108 A LITTLE GARDEN THE YEAR ROUND 



in consequence. Insure perfect drainage by 

 putting a few pieces of broken flower pots in 

 the bottom of each new pot before setting the 

 Geranium, always remembering that the larger 

 the pot, the more drainage must be arranged 

 for. In placing these bits of broken pots it 

 is well always to place a concave piece over 

 the drainage-hole in the bottom of the pot, thus 

 "roofing" it and preventing it from becoming 

 stopped up. Many failures have come about 

 from improperly potting Geraniums. 



Do not make the common mistake of choos- 

 ing pots that are too large for the plants they 

 are to contain. Plants should be repotted 

 from time to time as their growth requires it, 

 instead of which many an amateur makes the 

 mistake of giving the newly started Grcranium 

 a pot half a dozen sizes too large for it. In re- 

 potting always retain as much of the original 

 soil as possible around the root-ball. Potting 

 soil must not be "pastey," neither wet nor like 

 dust, but just damp to the hand. Three parts 

 of fibrous loam, one of leaf mold, one of well- 

 crumbled manure and one-twelfth part of sand 

 combined makes an ideal soil for Geraniums, 



