THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 3G3 



nights, for a quite moderate flame, diffusing its heat slowly over a 

 comparatively great extent of piping, exerts a more powerful and 

 constant effect on the atmosphere of the house than it would do if 

 the piping were restricted, and the effect converted from spreadiug 

 into jumping, for we want no jumping of artificial heat in plant- 

 houst-s. S. H. 



THE MANAGEMENT OF PLANT-HOUSES IN WINTER. 



ET A KENTISH GABDENEE. 



IS" the following remarks my object is to assist the amateur 

 readers of these pages, believing as I do they will ap- 

 preciate any effort that we can make to assist them in 

 the proper management of their plant-houses. Amongst 

 those for whom we write, many grave errors are com- 

 mitted in the management of plants under glass at this time of the 

 year, through want of knowledge of the conditions essential to 

 success. This is especially the case with fire-heat and air-giving 

 during the winter months. To these I might add the subject of 

 watering. All these are points upon which much has been said and 

 written ; but for all that, there is at the present moment as much 

 need of this being repeated again as ever there was. 



Doubtless many have improved through what has been done for 

 them, but unfortunately those who are accustomed to look about 

 them, and to note what they see, can tell us that there are some 

 who have yet to learn the principles upon which to act when attend- 

 ' ing to these operations. Did this only extend to the case of the 

 amateur, we might be less pointed in our remarks ; but we see it 

 sometimes with those who wish to be thought good gardeners. 

 And to such what ought I to say ? If I were to tell them point- 

 blank that they were wrong in their notions about excluding frost, 

 and keeping plants healthy, they would be offended, so I must be 

 content to tell them to ascertain the whereabouts of some enthu- 

 siastic amateur, and get a leaf out of his book about the proper 

 management of a greenhouse ; for there are mauy such from whom 

 they might learn some useful lessons. He will tell them that he 

 does not get the house up by fire-heat to 60° at seven o'clock in the 

 evening, and then leave his fire and the internal air of the house to 

 go down to freezing point by the morning. He will tell them, too, 

 that such extremes of temperature in the space of twelve hours are 

 positively killing the plants by inches ; because they are as it were 

 roasted at night and frozen in the morning. Such unthinking 

 individuals should place themselves in a similar position; perhaps 

 then they would be better able to judge if it was conducive to 

 health. If it proves not so, why then they have only to draw a 

 comparison between themselves and the plants in their houses 

 which are perhaps as sensitive as themselves to these sudden varia- 

 tions in temperature. Surely they would then understand why the 



