THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



barrow and taken around to the front of the 

 house, where it is shoveled in through the win- 

 dows, or, as florists designate them, ventilators. 

 When the bed-frames are quite full, they are 

 raked level, then gently smoothed off with the 

 edge of a strip of board just long enough to 

 reach across the bed. 



Transplanting is done at once, before the 

 soil has time to settle. We always grow the 

 young plants in boxes which are easily han- 

 dled, so the work is quickly accomplished. 

 The plants are watered about half an hour 

 before they are carried into the feed house, 

 where a small kitchen table acts as a potting 

 bench. Any dead or sickly leaves are trimmed 

 off, and then, with a sharp knife, the soil is 

 cut through in each direction between the rows, 

 to sever the rootlets, and make it possible to 

 scoop out each root with its accompanying 

 wrapping of moist earth, and slip it gently 

 into the hole made ready to receive it in the 

 permanent bed. This prevents the change of 

 environment being a shock, as it must be when 



33 



