i88i.] 



CALENDAR. 



335 



CtaUn&ar* 



FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



Pines.— The very bright and really 

 warm weather experienced during the 

 latter half of May and the early part of 

 June, caused Pines in all stages to make 

 rapid progress, and they have well 

 made up for the little progress they 

 made after being shifted, owing to the 

 coldness of the spring. Should the 

 weather be as it generally is in July — 

 sunny by day and warm at night — the 

 necessity for fire-heat to keep tempera- 

 tures sufficiently high for Pines will be 

 almost entirely superseded — in some 

 localities at least — by the more natural 

 and invigorating heat of the sun. At 

 the same time, if a period of dull, wet, 

 and comparatively cold weather should 

 occur, careful attention must be given 

 to the atmosphere of pineries, and the 

 pipes should be heated so as to keep 

 the air from becoming stagnant and 

 the heat from sinking much below the 

 maximum temperature. Plants in- 

 tended for fruiting next year will now 

 be growing rapidly, and require to be 

 very carefully and rather freely venti- 

 lated to prevent a weak and sappy 

 growth. By the end of this month. 

 Queens intended for fruiting early 

 next year will be large plants with 

 their pots well filled with roots, and 

 will require careful attention in the mat- 

 ter of watering, so that they do not 

 get too dry, and remain so for many 

 days at a time, or they may get a 

 check that may cause them to start 

 into fruit. The soil should be kept 

 constantly moist, and liquid manure 

 in a weak state applied at every alter- 

 nate, if not every, time they require 

 watering. On the afternoons of tine 

 days these and all growing plants 

 should be syringed with a fine rose 

 at shutting -up time, but only moist- 

 ening the foliage without causing 

 much water to accumulate and stand 

 in the axils of the leaves, or the pro- 

 duction of suckers — in Queens especi- 

 ally — may be the result, and the ener- 

 gies of the plants become exhausted 

 in the wrong direction. The night 

 temperature may range to 75°, drop- 

 ping to 70° by morning. It sometimes 

 becomes necessary, in very scorching 

 weather, to slightly shade Pines dur- 



ing the heat of the day, to prevent their 

 becoming severely browned and wiry 

 in growth. In doing this, let some 

 thin material be used, such as hexagon 

 netting or tifTany, and avoid the use of 

 thick mats or canvas. Early started 

 Queens will now be all cut, and the 

 suckers they have produced should be 

 potted into 6 and 7 inch pots, accord- 

 ing to their size. Pot them in fresh 

 turfy loam, with a little bone-meal 

 mixed with it ; plunge them in a 

 gentle bottom - neat, and give them 

 plenty of room. Shade them in the 

 heat of the day until they have rooted 

 and shown signs of growth, after which 

 shade as little as possible, and air 

 freely to produce stocky growth. 

 Plants swelling off fruit will require 

 to be constantJy watched to see that 

 they do not become over -dry : give 

 them weak guano or ordinary manure 

 water every time they need watering. 

 Shut them up sufficiently early in the 

 afternoons to run the temperature to 

 95° for a time, and load the atmo- 

 sphere with moisture by damping ail 

 bare surfaces and syringing the plants 

 overhead. Where more fruit are ripe 

 than are required, a number of them 

 can be removed to a cool fruit-room, 

 where they will keep for several weeks 

 in good condition. Avoid the too 

 common practice of keeping the soil 

 very dry when Pines at this season 

 approach maturity. 



Grapes. — The fruit will now be all 

 cut from the early houses, and no pains 

 should be spared to keep the foliage 

 healthy and fresh to the last. Pted- 

 spider must be prevented by frequent 

 vigorous syringings, and the Vines 

 nourished by keeping the borders 

 moist. Give abundance of air, and do 

 not allow laterals to grow so as to 

 crowd the main foliage and wood. 

 Grapes intended to be kept through 

 the winter should now be carefully 

 examined ; and if any of the bunches 

 have not been thinned sufficiently, 

 lose no time in completing this opera- 

 tion before the berries get anything 

 like jammed. The bunches should be 

 more severely thinned out than those 



