day previous to transplanting, so that the soil will be in just the right condition, neither wet enough to make the roots sticky, nor so dry as to crumble away.

Take the little seedling by the stem between the thumb and forefinger, and with a small round pointed stick or dibber, or with the forefinger of the other hand, make a hole deep enough to receive the roots and about half the length—more if the seedlings are lanky—of the stem. As the little plant is dropped into place, the tips of both thumbs and forefingers, by one quick, firm movement, compress the earth firmly both down on the roots and against the stem so that the plant sticks upright and may not readily be pulled out. Of course there is a knack about it which cannot be put into words—I could have pricked off a hundred seedlings in the time I am spending in trying to describe the operation—but a little practice will make one reasonably efficient at it.

When the flat is completed, jar it slightly to level the surface and give a watering, being careful, however, to bend down the plants as little as possible. Set the plants on a level surface, and if the sun is bright, shade with newspapers during the middle of the day for two or three days.

From now on until ready for potting, keep at the required temperature, as near as possible, and water thoroughly on bright mornings when necessary, but only when the drying of the surface shows that the soil needs it. Above all, give all the air possible, while maintaining the necessary heat. The quality of the mature plants will depend more upon this precaution than upon anything else in the way of care.

The little seedlings are sometimes put from the seed flat directly into small pots. I strongly advise the method described above. The flats save room and care, and the plants do much better for a few weeks than they will in pots. Where room is scarce, it is well to transplant cuttings into flats instead of potting them off. As soon, however, as either the transplanted plants or cuttings begin to crowd in the flats, they must be put into pots. How soon this will be depends largely, of course, upon the amount of room they have been given. As many as a hundred are often set in a flat 13x19 inches, but it is well to give them twice as much space as that if room permits.

POTTING

Cuttings and small plants are put into two-inch or "thumb" pots. Some of the larger growing geraniums or very sturdy plants require two-and-one-half inch pots, but the smaller size should be used when possible.

The soil for pots up to three inches should be screened, but not made too fine. A coal-ash sifter, or half-inch screen will do. The soil should be made up as directed in Chapter III.

The pots should be thoroughly cleaned with sand and water, or by a several days' soaking, and then wiping out with a cloth, if they have been used before. An old pot, with dirt sticking to the inside and the pores all clogged up, will not do good work. Old or new, they should be immersed in water until through bubbling just before using; otherwise they will absorb too much moisture from the soil.

The method of potting should depend somewhat upon the condition of the roots of the cutting. If they are less than half an inch long, as they should be, fill the pot level full of soil, make a hole with the forefinger of one hand; insert the cutting to about half its depth with the other, rap the bottom of the pot smartly against the bench to settle the earth, and then press it down firmly with the thumbs, leveling it as the pot is placed to one side in an empty flat. (The jarring down of the soil should precede the firming with the thumbs, as this will compact the soil more evenly within the pot.) This should leave the soil a little below the rim of the pot, making a space to hold water when watering; and the cutting should be so firmly embedded that it cannot be moved without breaking the soil.

With cuttings whose roots have been allowed to grow an inch or more in length, and plants with a considerable ball of roots—as they should have when coming from the transplanting flats—it is better partly to fill the pot. Hold the plant or cutting in position with the left hand and press the soil in about it with the right hand—firming it as directed in the former case. With a little practice either operation can be performed very rapidly. Florists do four to five hundred pots an hour.

When for any reason it is necessary to put a small or weakly rooted plant or cutting, or a cutting that is just on the point of sending forth roots, in a pot that seems too large, put it near the edge of the pot, instead of in the middle. This will often save a plant which would otherwise be lost, and at the next shift it can, of course, be put in the center of the pot.

If no small pots are at hand, several small plants or cuttings can be put around the edge of a four-or five-inch pot, with good results. Care must be taken, however, not to give too much water.

As soon as the little plants or cuttings are potted up, give them a thorough watering and place them where the holes in the bottoms of the pots will not be clogged with soil. A large flat, in the bottom of which an inch of pebbles, coarse sand or sifted cinders has been put, will be a good place for them. Keep shaded during the hot part of the day for three or four days. At first the pots may be placed as close together as possible, but in a very short time—two weeks at the most, if the growing conditions are right—they will need to be put farther apart. Nothing will injure them so quickly as being left crowded together where they cannot get enough air. Better, if necessary, give or throw away half of them than to attempt to grow fifty plants where you have room for only two dozen.

As before, water only when necessary, i.e., when the surface of the soil begins to look whitish and dry. Then water thoroughly. Until by practice you know just what they need, knock a few out of the pots, say fifteen minutes after watering, and see if the ball of earth has been wet through to the bottom; if not, you are not doing the job thoroughly. If the pots do not dry out between waterings, but stay muddy and heavy, either your soil is not right or you have used pots too large for your plants.

REPOTTING

In the course of a week or two, if a plant is knocked out, the small white roots may be seen coming through the ball of earth and beginning to curl around the outside of it. The time for repotting the young plants will have been reached when these roots have made a thick network around the ball of earth, but before they become brown and woody; that is, while they are still white and succulent—"working roots," as the florists term them.

[Illustration: Potted cuttings ready for shifting to a larger pot. From left to right, ivy geranium, snapdragon, geranium and dusty miller]

[Illustration: Some plants, like Rex begonia, will strike root from their leaves if perforated with a knife into damp sand]

[Illustration: In all potted plants an important detail is the placing of rough drainage material, such as broken pieces of pot, charcoal, ashes, etc., at the bottom, to prevent moisture from settling in the soil and souring it]

The shift, as a general rule, should be to a pot only one size larger, that is, from a three to a four, or a four to a five.

Remove the plant from the old pot by holding the stem of the plant between the index and middle finger of the left hand, and with the right inverting the pot and rapping the edge of the rim sharply against the edge of the bench or table.

Before putting the plant into the new pot, remove the top half inch of