30 



HOUSE PLANTS 



as the pots have become filled with roots. 

 The soil used in filling these small pots must 

 be free from all lumps. The better way to 

 pot these small plants is to hold the cutting 

 with the left hand and with the right 

 hand fill in the soil. When the pot is full, 

 firm the soil with the thumbs and then 

 give the pot a sharp rap on the bench to 

 settle the soil. 



Another way to pot up cuttings (but which 

 I believe is not so good as the way already 

 described, because the roots are much more 

 liable to get bunched together) is to fill the 

 pots with soil and then make a hole in the 

 soil for the roots, after which the soil is 

 firmed. This is also a slower method. 



LIFTING IN LATE FALL 



When potting plants in the fall which have 

 been outdoors in the flower beds all summer, 

 select only stocky, healthy plants. 



Dig them carefully so as to secure as many 

 roots as possible. If the soil is clayey, it 

 must be neither so wet that it is muddy 

 and the roots cling together, nor so dry 

 that the dirt crumbles entirely away from 

 them. The right condition of soil can be 



