The preparation of soil for pot plants is frequently postponed until the day on which it is actually required.  This is a bad practice, and results too often in the use of an improper proportion of the materials, and perhaps in their defective admixture.  In this, as in all other operations connected with horticulture, the men who make all requisite arrangements in advance will achieve the highest results.  In no pursuit of life is it more necessary to forecast coming wants than in the culture of flowers.  We will suppose that three or four weeks hence many pots are to be filled with Primulas.  The man who grows this flower with any degree of enthusiasm will not defer the preparation of the soil until the day arrives for potting the plants.  He will determine in advance the proportions of loam, leaf-mould, and sand, have the whole thoroughly incorporated, and possibly sifted to remove stones.  With these may come away some undecayed fibres, which make excellent material for laying over the crocks at the bottom of each pot.  Forethought of this kind is certain of an ample reward.

Potting soil should also be in the right condition as to moisture.  This is not easy to describe, but it must handle freely, and yet there should be no necessity for the immediate application of water after sowing seeds or planting bulbs.  In the event of the compost being too dry, give it a soaking and allow it to rest for one or more days, according to the time of year and the state of the atmosphere.

==Pots, new or old==, should be soaked in water before use.  They are very porous, and by absorbing moisture from the soil they may at once make it too dry, although in exactly the right condition before being placed in the pots.  And old pots ought never to be used until they have been scrubbed quite clean.  These may appear to be trivial matters, unworthy of attention.  They have, however, an influence on the health of plants, and experienced growers know that a few apparent trifles make all the difference between success and failure.  Pots which are dirty, or covered with green moss, prevent access of air, and tend to bring about a sickly growth.  Cleanliness in horticulture is valuable for its own sake, and for the orderly routine it necessitates on the part of the cultivator.

Pots are known both by number and by size.  They are sold by the ‘cast,’ and a cast always consists of the distinguishing number.  The following are the numbers and sizes:—­

  Number in Cast Inches

72  Inside diameter across top   2-1/2
Small 60        "          "           2-3/4
Mid. 60        "          "           3
Large 60        "          "           3-1/2
Small 54        "          "           4
Large 54        "          "           4-1/4
Small 48        "          "           4-3/4
Large 48        "          "           5
40        "          "           5-1/2
32        "          "           6-1/4
28        "          "           7