THE YOUNG 
l9askets at the largest dealers greatly above 
' the condition of my pocket-book, and as 
jl-for flower-pots, there is something about 
'their artificial shape, and bricky red look 
that always produced in me a great desire 
to cover them over with some material to 
I 'hide their offending color and form. 
I How to do it? that's the question. I 
made my first experiment on a cracked and 
partly broken flower pot, first scouring it 
i| with sand and water, then applying a thin 
! rough coating of plaster of paris, previously 
<jolored with a mixture of ultramarine blue 
And one of the dark chrome yellows, which 
gave me a dark green of considerable body, 
i After this coat dried, I applied a second 
i rough coating of plaster mixed with burnt 
fiienna and rose pink, which made a rich 
warm brown. The pot must be moist when 
4he plaster is laid on or it will not adhere. 
Fig. 1. 
This second coat, as shown in Fig. 1, re- 
•quires a little practice in laying it on in the 
serpentine and angular forms. For this pur- 
pose I used an old table knife. Mixing a small 
' quantity of plaster at a time with water to 
|j 'the consistency of thick paste, I began lay- 
ing on the plaster about the rim of the pot, 
working around the po till I reached the 
bottom. I then placed the pot on a sheet 
I of oiled or greased paper; this is to prevent 
the plaster working under the pot, thereby 
<5ausing it to stand unsteadily. I again laid 
SCIENTIST. 143 
on more of the plaster, building out the 
pattern from the bottom of the pot, till it 
was nearly as large as the rim in circumfer- 
ence. I now had a pot that looked like 
very deep bas-relief at the base, gradually 
becoming more shallow at the rim. After 
the plaster was thoroughly dry, I gave it 
two coats of boiled linseed oil to bring out 
the rich colors, and make the plaster tough 
and impervious to water. To make a hang- 
ing basket of this pot, I inserted a greased 
stick in the drain hole of the pot. To the 
bottom of the pot, and around the stick, 
I built more ornamental work in plaster, 
extending the pot down to a point. I then 
withdrew the stick, thus leaving a hole 
through the plaster for drainage. To hang 
Pig. 2. 
this pot, I bored three holes just under the 
rim; in these holes I fastened nickel plated 
wire cords (such as are sold by picture 
frame dealers), bringing the ends together 
a yard above the pot, and hanging it to an 
iron hook screwed to the top of the win- 
dow. 
My next attempt was with a cocoanut 
