30 THE FLORIST. 



Dahlias. Choice new varieties, if a large increase is desired, may 

 now be put to work in a steady heat. Eoots of others, if not keeping 

 well, or rotting down the stem, may also be started; for once fairly 

 started they are safe ; and if but a few plants are required from them, 

 they may be placed in a cooler house. Pot-roots are the most easily 

 wintered ; these should remain under the stage of the greenhouse till 

 March, when they should be started. If not already done, trench the 

 ground intended for Dahlias next season, which should remain 

 thrown up rough till May. 



Ericas. Clean glass. Good ventilation in mild weather, without 

 exposing the plants to direct currents of cold air, and moderate 

 waterings when requisite, embrace the principal points of treatment 

 for the present month. Avoid much fire-heat; as a substitute for 

 which keep up the temperature of the house by some protecting ma- 

 terial. A canvas, or even a calico screen, placed over the roof, will 

 do much in this respect; and a temperature three or four degrees 

 above the freezing-point is sufficiently high, if accompanied with 

 dryness. 



Flower Garden. Keep the turf, edgings, and gravel- walks clean; 

 well roll the latter after frost or rain, to keep them firm ; let the 

 borders and beds, if not planted up, be kept neat by raking over the 

 surface. Protect half-hardy plants from frost with Fern or branches 

 of Evergreens stuck round them, and cover the roots of such plants 

 with sawdust or old tan for the like purpose. 



Fruit, hardy. Apples, Pears, Plums, and Cherries should be pruned 

 in mild weather, and those against walls or espaliers afterwards nailed 

 or tied in. Cut away the old wood from Raspberry stools, selecting 

 from three to five of the strongest canes for bearing; these may be 

 tied up to stakes or rods, but not shortened back till the spring. 

 Defer pruning Gooseberry and Currant bushes till spring, as many of 

 their buds are often destroyed in hard weather by sparrows and 

 other hard-billed birds. All kinds of hardy fruit-trees may be 

 planted in open weather, if their roots are covered directly after- 

 wards with half-decayed dung or litter, to protect them from frost. 



Fruit, forced. Those who want ripe Grapes in the end of May 

 or early in June must commence forcing at once. If the border is 

 outside, it will assist the roots to cover it with warm dung, to which 

 additions should be made, so as to maintain a mild heat on the sur- 

 face ; protect this covering from rain and snow by thatching or 

 throwing a tarpaulin over it in bad weather. For forcing thus early 

 the Vines should have been pruned for some time ; and now they will 

 require dressing and training. Start with a temperature of 45° by 

 night, increasing it a degree per week. Damp the Vines daily, and 

 keep the atmosphere of the house moderately moist ; give air each 

 fine day, and let the thermometer range 10° to 12° higher by day than 

 by night, with a slight addition during sunshine. Prune, dress, and 

 train ; succession vineries and Peach-houses to be in readiness when 

 required. To obtain early Strawberries, plunge some of the earliest 

 potted plants in a mild bottom-heat under glass; this will bring 

 them forward gently, and towards the end of the month they should 



