36 HOUSE PLANTS 



but "flats" are cheaper. To make these 

 buy from a grocery store some soap boxes. 

 A convenient size is twelve by fifteen inches. 

 Cut them into three-inch sections and nail 

 bottoms on these, taking care to leave cracks 

 between the boards or make four or five 

 one-inch holes for drainage. The sides 

 may be painted, if they are to be used in the 

 house. These flats are better than pots 

 both for starting the seed and pricking 

 oflF, as they save care in watering, room, 

 time, and trouble and the moisture in 

 the soil is much more constant than in a 

 small pot. 



The flats being ready mix the soil. A 

 good seed soil is made from equal parts 

 (i) fibrous loam from the compost heap, 

 (2) sand, and (3) leafmould, woods earth, 

 or peat. 



Over the holes or cracks in the fiats put 

 a one-half-inch layer of broken potsherds, 

 coal clinkers, or gravel for drainage. Then 

 put through a sieve part of the already, 

 mixed seed soil. You will then have two 

 lots of soil, one coarse the other fine. Spread 

 a one-half-inch layer of the coarse material 

 over the drainage material that is already 



