POTTING AND 



neglect, the other a care that degenerates 

 into fussiness. As many plants die of one as 

 of the other. 



The fussy gardener pets and coddles her 

 plants precisely as she does her children, and 

 the result is about the same in each case. 

 Instead of giving them a reasonable amount 

 of intelligent care, and trusting them to fol- 

 low out the instincts of Nature in doing the 

 rest for themselves, she carries out her pet- 

 ting-coddling policy until they have lost that 

 sturdy, self-reliant quality which character- 

 izes all healthy development. This she does 

 out of mistaken ideas of kindness, of course, 

 but the result is often quite as disastrous as 

 that of intentional injury. Plants, just as per- 

 sons, like to have some responsibilities put 

 upon them, and do not care to be treated as 

 if they were wholly incapable of doing some- 

 thing for themselves. 



"But," may be asked, "what do you mean 

 by petting and coddling one's plants? What 

 is fussiness, from a floricultural standpoint?" 



It is made up of many things: Turning a 

 plant out of its pot to examine its roots when 

 it is doing as well as could be expected; 

 applying a little of this, that, or the other 



33 



