112 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



that count. To begin with, the main things about potting are 

 (1) to get the roots down; (2) to press the soil firmly around them; 

 (3) to leave an even surface when the job is finished, with the plant 

 in the center of the pot and the soil level a little below the edge 

 of the pot. This would hold good with almost any rooted cutting 

 taken from the sand bed or with seedlings, so long as you have the 

 plants about as deep in the pots as they were in the sand or soil 

 they came out of. Just which way suits you best in doing the actual 

 work so as to do it in the shortest possible time and with the least 

 exertion, so as to keep at it all day if necessary— that must be left 

 entirely to yourself. 



I respect the man who takes pains in doing his work right; 

 but if he is too slow it becomes painful to have him around. At 

 least, that holds good when it comes to potting ordinary stock. 

 With such, speed means almost everything — yet it isn't to be said 

 that on that account poor potting has to be done. 



I have seen bedding stock turned out by men who had but 

 little experience and some hardly any, men who had no one to show 

 or tell them how to go about it, yet their plants were as good as any. 

 Then again, we find men who have had many years of experience 

 in the potting shed doing miserable work. 



I am sure that the beginner or the man who wants to find out 

 just how to pot, will have no trouble in getting someone to show 

 him. Or he can pay a visit to a large concern somewhere nearby, 

 where potting and re-potting goes on every week day of the year. 



Drainage Essential in Potting 



For the benefit of those starting out, it may be well to state 

 that you can never make a mistake by providing drainage when 

 potting or shifting plants from one size pot to another. No matter 

 what the stock consists of, proper drainage is, to my mind, the most 

 important thing about growing any plant in a pot. It is provided 

 usually by laying a piece of broken pot, with the hollow side down, 

 over the hole in the bottom of the pot. In using small pots, a little 

 charcoal or cinders may answer better. The heavier your soil, 

 the more attention you should pay to proper drainage. 



It is an easy matter to apply water to a plant in need of it, 

 but it is perdition when the surplus water can't get out of the pot. 

 The effect will soon be noticed. 



The man who buys Begonias, Cyclamens, palms or, for that 

 matter, anything else from the specialist, need have but Uttle 

 trouble finding out the proper way to pot by looking at the 

 surface of the soil in the pots he buys, and also below it. 



The firmer you pot, the better; yet more care is needed with 

 the tender roots of a Begonia, Primula or Poinsettia, than when 



