68 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



We use the imperative " must " advisedly, because there is 

 really no choice in the matter if the future welfare of the plants 

 has to be considered first. And why do we insist upon them ? 

 I^t us see. 



(1) Cleanliness. We have no desire to make ourselves 

 objectionable by frequent repetitions, and though we had some- 

 thing to say on this subject before (see page 6) we purposely 

 omitted there what we want to say here. 



If any particles of old soil adhere to the pot on the inside, those 

 particles will not become incorporated with the new soil, but 

 remain for all practical purposes as parts of the pot. The new 

 roots will fasten upon them, and should you want to turn the plant 

 out to inspect the roots or for the purpose of re-potting, those 

 roots will break off. Further, such adhesive soil interferes very 

 badly with the perfect action of the drainage system, an essential 

 feature of which is the unobstructed passage of water between 

 the soil and the pot. It can thus be seen that cleanliness is not 

 merely sentiment, but that it has practical and positive results. 



(2) Dry Pots. If the pot is wet when used it is impossible 

 to make satisfactory work. In the first place, many crumbs or 

 particles of the soil at once adhere to the side of the pots and 

 produce those very conditions to which we have just referred. 

 The main body of the soil, absorbing most of the moisture like 

 blotting paper, would, in drying, shrink from the pot and con- 

 tract exactly as would be the case if the soil itself were too wet. 

 The ill effects of these are too palpable to call for further comment. 



(3) Drainage. The drainage provided for a pot varies accord- 

 ing to its size and the uses to which it is going to be put, but 

 there is only the one principle involved. For a 3-inch or 4-inch 

 pot a single sherd, concave over the hole and nearly covering 

 the bottom of the pot, suffices. A 5-inch pot calls for the large 

 concave sherd over the hole with the addition of a few smaller 

 ones. A 7-inch pot needs a large sherd and about J inch of 

 smaller ones, while a g-inch pot requires I inch of small placed 

 over the large. This is approximate, and if the plants to be 

 potted call for no special drainage. A 6-inch pot prepared for 

 ordinary cuttings should be one-third full of crocks, and there 

 are some plants, chiefly among orchids, for which we not only 



