CHAPTER II 



POT-PLANTS IN GREENHOUSES AND 

 FRAMES 



The cultivation of plants is easier in greenhouses and frames 

 than in rooms, because the conditions are much better. 

 The air is purer and moister. The light is stronger, and, like 

 the temperature, more under control. Ventilators and often 

 doors can be opened to admit fresh air without causing an 

 injurious draught. Water can be poured on the floor in hot, 

 dry weather. Warmth can be obtained by lighting the stove, 

 or, in the case of a frame, by placing it on a hot-bed. If 

 shade is required, there is usually a shady corner, or blinds 

 can be used, or the lights washed with one of the preparations 

 sold for the purpose. For plants that grow best in full sunshine, 

 there is the front row of the stage. In rooms, too, propa- 

 gation by cuttings or seed is generally troublesome, and 

 sometimes impossible ; whereas in greenhouses, and, if a high 

 temperature is not required, in frames it is a comparatively 

 simple matter. 



But the fact that plants grow more rapidly in such 

 positions makes it more than ever necessary to manage them 

 in such a w^ay that the growth is what it should be. If they 

 have not enough air it will be soft and sappy instead of firm, 

 and they will fall easy victims to insects or disease. If they 

 are crowded together and a long way from the glass, it will be 

 long and straggling, for as it is formed under the influence 

 of light, it must proceed in that direction just as the roots 

 must follow the food out of which they make the additions to 

 their length. In summer, therefore, while plants are growing, 

 they should be kept as close as possible to the glass ; and in 



