52 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



cut, do not be so foolish as to drive the plants on for a third. Their 

 serious work, proper, is done ; they need and deserve a rest if their 

 strength is to be maintained, though in the course of nature they 

 will continue to bloom throughout the season. 



At all events, there must be some replenishment of the soil, 

 and this is best provided for by removing about 2 inches of the 

 top soil even if in doing so some of the roots are exposed. Replace 

 with compost similar to that in which the plants were potted and 

 ram it on firmly, after which they should be reconsigned for the 

 remainder of the season to the nursery bed from whence they came. 

 It may be thought by some that it would be advisable to re-pot 

 instead of top-dressing them, but we do not think so ; and as a rule 

 this would follow in due course next season. We do not wish 

 to unduly increase the size of the pots, and our experience is that 

 with this top-dressing, supplemented by heavier feeding when 

 again housed, the plants will carry well through another forcing 

 season on a regime at once economical and efficient. 







