40 The Flower Garden 



standing up, and a tall stool should be provided for 

 sitting on when desired, to be pushed under the top of 

 table when not in use. There should be a shelf under- 

 neath, sufficiently roomy to hold a supply of pots and 

 flats, and, below it, a box of potting soil and one of 

 fine white sand should be kept ready for use. If the 

 potting soil lies on the ground it will keep moist in 

 the dryest weather. A tin pail of pebbles, broken 

 crockery and charcoal for drainage, and a supply of 

 sphagnum moss should also be kept handy. A trowel, 

 knife, shears, pencils and a stick or, better still, a 

 piece of a broken carving-steel for pushing a plant 

 out of the pot by inserting it in the drainage hole when, 

 for any reason, it is not readily removed by tapping, 

 will greatly lessen the labour of repotting and shifting 

 house-plants in summer. 



A shallow tray, with a bail of wood, large enough 

 to hold a number of pots, will be useful to carry plants 

 from the potting table to the sand-box, and will save 

 many steps. With a well-equipped table to depend on 

 and no litter around the house, one is much more likely 

 to give plants necessary attention promptly. The 

 work then becomes a pleasure instead of a labour to be 

 dreaded. There, too, may be kept the supply for 

 staking plants. The nicest stakes for house-plants are 

 made of Cat-tail stems, any quantity of which may be 

 gathered in the fall and stored away for future use, 

 each stalk furnishing two or three stakes. Being 

 round and smooth they are sightly and just what is 

 needed for Carnations, Freesias and the like. 



