U4 



THE GARDENER. 



[;March 



FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



Pines.— Continue to apply the direc- 

 tions of last month to those that are 

 startintr, and that have shown their 

 fruit distinctly. The most important 

 point in their management this month 

 is to keep the soil about their roots 

 moderately moist, especially avoiding a 

 state of mealy dryness at any time — a 

 condition which, now that the sun has 

 more power, and that air has to be more 

 liberally admitted, will check and stunt 

 the young fruit. With increased light, 

 the temperature may safely be advanced 

 to 70° at night, and to 8.5° for a short 

 time at shutting-up time, with sun heat; 

 more moisture in the air is also neces- 

 sary as light and heat increase. When 

 the fruit are done flowering, give a very 

 light dewing overhead with tepid water 

 through a very fine rose. Where there 

 are any Pines that are farther advanced, 

 and which it is a desideratum to ripen 

 early, these may now be pushed on with a 

 few degrees more heat than is named 

 above, especially when shut up with sun 

 on fine afternoons. Very hard forcing, 

 requiring highly - heated pipes during 

 cold parching winds, should be avoided, 

 and the milder weather as it occurs 

 should be taken advantage of for push- 

 ing them rapidly on. Colour the water 

 with Peruvian guano for every watering, 

 and pour a little of it into the steaming- 

 troughs. Later-fruiting stock, that are 

 intended first to make a growth and 

 then start, should now be kept moder- 

 ately and steadily moist at the root, a,nd 

 air moisture increased in proportion 

 with a temperature of 65° at night, so 

 as to encourage a healthy growth, and 

 prevent any checks that are calculated 

 to cause them to show fruit prematurely. 

 These, after making a growth, generally 

 yield the finest fruit of the season. 

 Generally speaking, this is the month 

 when the majority of autumn - potted 

 suckers require to be shifted into their 

 fruiting-pots. But we have an aversion 

 to fixing times and seasons to a week, or 

 even a month. If the suckers show 

 plenty of young healthy roots round the 

 sides of the balls, they are ready to 

 shift. If they are not in this condi- 

 tion, and the soil is in a proper state, 

 leave them till they are. If the soil is 

 at all wet and pasty, and roots scarce, 

 the sooner they are shaken out of such 

 soil and potted in proper soil the bet- 

 ter. On the other hand, if they are 

 what is known, in garden phraseology, 



matted or pot-bound, then they should 

 have been shifted last month; and the 

 chances are, that instead of starting 

 into growth when shifted, they will 

 start into fruit. To run the least risk 

 of this, we advise their being entirely 

 "shaken out," preserving the roots as 

 much as possible, and pot them firmly 

 at once into their fruiting-pots, using 

 moderately - moist soil, and watering 

 them sooner after being potted than 

 would otherwise be advisable, and give 

 moi-e atmospheric moisture. By such 

 treatment, any of them that are to start 

 prematurely into fruit will do so at 

 once, and then they can be got rid of. 

 Our own practice is to shift — any time — 

 into pots a size larger in October, Nov- 

 ember, December, or January, rather 

 than run the risk of a matted ball and 

 stunted plant that is worthless after 

 being wintered. For Queens, we con- 

 sider 11 -inch pots sufficiently large. 

 For Cayennes, Charlotte Rothschild, and 

 other large-growing sorts, we would not 

 exceed a 12-inch pot. We have experi- 

 mented on this point, and found that 

 11 and 12 inch pots gave better returns 

 than larger sizes. These sizes will pro- 

 duce Queens from 5 to 6 lb., and 

 Cayennes from 8 to 11 lb., weights 

 sufficient to satisf}'' any requirements. 

 Crock with ^-inch crocks to the depth 

 of 14 inch, and cover the crocks with 

 a thin even layer of the fibre from the 

 loam, and then dust with a little fresh 

 soot to keep worms at bay. We con- 

 sider a brown hazelly loam, neither very 

 light nor very heavy, taken to the depth 

 of 4 inches from old pasture, and stack- 

 ed ten or twelve months in a dry place, 

 the best for Pine-culture. To this we 

 do not recommend anything to be 

 added, beyond an 8-inch pot full of 

 4 -inch bones or bone-meal, and an 

 equal quantity of soot to every two bar- 

 row-loads of loam, the whole being 

 thoroughly mixed together. Strip off 

 a few of the bottom leaves, rub the 

 inert soil from the upper part of 

 the ball, remove the old crocks, and 

 disentangle sliL'htlv the roots. In pot- 

 ting, ram the soil firmly with pieces of 

 wood made for the purpose. In plunging 

 them in their growing quarters, avoid 

 crowding. Queens should not be cl^oser 

 than 22 inches each way, and larger 

 sorts 24 inches. The bottom - heat 

 should range from 80° to 85°, not higher. 

 Avoid shading much after shifting, 



