POTTING AND FORCING. Ill 



which all the plants can be brought from the vinery 

 whenever they show signs of bloom. This conserva- 

 tory can be heated by hot water, flowing through iron 

 pipes from a boiler placed over the furnace that warms 

 the drawing-room — taking from this very little heat, and 

 yet abundantly warming the conservatory. An improve- 

 ment could still farther be made, by having the east end 

 of the conservatory arch over a carriage drive, and thus 

 allow visitors to enter the drawing-room through the con- 

 servatory. Exclusive of the delight afforded visitors by 

 this very pleasant addition to a dwelling, it affords a de- 

 lightful promenade for the ladies of the family, where, 

 while all is wintry without, and walking is unpleasant, 

 even when the ice-bound trees are glittering in the clear 

 sunlight, they may luxuriate amid roses and jasmines, 

 breathing air fragrant with the perfume of daphne and 

 orange flowers, and surrounded with everything that can 

 remind them of the beauty and bland climate of the sunny 

 south. 



"We have occupied so much space with the peculiarities 

 of culture for the forcing-house, that we had almost for- 

 gotten tliat more humbR?, but no less pleasure-giving 

 mode of Window culture. As this culture is practiced 

 chiefly by those who cannot spare the time nor incur the 

 expense of previous preparation, the best mode is that 

 given for late forcing of roses, taken up the autumn pre- 

 vious, placing the plants in pots seven inches in diameter, 

 and using a soil composed of equal j^arts of sand, loam, 

 and manure, or peat, loam, and manure. They can be 

 watered with manure-water every fortnight, made from 

 the drippings of the barn-yard, or, what is more pleasant, 

 a safely weak solution of guano, about one pound to fif- 

 teen gallons. 



The plants should be brought into the heat gradually ; 

 first into a cold room where there is no frost, and then 

 into the sitting-room, where they can be placed in the 



