jibotii CtoHS. 



341 



Plant-forcing Economics. 



BY DR. JAMES WEED, MUSCATINE, IOWA. 



SOON after we engaged in horticultural pursuits in Iowa, some thirty years ago, 

 there occurred at this place a violent hailstorm — countless numbers of hailstones 

 falling of an oblong form, about one and one-half by three-fourths inches in diame- 

 ter. At this demonstration of nature " in the ice business," we were much alarmed 

 for the safety of our " air castles '' when, in the future, they should become veritable 

 glass houses. 



We directed immediate attention to some means of protection in such emergencies, 

 but finding it a difl&cult matter to accomplish satisfactorily, we wrote to A. J. Down- 

 ing in relation to the use of shutters upon glass structures at the East. The import 

 of his answer through the Horticulturist, was, that, although they were formerly 

 considered necessary and the advantages of their use were manifestly important, the 



difficulties and inconveniences of their application were so great that they were 

 generally abandoned. Subsequently practical experience of the severity of our 

 climate has impressed us more and more with their importance as a means of econo- 

 mizing heat, as well as for protection against sudden and unexpected changes and 

 external casualties ; and by unremitted labor and experiment, we have at last ob- 

 tained a shutter that completely answers our purpose for hot-beds, cold-frames and 

 forcing-houses when constructed with reference to its use. 



The accompanying illustrations represent this shutter in three positions ; open, 

 lialf open and closed. At the South it will be a very valuable safeguard against 

 unseasonable " Northers," and at the far North, where the long nights during their 

 long winters render a constant and protracted warfare against the encroachments of 

 the ice king unavoidable, its utility is obvious. 



About Cions. — S. D. Redfield, Vinton, Iowa, writes us, Aug. 13 : I cut cions 

 from a plum tree late in the spring and grafted into a wild stock, and I never saw 

 a more thrifty growth in any one season. Now, the very limbs from which the cions 

 were cut and a portion of the whole top of the tree is dead. 



Query — If the temperature was so low as to freeze solid the liquid in plant struc- 

 ture, so as to destroy the tree, where did the cions get their vitality ? 



