Gardening Indoors and Under Glass | Page 6

dispute that not only food, but
air and water, as well, must be supplied to the roots of growing plants;
and this being the case, the mechanical condition of the soil in which
the plant is to grow has a great deal to do with its success or failure. It
must be what is termed a porous and friable soil--that is, one so light
and open that water will drain through it without making it a compact,
muddy mass. One of the things I noticed about my special fertilizer soil,
mentioned above, was that it settled, after being watered, into a solid
mass from which water would not drain and into which air could not
penetrate.
It is next to impossible to find a soil just right for house plants, so, as a
general thing the only way to get a good soil is to mix it yourself. For
this purpose several ingredients are used. If you live in a village or
suburb, where the following may be procured, your problem is not a
difficult one. Take about equal parts of rotted sod, rotted horse manure
and leaf-mould from the woods and mix thoroughly and together,
adding from one-sixth to one-third, in bulk, of coarse sand. If a
considerable quantity of soil will be required during the year, it will be
well to have some place, such as a bin or large barrel, in which to keep
a supply of each ingredient. The sod should be cut three or four inches

thick, and stacked in layers with the grassy sides together, giving an
occasional soaking, if the weather is dry, to hasten rotting. The manure
should be decomposed under cover, and turned frequently at first to
prevent burning out; or sod and manure can be rotted together, stacking
them in alternate layers and forking over two or three times after rotting
has begun. The manure furnishes plant food to the compost, the rotted
sod "body," the leaf-mould water-absorbing qualities, and the sand,
drainage qualities.
If the soil is wanted at once, and no rotted sod is to be had, use good
garden loam, preferably from some spot which was under clover-sod
the year before. If it is difficult to obtain well-rotted manure, street
sweepings may be used as a substitute, and old chip-dirt from under the
wood pile, or the bottom of the woodshed if it has a dirt floor, will do
in place of leaf-mould. Peat, or thoroughly dried and sweetened muck
are also good substitutes for leaf-mould. Finely screened coal ashes
may take the place of sand.
If you live in the city, where it is difficult to obtain and to handle the
several materials mentioned, the best way is to get your soil ready
mixed at the florists, as a bushel will fill numerous pots. If you prefer to
mix it yourself, or to add any of the ingredients to the soil you may
have, most florists can supply you with light soil, sand, peat or
leaf-mould and rotted manure; and sphagnum moss, pots, saucers and
other things required for your outfit. If a large supply is wanted, it
would probably be cheaper to go to some establishment on the outskirts
of the city where things are actually grown, than to depend upon the
retail florist nearer at hand.
Potting soil when ready to use should be moist enough to be pressed
into a ball by the hand, but never so moist as not to crumble to pieces
again readily beneath the finger.
MANURES
Manure of some sort is essential to the growing of plants in pots or
boxes, both because of the plant-food it adds to the soil, and because it
improves its mechanical condition and sponginess or water-holding

quality. Thoroughly rotted horse manure or horse and cow manure
mixed is by far the best. Cow manure alone, or pig manure, is lumpy
and cold, and hen, sheep, pigeon or other special manures are not safe
in the hands of the beginner, as they are one-sided, being especially
rich in nitrogen and likely either to burn the plants or to cause too soft
and watery growth.
This brings us to the point where it is necessary to say a few words
about the theory of manures, for they are not all alike and what would
be wise to give a plant under some circumstances under others would
be quite wrong, just as you would not think of feeding beefsteak to a
baby just recovering from the colic, while it might be a very good thing
for a hungry man who was going to saw up your wood-pile.
Plants of all sorts--in pots, in the garden or in a ten-acre lot--require
three kinds of food elements: nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash.
These elements may be fed to the plants