REPOTTING 



fertilizer when none is needed — experimenting 

 with anything and everything one's friends 

 may make mention of as having special value 

 in bringing about or hastening the develop- 

 ment of plants — using the dregs of tea or 

 coffee as a mulch under conditions that make 

 any kind of mulch an injury rather than a 

 benefit — shifting plants to large pots when 

 the pots they have been growing in are quite 

 large enough for all their needs — applying 

 water at irregular times and in varying quan- 

 tities. In brief, it is giving a treatment 

 entirely out of harmony with the teachings of 

 Nature, while the very essence of successful 

 plant-culture consists in imitating natural 

 conditions as closely as possible. Give your 

 plants good soil, good light, plenty of water 

 and fresh air, and then let them take care of 

 themselves, to a great degree. They will do 

 it if you give them a chance, but can not do 

 it if you keep fussing over them, and doing 

 things they do not want done. 



This digression — of which I hope every 

 reader will make careful note — has led away 

 from the subject that heads the chapter. I set 

 out to give instructions about potting plants, 

 and this I will now attempt to do. 



3 33 



