the paraffin to harden, when it is dipped again, and so on until the 

 coating has the proper thickness. The baskets are then weighed and 

 placed where they will be under as favorable conditions of light, tem- 

 perature, and moisture as possible, care being taken to keep the baskets 

 of each set together. 



When the plants have reached a height of about 2 inches the baskets 

 are sealed. This is done by cutting a disk of stiff paper just large 

 enough to fit inside of the basket, making an opening in the middle 

 through which the plants may grow, dipping the disk in melted par- 

 affin, placing it over the soil, and fitting it snugly around the plants, so 

 that when water is added it will run down into the opening through 



FIG. 2. Finished baskets and growing plants. 



which the plants are growing. When this has been done the disk is 

 sealed to the sides of the basket. This is conveniently done with a 

 glass dropping tube, one end of which is placed in a vessel of hot par- 

 affin, whereupon the liquid enters the tube and is held there by placing 

 a finger over the other end. In this way a small amount of paraffin 

 is transferred to the pot, allowed to escape slowly around the edge of 

 the paper disk, the disk being held down by the thumb and fingers of 

 one hand and the basket slowly revolved. In this way the disk is 

 firmly sealed to the sides of the pot, thus cutting off all avenue for the 

 escape of moisture except through the leaves of the plant. 



The weight which has been added to the basket by these processes 

 of coating and sealing is obtained by weighing each basket just before 



