ctly 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.