THE FLATS 



117 



which can usually be had for the asking. Cigar boxes will 

 do ; the fiat ones are about the right depth, and only need 

 a few more tiny nails, so that when they are wet they will 

 not warp apart. But they are small. I have had better 

 success with a five-pound butter box, cut down to a depth 

 of about two inches, measured inside. A starch box, larger 

 still, can be cut into two boxes (or, as we had better call 

 them, flats). And if we are strong enough to handle the 

 weight, the very best is a 

 soap box, because of the 

 number of plants that it 

 will hold. By using a saw 

 (best a rip-saw) it can be 

 cut into two or sometimes 

 three fiats of considerable 

 size. Two to three inches 

 in depth is all one needs. 



In making the flats we 

 must provide drainage, 

 since we have learned that 

 water must not stand 

 around the roots of plants. 

 In order to allow any extra water to escape, the boards 

 that make the bottom of the box need not fit closely ; or, 

 if they do, holes should be bored in the bottom in several 

 places. One way of making a well-drained soap-box flat is 

 to have the bottom made only of well-nailed slats, with open- 

 ings an inch apart. But if this is the kind of flat we use, 

 over the slats we must put moss or excelsior, closely packed, 

 in order that the fine soil shall not wash out. Over the 

 holes in the other large flats should be put pieces of broken 

 flower pots (arched over them, if curved), and around 

 them should be packed gravel or bits of coal. In small 



Fig. 64. — A "flat" for indoor garden- 

 ing. Drainage in small flats is through 

 cracks and loose joints. 



