I.] POTTING LABELS -DRESS 7 



A potting bench standing nearly 4 feet high (with a 

 block to raise oneself, if necessary) should be fixed in a 

 convenient position in the shed, so placed that all materials 

 may be within easy reach, and that no time need be lost in 

 searching for them. 



Labels. Let me impress upon my readers the advan- 

 tage of labels. No one should depend on memory for the 

 name of a plant, unless it be a familiar old friend. I have 

 found stout zinc or corrugated iron, cut into strips 9 

 inches in length and I in breadth, pointed at end (with 

 smaller sizes for pots), to be lasting, neat, and distinct. 

 A mixture of white lead and drying oil should be very 

 thinly rubbed in on one side with the top of the first 

 finger, and the name written with a soft lead pencil, while 

 the paint is fresh ; it will then last for years, while those 

 made of wood, if they are not oak, very soon decay and 

 disappear. Similar labels, only cut into other shapes, may 

 be attached to roses and fruit trees by means of a piece 

 of lead garden wire. It will be always well to prepare 

 the labels beforehand, so as to have them ready for use 

 when wanted. If not done at the proper time this im- 

 portant work may be forgotten until too late, when the 

 names are sure to have been lost or obliterated. 



Dress. Ladies will find a tanned skin (to be had in 

 any leather shop for a few shillings, and deftly adjusted 

 with shoulder straps and strings or belt) a great comfort 

 in work, and a protection to their dress, which by this 



