140 THE FORCING GARDEN. 
price, and done well too; and they can do it if they 
like, but they want to get fully one half profit out of 
the thing. 
It will be found that this house is a good one for 
early forcing; if the back wall is made of hollow brick- 
work it will materially add to the earliness of it (see 
fig. 5, section of cavity wall). The price does not in- 
clude the back wall; if one has to be made, by all 
means build this kind of wall for all early houses and, 
in fact, late ones too. The house should face the 
south, and be screened from the cutting east winds, 
which generally affect all early forcing. It should be 
well double-glazed, especially for the midland and 
northern counties, where it is difficult to keep out the 
long and sharp frosts, and to maintain a growing heat 
when it is wanted the most. 
The pit should be well filled with leaves and stable 
dung or new tan; but I would caution the reader about 
the tan, which is much liable to breed a most perni- 
cious fungus. If therefore tan is used, some plung- 
ing material must be placed on the top of it, deep 
enough to let the pots into, say, nine inches; for if it 
comes up to the top of the pots, you will be dreadfully 
annoyed with one of the worst kinds of fungus, for it 
will rapidly spread over the whole surface, and kill 
everything. It seems to possess a perfectly fleshy 
nature, which I suppose comes from the skins, as it is 
similar to putrid flesh ; so that the tan should never 
be allowed to reach the pot, but be trodden tight into 
the lower part of the pit, and filled up with it to within 
say a foot of the top; then make up this deficiency 
with sawdust, cinder ash, or sand for plunging the 
pots in. 
