206 THE FORCING GARDEN. 



MARCH. 



THE EARLY VINERY. The bunches will now be 

 formed, and the young wood may be stopped two joints 

 above the bunch. I find that it is not a good practice 

 to stop the young wood (the fruit-bearing laterals) too- 

 soon, nor too near the bunch ; one bunch of fruit to a 

 lateral is quite enough. All superfluous wood and 

 spray about the base of the lateral should be taken off* 

 Maintain a heat of 75 to 80. A moist heat may be 

 encouraged in the house ; no air is necessary. 



THE LATE VINERY. The vines are still quiet, but 

 the eyes are beginning to swell. Water the pot 

 Strawberries well, and keep the house close, notwith- 

 standing the sun heat. 



THE PEACH HOUSE. All pruning must be finished 

 at once. If the Peaches are in pots, water them libe- 

 rally. Probably the days will be sunny, with sharp 

 frosts at night. Admit air from nine o'clock in the 

 morning till three o'clock in the afternoon on sunny 

 days. Should sharp frosts occur, and the trees be 

 in bloom, some slight protection will be necessary if 

 there are no other means of warding off the effects of 

 the frost upon the blossom. It is a certain and in- 

 expensive method to have a two-inch flow-and-return 

 pipe running close to the front of the house on the 

 ground, heated by a common small saddle boiler. The 

 cost would be very little for a house from forty to sixty 

 feet long, and a little fire put in at five o'clock in the 

 evening would heat it quite enough to ward off the 

 frost for the night. This would be better than screen- 

 ing the trees with gauze or tiffany. Admit no air if 



