HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



POT 



teur gardeners sometimes do. The pot- 

 ting of cuttings is very simple, and in 

 commercial gardens is performed with 

 great rapidity, average workmen doing 

 300 plants per hour. One of our work- 

 men has obtained almost national fame 

 in this operation, as he has repeatedly 

 potted 10,000 plants in ten hours, his av- 

 erage being 6,000 per day. The pot is 

 filled to the level with soil, a space made 

 with the finger in the center of the soil 

 of sufficient size to admit the root, which 

 is placed in the opening thus made; the 

 soil is closed in again by -pressing with 

 the thumbs close to the neck of the cut- 

 ting, which firms the soil around the 

 root. Bat when plants are required to 

 be grown as specimens, or of larger size, 

 they must be repotted at intervals, as 

 the condition of their growth demands. 

 For example, to grow a Geranium of a 

 height of 3 feet and 3 feet in diameter, a 

 pot of at least 8 inches across at top, 

 and 8 inches in depth, would be neces- 

 sary, but it would not do to move from 

 the 2J-inch cutting pot to this size at 

 once; three or four different shifts are 

 necessary. These shifts should be made, 

 as a general thing, not greater than from 

 a 24-inch size to a 3 inch, and so on. 



The time to shift a plant from a smaller 

 to a larger pot is known by the roots be- 

 ginning to show around the outer surface 

 of the ball. It is not necessary to shift 

 when the first roots touch the side of 

 the pot; let them curl pretty well around 

 the ball, but they must not be allowed to 

 remain long enough to become hard or 

 woody. They must be of that condition 

 which we call " working roots, " a condi- 

 tion not very easy to describe, unless to 

 say that the appearance of such roots is 

 white, soft, and succulent. In most cases, 



PKI 



the slightest tap on the edge of the pot 

 is sufficient to turn out the ball of earth. 

 Soil, in depth according to the size of the 

 plant, should be placed in the bottom of 

 the pot, the ball placed in the center, and 

 the soil packed moderately firm in the 

 space, either by the fingers, or by a stick 

 made of suitable size for the purpose. 

 When plants are first potted off, or shift- 

 ed, they should be stood with the pots 

 touching each other, if the diameter of 

 the plant is less than that of the pot; but, 

 as they begin to develop growth, the 

 plants should be spread an inch or so 

 apart to admit air between the pots; 

 this greatly strengthens the plants, and 

 inclines them to a stocky growth. Though 

 we, in our own practice, use drainage in 

 few kinds of plants except Koses, yet 

 it is perhaps safer to the unpracticed 

 cultivator to use it. See Drainage. 



Pouch. A little sack or bag at the base of 

 some sepals and petals. 



Powdery. Covered with a fine bloom or 

 powdery matter, as the bloom on Plums, 

 and the leaves of some plants and the 

 flowers of others. 



Prcecox. Early; appearing or flowering 

 earlier than other allied species. 



Pratensis. Belonging to or growing in 

 meadows. 



Pricking off. This is a term used by gar- 

 deners for the process of transplanting 

 small seedlings as soon as they are fit to 

 handle, and replanting them closely to- 

 gether, preparatory to being planted in 

 pots or in the open ground. It is distin- 

 guished from planting proper, inasmuch 

 as the " pricking off" process is always 

 preparatory to the final planting. For 

 example, when Tomatoes come up thickly 

 in the seed bed, they must be pricked off 

 at a distance of an inch or so apart in a 



