The Garden Under Glass

CHAPTER XXII POTTING AND POTTING SOILS The usual type of flower pot is too well known to need any description. These pots are usually sold in casts, a certain number going to a cast, according to their size. Among gårdeners it is customary to speak of pots in numbers rather than in inches, and as I know this often confuses amateurs I now give the numbers and the size in inches. The inches represent the diameter of the pot at its top. Thimbles are 2 inches ; thumbs, 2| inches ; small sixties, 3 inches ; large sixties, 3> inches ; fifty-fours, 4 inches ; forty-eights, 5 inches; forties (or small thirty-twos), 5| inches; large thirty-twos, 6 inches; twenty-fours, 7 inches ; sixteens, 8| inches; twelves, 9 to 10 inches. These figures vary slightly, according to the different makes, but they may be regarded as being approximately correct. Clean v. Dirty Pots This is a subject of annual, if not, indeed, perennial dis-cussion, among gårdeners. Some insist on every pot being scrupulously clean before it is used. Others prefer to wipe them out, and only to wash them when they become unsightly in the greenhouse. Others again adopt a compromising attitude by insisting on every pot being clean before being used for certain subjects, while for others of little importance they consider this attention needless. I am personally ve ry much inclined to this 216