WHEN SHALL WE PLANT? II5 



prevalent. These potted plants can be set out in July, 

 August and September, and the ball of earth clinging to 

 their roots prevents wilting, and, unless they are neglected, 

 insures their living. Pot-grown plants are readily obtained 

 by sinking two and a half or three inch pots up to their rims 

 in the propagating- beds, and filling them with rich earth 

 mingled with old, thoroughly rotted compost, leaf mold, 

 decayed sods, etc., but never with fresh, unfermented 

 manure. I have found the admixture of a little fine bone 

 meal with the soil to be strong aid to vigorous growth. 

 The young runners are then so guided and held down by a 

 small stone or lump of earth that they will take root in the 

 pots. Indeed, quite large plants, if still attached to thrifty 

 runners, may be taken up, their roots shortened to one- 

 quarter of an inch, and these inserted in the little pots, 

 which will be speedily filled with a new growth of roots. 

 It is very important that abundant and continuous moisture 

 should be maintained. A hot wind or a scorching sun will 

 dry out within a few hours the small amount of earth the pots 

 contain, and the plants thus receive a check from which 

 they may never recover. The amateur should watch them 

 closely, and the plant grower should employ a man with the 

 clear understanding that he would lose his position if he 

 permitted moisture to fail even for half a day. 



In about two weeks, with good management, the plants 

 will fill the pots with roots, which so interlace as to hold 

 the ball of earth compactly together during transportation. 

 This ball of earth with the roots, separates readily from the 

 pot, and the plant, thus sustained, could be shipped around 

 the world if kept from drying out and the foliage protected 

 from the effects of alternate heat and cold. The agricultu- 

 ral editor of the " New York Weekly Times" writes me that 

 the potted plants are worth their increased cost, if for no 



