stopping her work.

"If new pots are not soaked the soil in them dries out very rapidly. You
can see that would be bad. Old soil clinging to plants interferes with
the new root growth while the green affects the porosity of the pot."

The girls stirred, scraped, and placed bits of pot in boxes and pots for
a time without speaking.

"Are we putting the right amount of drainage into these pots?" finally
questioned Eloise.

"Not quite enough into those large pots. In the small ones the inch of
drainage you have in the pots is quite sufficient, but in those pots
over six inches in size put an inch and a half of drainage material.
There should be two inches of drainage in that window box. Katherine,
you are taking those new pots out of the water too soon. Leave them in
until the bubbling is all over. Wait a minute, you mixing girls over
there. You mustn't put such coarse soil into your mixture. That could
well go into the pots and window box above the drainage material. But it
is far too coarse for a good potting soil. What soil you need for
potting one of you should sift. If the lumps were not so large it would
have been all right. What is that you are saying, Dee?"

"I wanted to know what you were going to use in place of sphagnum moss.
We have the drainage fixed in the box. Shall we put on the coarse
material next? Helena said you always used sphagnum moss."

"So I do when I can get it. But I can't always, so I just take some old
thin sods and put them on, green side down, next to the drainage. To be
sure, the coarse material could go on next, but it is very apt to settle
badly in the pot or box. You will find that sod just outside. Pick out
the very thinnest pieces; any others will be too thick."

"Now," said Elizabeth, "if you will bring your pots over, we'll fill
them up with soil for you."

"Wait a little, Elizabeth. What is going to happen with that pot
already full of soil when you put the plant in? Just how are you going
to work that?"

"Why, I had intended to make a hole in the soil and put the plant in."

"That is no way to pot plants. Come here, girls, and let us talk this
point out. I will pot a plant for you. I guess this begonia would be a
good one. See, it has quite a ball of earth of its own. Now look at
Elizabeth's full pot. Trying to plant in a pot already full of soil is
beginning entirely wrong. Hand over another pot, Josephine. Thank you.
See, here is a pot with its drainage, and a very litt