2778 



POTS 



POTTING 



ging." This is all done by machinery. From one 

 machine the clay comes out very soft and plastic, to be 

 worked in plaster molds. From the other the clay 

 comes out into hard cubes for the iron molds of the 

 machine. The pot machine and the jigger of today 

 each does the work of six to eight men at -the wheel. 



The difference in cost between a good and a poor pot 

 is very slight, and if the florist will demand and accept 

 nothing but a first-class pot, a standard in quality as 

 well as size will soon be reached. To be standard in 

 quality a pot must be of clay properly prepared, be of 

 uniform firing, and of a smooth surface inside as well 

 as put. It must also be of right porosity, a condition 

 which can be attained by the proper mixture of clay. 

 Moreover, a machine-made pot should have a smooth 

 rim on the inside, so that the man standing at his 

 bench potting thousands of plants a day, as is being 

 done constantly in large establishments, may have 

 flesh remaining on his thumbs at night. Such a pot 

 must also be able to stand transportation and years of 

 usage if necessary. "Standard" flower-pots, such as 

 are now used by American florists, are shown in Figs. 

 3160, 3161. A. H. HEWS. 



POTSHERDS. Gardener's name for broken pots 

 and crocks, a material used in the bottom of pots, 

 pans, boxes, and the like, to provide drainage. Coal- 

 clinkers, gravel, and other inert materials, are often 

 used for the same purpose. 



POTTING. The first stage in the life of the plant is 

 when the seedling is transplanted from the seed-bed or 

 the cutting is put in the cutting-bench. It is only when 

 either is potted that it can truly be said to take on the 

 dignity of a plant. It is then out of swaddling clothes 

 and enters the ranks of its big brothers and sisters, 

 on the way to making its bow in society; to live per- 

 chance in the window of the tenement or on the fire- 

 escape; mayhap to refresh the eye of the patient in the 

 sick-room; or to lose its identity in rows of its fellows 

 in great glass houses where the blossoms are garnered 

 and sent to market; perhaps to take its place in row 

 upon row of its kind and make an arabesque pattern 

 or gay border, and so delight the eye or regale the 

 senses with sweet odors. 



The mechanical operation of potting includes also 

 "shifting," i.e., transferring the plant from a small to 

 a larger pot. Repotting signifies the same, generally 

 speaking, as shifting; but speaking technically it means 

 shaking out an established plant and putting it in a pot 

 of the same size or one smaller, according to its needs. 

 The actual operation of potting is very simple, and yet 

 it must be well done to give the young plant a fair start 



3162. Potting a cutting. The moment when the thumbs 

 come into play. 



in life. Careless potting is responsible for many losses 

 in plants. The larger part of rooted cuttings and seed- 

 lings should be potted in 2-inch pots, and it is essential, 

 particularly in the case of rooted cuttings, that it be 

 done at the proper stage of development of the roots. 

 When the roots are from Y% to J^ inch long they may be 

 said to be at their best for potting. If sooner, the plants 

 are not likely to develop so rapidly in the pot as if 

 left in the cutting-bench; if later, they are harder to 

 handle, injury is liable to result, and they do not so 

 readily recover from the shock incident to the change. 



The operation of potting as practised in commercial 

 florists' establishments is as follows: The soil having 

 been prepared, the workman places the empty pots at 

 his left hand, the cuttings in front of him, and an empty 

 "flat" to receive the potted plants at his right. With a 

 simultaneous movement he takes an empty pot in his 

 left hand and a handful of soil in his right. He "sets" 

 the pot in front of him, fills it with soil, and while doing 

 so reaches for the cutting, retaining a small portion of 

 soil in his hand. With the index finger of the right hand 

 he makes a hole in the center of the pot of soil, inserts 

 the cutting, drops the portion of soil which he retained 

 in his right hand into the hole, takes the pot between 

 the index and middle fingers of both hands to steady it 

 and obtain leverage, places his thumbs on each side of 

 the cutting and parallel with his body (Fig. 3162), the 

 right on the side away from his body, the left on the 

 other side, and presses evenly and firmly; then shifts 

 his thumbs so that they are at right angles with his 

 body and presses again; transfers the potted plant with 

 his right hand to the "flat," placing it with a little force 

 to level the loose soil on top, reaching for another 

 empty pot with his left hand as he does this, and 

 repeats the movements. It is marvelous how rapidly 

 these motions are made by expert workmen, and the 

 work can be done as well rapidly as slowly when the 

 cuttings are in the proper condition as to root-develop- 

 ment already described. There was a time when 5,000 

 a day of ten hours was considered the maximum, and 

 it is still good work for the average workman. James 

 Markey, an employe of the late Peter Henderson, 

 repeatedly potted 10,000 verbena cuttings with two 

 boys to assist in taking away the plants as potted, sup- 

 plying him with empty pots and cuttings, the requisite 

 quantity of soil having been previously placed on the 

 bench. The writer was his only assistant when he made 

 his first great effort at "breaking the record," when he 

 succeeded in potting 7,500 in ten hours. Upon one 

 occasion he potted 11,500 verbena cuttings in a day of 

 ten hours, which is the highest number ever reached. 

 At a potting contest held in Madison Square Garden in 

 New York city in 1892, George Martin potted 1,373 

 cuttings in one hour, the material used being arborvitae 

 cuttings without roots. The "standard" pots (Fig. 

 3160) cannot be handled so rapidly as those without 

 rims, for the reason that the lower edges of the rim 

 are sharp and rough and make the fingers of the work- 

 man sore. Consequently the pots without rims are to 

 be preferred. 



The essentials in good potting are to put the cutting 

 in the center of the pot and at the proper depth, to 

 firm the soil thoroughly and evenly, and to leave % 

 inch, or a little less, between the top <.f the soil and 

 the upper edge of the pot to receive water. 



Included in potting is the care of the plants imme- 

 diately after being potted and until they have taken root 

 in the pots. First in importance is the "setting" of the 

 plants on the bench; care should be taken that they are 

 "set" perfectly level so that they will hold water. They 

 should be watered thoroughly and shaded as soon as 

 they are set. The best method of shading when large 

 quantities are potted is by the use of lath shutters. 

 These are made by nailing common laths on three par- 

 allel pieces of furring strip, allowing 1 inch space between 

 the laths. They may be made any length, 3 feet being 

 a very convenient size. Inverted pots of a sufficient 

 height to clear the young plants make very handy sup- 

 ports for these shutters. During late spring and summer 

 it will be necessary to supplement this method of sha- 

 ding by covering the shutters with paper or muslin, the 

 muslin being preferred. Sew the muslin in 10-yard 

 lengths, giving pieces 2 yards wide. Sprinkle the muslin 

 copiously at intervals as it becomes dry. This care must 

 be kept up for three to six days according to conditions; 

 the shutters should be put over the plants early in the 

 morning, first watering the plants; an hour or so later 



