broken pot and can thus be easily turned round. The women are very dexterous in using their hands and fingers, and they can make several pots in a day. The people have not much to trade with, and we did not see any decorated bamboo tobacco pipes. ”

“ The container should be a shade larger than usual so that, in potting, a corner area or space along the side can be left empty and the soil sloped down toward it. If there is any standing water it will show up in this section. Just up-end the container and drain off the excess water. In the process make sure that the plant is not also drained off or disturbed. But that you will know from plain common sense.
If a pot has drainage holes, I always make sure they are partially covered with crockery or aluminum window screen so the soil will not sift down and clog the holes. ”

“ Two men carry on their shoulders a pot riddled with holes, suspended from a pole made of Diospyros Embryopteris wood, from inside the room into the street, as soon as the lamp is covered by the cooking-pot. Both doors of the room are then closed, and not opened till the return of the men. The pot which they carry is believed to increase in weight as they bear it to a tank, into which it is thrown. ”

“ There are many kinds of pots—large water-jars, the large cooking-pots used for making porridge, and the small ones for boiling its accompaniments. The women, having procured the right kind of earth, break it up on a stone and knead it with water till it attains the proper [205] consistency; then they mould a round lump, make a hole in the middle and work away at it with their hands and now and then a bamboo splint. No wheel or mould is used. Sometimes an incised pattern is made while the clay is soft. When finished, the pot is stood in the shade for a day ”

“ The noise made it impossible to have the windows open: and in the evening, on their way home, they had to force their way through crowds of bustling, evil-smelling people, cross the thronged and muddy streets, pass a horrible pothouse, that was on the ground floor of the next house, in the door of which there were always fat, frowsy women with yellow hair and painted faces, eying the passers-by. ”

“ Pint-pots and sugar-bags are groped out and brought to the kitchen hut, and each man fills his pannikin; the Irishman keeps a thumb on the edge of his, so as to know when the pot is full, for it is very dark, and there is no more firewood. You soon know this way, especially if you are in the habit of pressing lighted tobacco down into your pipe with the top of your thumb. The old slush-lamps are all burnt out.
Each man feels for the mouth of his sugar-bag with one hand while he keeps the bearings of his pot with the other. ”

“ A large wooden bucket, which was carried on a pole between two women, served to fetch water from the well upon the village green, for the serfs had no watering-place in their own enclosure. An earthenware pot or so—very liable to break and crack, as it was baked from the black and porous fen clay—and an iron cooking pot, often the common property of two or more families, comprised the household goods. ”

“ The Chief Gardener filled the basket he had brought, and they hurried back to the basement to fill the pots.
"Not too full—we must leave room at the top for digging and watering, without spilling dirt and water on the floor. Then the plants will help fill up by and by, too, and I think we would better put in a little of this compost at the bottom. When the roots run down they will be glad to find some fresh, rich food. Don't pack the earth too tightly, Davy; just jar the pot a little to settle it, and it should be fine and quite dry. ”

“ Soil, Culture, &c.--For the delicate and rare bulbs, it is advisable to have pots purposely made of some fifteen inches in height with a diameter of about seven or eight inches at the top, tapering down to five, with a hole at the bottom as in ordinary flower pots, and for this to stand in, another pot should be made without any hole, of a height of about four inches, sufficient size to leave the space of about an inch all round between the outer side of the plant pot and the inner side of the smaller pot or saucer. ”

“ The soil is next consolidated by shaking the pot, and then lifting it up and setting it down again with a jerk; and is rendered firm and neat round the rim by means of a broad smooth piece of stick shaped somewhat like a table-knife, and called a potting-stick. When a plant has been in a pot before, and is repotted or shifted, as it is called, into a pot a size larger, the plant is turned out of its old pot by putting the hand upon the earth and turning the pot upside down ”

“ In another week or two the plants must be shifted again into pots a little larger, always using light rich mould to fill up the pots, and taking care that the pots are well drained, by putting potsherds, that is, pieces of broken pot at the bottom. As soon as the plants are shifted, the pots must be replunged in the hotbed, and shaded for the remainder of the day. The shifting and replunging must be continued till the plants begin to show flower-buds ”

“ In sheltered districts in the Southern counties they can be grown in the open ground; but otherwise the culture must be in pots under the shelter of a frame or greenhouse. A 48-sized pot will hold four or five bulbs, and they will thrive in any soil which contains a large proportion of sand. In spring they may be transferred to a sandy border, or they can be kept in pots for a couple of years when well managed. ”

“ Put them in a frame, and do not cover them with earth or sawdust, but fill in between the pots quite to the rim. Not much water must be given till the cold weather is past. When the frost is severe, mats and straw must be put over the frames. When the spring has arrived, place them on shelves near the glass in airy houses. They now require plenty of air, plenty of light, and plenty of water. When they have expanded all their flowers, put them in a bed out of doors, and put into each pot a little fresh soil on the top. ”

“ The plants must be potted quite firm and watered with the utmost regularity; if dry for a day or two and then supplied with an extra dose to make up for lost time you will soon be rid of the trouble of keeping them. At every watering the whole body of the soil in the pot should be wetted, and there should be no more given until it is nearly dry again. In case you do find a pot dry and capable of music when struck with the knuckle, plunge it to the rim in a vessel of water until bubbles cease to rise from it, by which time it will be moistened throughout. ”

“ All the conditions which answer for border work are applicable to pots, and a limited number of plants brought forward in succession will supply the requirements of a small household from early spring until near Christmas. The pot system is conducive to free setting and to early ripening, and for these reasons it is worth attention. The plants should be kept short in the joint by frequent shifts until the twelve-inch pot is reached, and this size will accommodate two cordons or one plant having two branches, each of which will require a separate stake for its support. ”

“ The boiler pit is sunk beneath the floor of this room, and has connected with it a coal bin and shoot. Communicating with the potting-room is a propagating room, in the north end of the conservatory, and divided from it by a solid partition. It is provided with hot-water pipes for furnishing bottom heat. It will propagate all the bedding and other plants needed on the place. It will thus be seen that there are ample facilities for furnishing an abundant supply of grapes and flowers. The house, as a whole, forms a marked feature of the grounds. ”

“ It is to be observed at the outset that the cultivation of plants in pots is the chief business before us now, and that is, in many respects, a different matter to the culture of the same plants in the open ground. A plant in a pot is like a bird in a cage, wholly dependent on the hand that feeds it and therefore in need of constant watching. ”

“ The air enters through the aperture, ascends through the openings in the shelf, and so keeps the lighted charcoal glowing. The earthenware pots in which the food is cooked are supported by the top rim of the furnace. Every pot requires a separate furnace to itself, but as rice is often the only food that requires the application of heat, this causes but little difficulty, and few kitchens would contain more than two or three of these simple fireplaces. ”

“ If pots sufficiently large can be obtained they are to be preferred to tubs, and it will be well to remember that overpotting is no advantage, and the size of the pot, may, as a rule, be determined by its ability to carry the plant without toppling over. Large plants should be repotted every three years at least, and the simplest way to do is to tie the plant carefully and securely and then to cut it through just above the roots and then plant the top with its short stump in a well prepared pot of fresh soil one or two sizes smaller than the pot or tub it was taken out of. ”

“ Now, it don’t matter a bit what sort of clay a pot’s made of, if when it’s been tried in the fire it turns out sound and rings well when it’s struck. If I’m only common red ware, without even a bit of glaze on me, and yet answer the purpose well for which I’m made, why I’m a good pot, ain’t I, even if I only hold water? ”