THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



99 



with a bell-glass, and keep the sand 

 moist by placing the pan when neces- 

 sary in a shallow vessel, so that the 

 sand can absorb sufficient without 

 being disturbed. As soon as the seed- 

 lings are large enough to handle, pot 



them singly in a mixture of half peat 

 dust and half silver-sand, and keep 

 them close and warm without sub- 

 jecting them either to an extremely 

 high temperature or to any excess of 

 moisture. 



FERTILIZATION OF FRUITS IIS" HOUSES AND PITS. 



The necessary operation of ferti- 

 lizing the blossoms of fruits grown 

 under glass, is oftentimes overlooked 

 by the amateur, if not by the pro- 

 fessional gardener ; and the loss of a 

 crop of fruit is often the consequence, 

 especially if dull and damp weather 

 sets in at the time the trees are in 

 blossom. I some time back threw 

 out a hint respecting the artificial 

 " setting" of fruits in orchard-houses, 

 and doubt not that those who acted 

 upon it have now an abundant " set." 

 Let them beware now that they do 

 not fall into the opposite error of 

 overcropping the trees, merely be- 

 cause it seems a pity to destroy the 

 young fruit : better destroy a part 

 now, than all, and the tree into the 

 bargain, hereafter. But the season 

 being now at hand for the blossom- 

 ing of the grape, my object in this 

 paper is more especially to direct 

 the attention of our readers to the 

 desirableness of assisting the setting 

 of this fruit also — especially the 

 Muscat section, which 1 do not con- 

 sider are to be relied on for a fair 

 and even crop without it ; and I 

 know that it is the secret by which 

 some cultivators are enabled to show 

 that noble variety the Cannon Hall 

 Muscat in perfection, whilst others 

 do not get half-a-dozen lull-swelled 

 berries in a bunch. My plan is ex- 

 tremely simple ; it merely consists 

 in drawing the bunches very lightly 

 through my hand twice a day for a 

 few days, whilst the bunch is flower- 

 ing, and afterwards give the stem a 

 smart rap with the knuckles, to bring 

 off the capsule from the stamens, and 

 set the pollen free. The time for 

 performing this operation may be 



known by gently shaking the vine, 

 when the capsules that hold the' sta- 

 mens prisoners will begin to fall ; 

 then is the time to cautiously and 

 gently assist them as above described. 

 If the weather is dry and hot at this 

 period, they will be found to part 

 from the bunch freely ; but if gloomy 

 and damp, it will be well to give the 

 maximum amount of fire-heat allow- 

 able, and also to withhold some of 

 the moisture usually thrown on the 

 floors, etc. 



That cucumbers and melons re- 

 quire the aid of the cultivator to 

 assist their setting, by placing the 

 male or " false" blossom (divested of 

 its corolla) within the fruit blossom, 

 is, I presume, known to all. 



Yet, that is not sufficiently per- 

 severed in, especially early in the 

 season, I know to be a fact ; for ag 

 it can always be seen when the pollen 

 is exactly fit for effecting its im- 

 portant office, it oftentimes happens 

 that the first attempt proves abortive, 

 and is only known, when too late to 

 remedy, by the embryo fruit turning 

 yellow, and dropping away. There- 

 fore, it is safe practice to apply a 

 second or third male blossom at in- 

 tervals of a few hours to each fruit 

 blossom that is wished should 

 " stand ; " and this applies with 

 greater force to melons, for unless a 

 crop is set at once, one or two fruits 

 taking the lead will prevent all the 

 rest from swelling : and for this rea- 

 son none should be " set " until a 

 sufficient number of fruits show 

 themselves for a crop in nearly the 

 same stage of growth. 



Whitwell. H. HoWLBTT. 



