O2 PLAMT PROPAGATION 



Plants, soil, pots and flat being ready, the workman 

 puts enough soil in the bottom of the pot to have the top 

 of the ball of earth around the plant on a level with the 

 rim of the pot. The plant being so placed by the left 

 hand, the right hand fills in soil ; the pot is then grasped 

 as in motion 4 above (86), raised slightly and rapped 

 twice on the bench, the thumbs pressing the soil as in 

 motion 5, first in one position then in the other. The im- 

 pressed earth is then firmed in the same way and the 

 shifted plant set in the flat at the right. Expert shifters 

 with two boys to keep them supplied with material and 

 to remove shifted plants easily shift 5,000 plants a day. 



FIG. 52 FLAT FULL OF PLANTS READY FOR TRANSPLANTING 



Canned tomato boxes make three convenient-sized flats each, when sawed apart 

 twice around the sides. 



Shifts should be from small pots to the next size 

 larger. Never skip a size in the fall, though sometimes 

 with quick-growing subjects in spring a size may be 

 skipped; that is, a plant in a three-inch pot may be 

 placed in a five-inch size, or a four-inch in a six. Usually 

 a size at a time is best, particularly in commercial estab- 

 lishments, where the aim is shipping. When pots become 

 larger than four-inch, and even in that size for shrubbery 

 plants, drainage is necessary. "Crocks" ; that is, broken 

 flower pots, are the orthodox things, A large piece is 

 placed over the drainage hole in the pot and smaller 

 pieces above to the depth of an inch in five and six-inch 

 pots and twice as much in larger sizes. Pots larger than 



