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. 



