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