50 MANAGEMENT OF THE FORCING-HOUSE. 
Warm Plants— 
Day Night 
SROMALO'. >. teu acoder eee 750 65° 
(GuecHM DER e5.5 05 cmes ks See 75° to 80° 65° to 70° 
IMGIONG otek eo 2 ee: ee 75° to 85° 65° to 70° 
eoplant., 2150 205 f5 sf 75° to 80° 65° 
RE PPC Tasers chee, bcute - 0sa, yt Cae meee ; 75° 65° 
Asparagus and rhubarb (when forced 
from temporary roots). ....... - 75° to 85° 65° ta 70° 
In bright days the temperature may run much higher than 
these figures, but if plenty of fresh air is given on such 
occasions no ill results should follow. 
SOILS FOR FORCED VEGETABLES. 
Forcing-house soils should not only be rich in available 
plant food, but they should be of a mellow and friable 
texture, so that the water soaks through them uniformly, 
leaving them dryish and loose on top. A soil with much 
clay tends to run together, or to cement itself, especially 
if watered from a hose, and the plants tend to make a 
spindling and unwilling growth. On the other hand, a soil 
with very much manure or litter is so loose as not to hold 
sufficient water to keep the plant in health; or if it does 
hold the requisite moisture, it tends to produce a robust 
and over-willing growth at the expense of fruit. Yet, 
despite all this, the skill of the gardener is much more 
important than the character of the soil, for a skillful man 
will handle even hard clay soils in such manner as to give 
good results. The chief single factor of manipulation in 
determining the productivity of soil in forcing-houses is 
the watering, to which we shall presently advert. 
The best forcing-house soils are those which have a 
foundation of good garden loam, and are lightened up 
with sharp sand and some kind of fiber. This fiber is 
usually very well rotted manure, or rotted sods. Thin 
sods cut from an old pasture —especially from one which 
has a clay loam soil—and allowed to stand in a low flat 
pile for a year or so, being turned or forked over once or 
