XIII 

 GENERAL EXERCISES 



Filling the Flower-pot 



1. Take the flower-pot in the left hand and put a piece of 

 broken pottery or a small flat stone over the hole in the 

 middle of the bottom. 



2. Fill the pot with sifted soil, damp but not sticky, and 

 settle it by dropping the pot upon the bench straight down 

 from a height of an inch or so. If it is desired to have the 

 soil very compact, then press it down with the thumbs. 



3. If seed is to be planted, leave a space of about three- 

 quarters of an inch from the top. Sow the seed over the 

 surface and cover with one-quarter or one-half inch of fine 

 soil, leaving about one-half inch free space between the top 

 of the soil and the top of the pot. 



4. If a seedling is to be planted, fill the pot as before, then 

 make a hole in the middle of the soil and insert the seedling 

 without crowding its roots together. Firm the soil by press- 

 ing the thumbs on opposite sides of the plant, repeating this 

 operation two or three times as you turn the pot around by 

 the tips of the fingers. 



Starting Geranium Cuttings 



I. Break off a vigorous geranium shoot and cut it off just 



below where a leaf comes out. Remove all but two or three 



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