94 



THE GARDENER. 



[Feb. 



tarine. To ripen these for end of 

 April and ]\Iay it is necessary to start 

 early in December, and carry on the 

 work of forcing slowly until the criti- 

 cal times of setting and stoning are 

 past; and then the Peach and Nec- 

 tarine bear smart forcing, especially 

 when high afternoon and evening 

 temperature can be maintained chief- 

 ly with the aid of sun -heat. One of 

 the rocks ahead in early Peach forcing 

 is the allowing of the borders, when 

 roots are chieily under glass, to get 

 over-dry between the time the leaves 

 have dro]iped and the buds begin to 

 swell. Over-dryness for a length of 

 time then causes the buds to drop off 

 before they expand, and does the sys- 

 tem of the trees much harm. The 

 soil about their roots should never 

 be very dry. When the fruit is set 

 thoroughly, go over the trees and rub 

 off a quantity of the smallest and 

 most pointed looking, especially those 

 on the under sides of the shoots. Let 

 the rubbing off of a quantity of the 

 wood-buds be also attended to early. 

 The thinning of both fruits and shoots 

 should be begun early, and finally 

 completed at three or four times, ulti- 

 mately leaving a shoot at the base 

 and top of each fruit-bearing growth, 

 unless they are of great length, on 

 young trees, when of course some 

 must be left to properly furnish the 

 trees. Syringe the trees with tepid 

 water in the morning and at shutting- 

 up time. Advance the night tempera- 

 ture to 55° when cold, and 60° when 

 mild. See that the inside border is 

 kept moist — and the atmosphere also, 

 by means of frequent sprinklings. 

 Start a succession-house with a few 

 degrees more heat than recommended 

 for the earlier house, unless the 

 weather prove very wintry, as it often 

 does in February. But even then, 

 more aid is generally available from 

 the sun. All late trees under glass, 

 if not already pruned, should be at- 

 tended to at once. 



Figs. — Now is a good time to start 

 a Fig - house, furnished with good 

 strong Brown Turkeys, for ripening 

 their first crop in June and July, and 

 their second in September and Octo- 

 ber. Start at 55° at night. Keep the 

 air moist, and the trees well syringed, 

 and allow a rise of 10° by day. Ad- 

 vance the heat for early trees in pots 

 a few degrees. See that they are well 



supplied with tepid dung and guano 

 water alternately. It is scarcely pos- 

 sible to over-water Fig-trees in pots 

 that have not been shifted for a few 

 years. It is a good plan to let them 

 root through and over the top of the 

 pots into a mixture of turfy loam and 

 horse -droppings. Few fruit -bearing 

 I)lants are more grateful for liberal 

 feeding than free-bearing Figs in pots. 



Melons.— The early plants may be 

 planted out whenever they are well 

 rooted in their pots, and about 8 to 9 

 inches high. For early crops, it is a 

 good plan to grow them in pots. A 12- 

 or 13-inch pot will ripen three or four 

 good fruits ; and Melons at this early 

 season should not have so much soil 

 to ramble in as in summer. See that 

 the loam used has no wireworm in it, 

 or the plants will soon go the way of 

 Jonah's gourd. That Melons may 

 make satisfactory progress at this 

 season the bottom and top tempera- 

 tures should be respectively 85° and 

 70°, with the usual rise by day with 

 sun-heat. Sow at the beginning and 

 end of the month for succession crops. 



Cucumbers. — Plant out those sown 

 about Christmas. These should be 

 placed in a light pit, with a good 

 command of heat. The soil used 

 should be rather light than otherwise, 

 but rich ; and instead of filling up the 

 whole space allotted to the roots, be- 

 gin with about half of it, and add to 

 it as the roots extend. The same 

 temperature named for Melons is suf- 

 ficient. Sow some approved sort about 

 the middle of the month. 



Strawberries in Pots. — A good 

 many forced Strawberries come into 

 bloom this month ; and if the weather 

 be very cold, the setting of the crop 

 is a critical point. Avoid, as one of 

 the chief causes of disaster, high tem- 

 peratures by mere force of fire. Let 

 the night temperature sink to 45°, 

 rather than have it high by singeing- 

 hot pipes. Give air constantly, more 

 or less, but beware of currents of 

 frosty air among the blooms. Early 

 crops swelling off, on the other band, 

 stand a good deal of heat, and, unless 

 in exceptionally severe weather, may 

 range to 60" at night. Water freely 

 at the roots, but avoid having plates 

 under the pots. Thin the fruits where 

 they have set thickly. Bring on suc- 

 cession batches slowly, as recommend- 

 ed last month. 



