Gardening in California 



rotted horse-manure, and one-quarter well-decomposed leaf- 

 mold, with a sprinkling of good sharp sand, suiting them well. 

 A soil composed of these parts should be turned over several 

 times, so as to insure that all are well-mixed together. 



Before potting, the pots must be thoroughly clean and dry. 

 If the pots are new, they must be well soaked in water (being left 

 in the water sufficiently long to get saturated), and then 



Interior of Greenhouse. 



allowed to dry before being used. When a new pot is not soaked 

 before being used, it frequently happens that the first few water- 

 ings, instead of being beneficial to the plant, only serve to soak 

 the pot, while the ball of soil, which the pot contains, becomes 

 so dry that it is a difficult matter to again get it into a satisfactory, 

 moist condition. 



One of the most common errors among amateur gardeners is 

 to put their plants into pots which are too large. A pot which 

 will hold all the roots, leaving one-half of an inch of fresh soil 



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