“Tell ’Em 
We Ship Them 
With Their Shoes On” 
That’s what our chief propagator said when we ask- 
ed him if he thot we were really getting across our 
“PLANTBAND STORY”. 
“Tell ‘em we don’t send out a lot of half-dead stuff 
that’s supposed to be dormant, but is actually on its 
way out”. 
“Tell ‘em that our stuff is growing when they get it, 
and it just doesn’t stop growing! Tell ‘em “WE 
SHIP ‘EM WITH THEIR SHOES ON!” 
That’s nice enthusiasm; and actually it does tell 
much of the story, too. But let’s put it this way. 
Suppose you could get liners from beds with an 
ample ball of earth about the roots of each plant. 
Suppose that it were possible for the shipper to 
gather up all of the little “feeder roots” and get 
them all into the ball, too. And then suppose that 
he had some novel container that would hold the 
roots and ball of earth into one firm, compact pack- 
age, and that that’s the way it would come to you. 
Practically speaking, that is the PLANTBAND 
STORY. When the plants are taken from the pro- 
pagating medium they are potted up into individual 
plantbands, in soil they like; and until they are ship- 
ped they remain in those bands. 
Why plantbands instead of clay pots? That’s easy! 
Plantbands are cheaper, and in many ways better. 
Let’s take the clay pot deal first! 
First, gather a bunch of pot chips to cover the holes. 
(Can somebody tell us why they put holes in pots? 
Maybe, so they can be covered.) Pot the plants, and 
set each pot in a flat as it is finished. When the flat 
is full, carry it out to the coldframe, and put a man 
in there to plunge them. Pots dry out pretty quickly, 
so have a man check them at least once a day. They 
take a lot of space, too; and they are heavy to handle. 
When shipping time comes, send a man out to the 
frame to gather up, one at a time, what is needed 
for the order. _Have someone bring them into the 
packing rooms. Tap them out, one at a time. Set 
up paper shipping pots, one at a time; and then, one 
at a time, put the plants into the paper pots, and 
into a box. To pack in boxes plants out of pots, and 
to do it right, takes a lot of packing experience, and 
it is expensive. They must be tight and well ‘“shor- 
ed” in the box, or when they get to destination they 
will be in two lots: one lot of bare-root plants, and 
one lot of mud. 
When you get plants out of pots, something must be 
done about it right then. No matter how busy you 
are, you must either repot or plant them. You can’t 
let them stand around. 
