147 



FORCING. 



FOnCING-ENOINi:. 



fruit procured in this way WM nearly destitute of Uut natural flavour 

 wfcich it acquires when exposed to UM genial influence of the *un' 

 ngrsand to free ventilation. 



The fruiu of wanner climates, growing in a wild Hate, enjoy a 

 degree of light than it u possible to give them in this country 



any Mana at the year, and tail is one of the most important 

 eamrtSBBss to attend to in the art of forcing. Nature u in all 

 rwpecu the beat guide in these matters, and care should be taken to 

 {Hate her a* far a* poembfo ; fint, by taking care that forced plant* 

 are expoeed to all the light that can be collected ; and, secondly, by 

 niiiesiiiiig a due proportion between the quantity of heat and light to 

 which farced plant* ore eipoend ; in other words, by not forcing too 

 hard at a season when the sun's rays are least powerful, thus acting in 

 direct opposition to the laws of nature. Attention to this U the 

 corner-stone of the whole process. When early crop* are more 

 desirable than high-flavoured fruit, gardeners are obliged to apply beat 

 without reference to the intensity of light; but if this u nut the 

 object, forcing should never be commenced before the spring, in order 

 that the fruit may have the greatest degree of light when ripening. 

 These principles are now generally understood and appreciated, and 

 oonsequently our peaches, grapes, and other forced fruits are even 

 superior to those grown under the clear skies of the south of Europe. 



Mr. Knkht, president of the London Horticultural Society, re- 

 commended the temperature to be kept much lower during night than 

 is generally done, and remarked . " A gardener in forcing generally treat* 

 his plants as he would wieh to be treated himself, and consequently, 

 although the aggregate temperature of hid house be nearly what 

 it ought iy i.. . its temperature during the night relatively to that of 

 the (lay, is- almost always too high." In one of his vineries he always 

 wished the UMii(rature in the middle of a bright day in summer to 

 rise to '.'" . ami when the leaves of his plant* were quite dry, he did 

 not object to 10 or 15' higher. But he most justly adds, that if this 

 is accompanied by a high temperature at night, " it exhausts the 

 excitability of the tree much more rapidly than it promotes its growth 

 or accelerates the maturity of the fruit, which is in consequence ill 

 lupplied with nutriment at the period of its ripening, when most 

 nutriment is probably wanted." 



The same experienced author recommended the plants for forcing to 

 be rendered, by previous treatment, as excitable aa possible, which may 

 bci done by ripening the wood early in autumn, and putting the tree 

 into a state of repose, ready to be roused into action by the applica- 

 tion of heat. 



It appears to be a general rule that plants from warm countries 

 endure with impunity a very high degree of temperature, while those 

 of more temperate regions are impatient of artificial heat, and hence 

 the difficulty of forcing the plants of northern climates ; for example, 

 the same degree of heat in which vinea flourish would be much too 

 high for cherries, which throw off their blossoms after expansion 

 without setting their fruit. The reason of this seems to be the 

 following : each plant is adapted to the peculiar circumstance* in 

 which it is naturally placed ; the natives of warm climates are formed 

 to endure heat, and those of higher latitudes to suffer cold ; and when 

 these circumstances are reversed, those of cold countries being placed 

 in excessive heat, and those of warm regions in unusual cold, the 

 former are excited by far too much and too rapidly, so that flowers 

 and fruit are developed before the leaves have had time to organise 

 matter to support them ; and the latter, if they endure the cold, are 

 not excited, and remain in a languishing unhealthy state. These 

 reasons will at once show the extreme caution which is necessary in 

 forcing the fruits of northern climates, and will at the same time 

 suggest the treatment that plants of such a description require, and 

 which both reason and experience agree in recommending to those who 

 would be st all successful in the art. Firstly, the increase of tem- 

 perature must be slow and gradual, and never at its highest point 

 exceed 60 or 65" of Fahr. with artificial heat ; air must be freely 

 introduced, particularly in fine bright weather, and the house so con- 

 structed a* to admit of the greatest possible quantity of light, as for 

 instance by having moveable sashes which can be taken off and put on 

 Wt pleasure. 



The Dutch have long been celebrated as excellent forcing gardeners, 

 and as their manner of performing the operation is peculiar, a descrip- 

 tion of it may be interesting. The principal feature in their system is 

 conducting the operation chiefly in frames, and pits heated with 

 fermenting dung. The trees employed in forcing are generally taken 

 from a wall in the open air, planted in a rich border of leaf mould, and 

 trained to a trellis a few inches below the glass; here they iviu;iiii 

 until they have ripened their fruit, after which they are moved back to 

 the wall until wanted for the same purpose in some succeeding year ; 

 they never force from the same plant two year* in succession. Their 

 System of employing dung instead of fire heat give* them an excellent 

 opportunity ,,t forcing vegetables, such SB French beans, endive, 

 lettuce, Ac., which are either placed on, or plunged in, the bed in tlio 

 (aside of the frame. 



Although pit and frame forcing is a principal feature in the 

 horticulture of Holland, yet they have now, a* well a* in this country, 

 more elevated structures. 



The Dutch plan of forcing has been practised to a considerable 

 xtnt in gardens in Britain, particularly in that of P. C. Labouchere, 



Esq., Hyland*. near Chelmaford, of which a full account is given in 

 the fint voL of the ' Gardener's Magazine,' and another iiiliiissMisj 

 paper upon the SUM subject, communicated to the Horticultural 

 Society by M. Lindegaard, i* published in their Transactions, &< 

 voL T. The best information regarding the scientific principle* of 

 forcing is contained in the numerous paper* scattered through the 

 Transactions of the London Horticultural Society, communicated by 

 Mr. Knight and other scientific individuals, and in Lindley's ' Theory 

 and Practice of Horticulture.' The best practical work* upon the 

 subject are those from the pens of Speechly, Sandan, M'lntosh, 

 Errington, Glendinning awl Robert Thompson, the content* of w hi.-h 

 are chiefly given in London's ' Encyclopedia of Gardening,' and in the 

 columns of the ' Oanlenor'x Chronicle.' 



FORCING KN. , I N K [Fm. ENOCHS.] 



FORD, a name applied to that part of a river where the water is 

 sufficiently shallow to admit of wading through it, and thu croaung 

 over without having recourse to a bridge, a ferry, or other similar 

 mean* of passage. 



Some river* are never fordahle, other* are always so ; in some the 

 fords are temporary as to season though permanent aa to place, and in 

 others they frequently ehange their situation. Rivers whoso bank* 

 are steep and course straight are rarely fordable, for in such the water 

 is generally too deep or too rapid to admit of fording. Small and 

 regular streams issuing from springs in flat countries are generally 

 fordable at all times and in all part*. The most common eases, how- 

 ever, are those of temporary and changeable fords. Of the first of 

 these it is observable that when a river has once formed its bed in a 

 soil of a certain degree of tenacity it seldom changes its channel, so 

 that its shallows and deep part* remain constant, and, if the former 

 permit of being forded, nothing but a rise of the waters renders the 

 ford impracticable. This rise dejiends entirely on the rains which fall 

 into the basin of which the river is the drain and the size of the basin 

 itself, to which two circumstances the river is generally proportionate. 

 If the basin be large and subject to frequent rain the fords will fre- 

 quently be rendered impassable ; if the rains are of long duration, the 

 passage of the ford will be interrupted for a time proportionally long. 

 The channel however remaining permanent the ford may again be 

 passed as soon as the excess of water has flowed off. Such fords have 

 generally been used long before bridges were constructed, and as 

 travellers from a distance sometimes found the ford impassable on 

 arriving, hostelries for their temporary reception were constructed on 

 the banks. Such has been the beginning of many towns whose names 

 still commemorate their origin, aa Chelmsford, Bedford, Oxford, Strat- 

 ford, ko. 



Such rivers as flow through a loose soil, as sand or gravel, have 

 generally a very winding course and are constantly shifting their 

 channel, that is, the deep part (which the Germans call the tlmlu-ty) of 

 their bed. These rivers though they present the greatest number of 

 fords are constantly varying the situation of them, so that they are not 

 only temporary as to season but also as to place. The rains by in- 

 creasing the mass of water increase the strength and rapidity of the 

 current, by which the bed is ploughed up and deepened in an irregular 

 manner. Banks also ore carried away and others formed in parts that 

 before were deep. Thus after every flood the place of the ford U 

 changed. 



In the case of torrent rivers, such as those of Italy, fords are very 

 common, but they are subject to be rendered suddenly imposts 

 shifted, the waters rising with frightful rapidity to a great height and 

 acquiring amazing force. They however soon subside, and, unless they 

 have deepened the channel, cause no other inconvenience than a very 

 temporary delay. 



In military operations fords are of the greatest importance. The 

 inhabitant* on the borders of a river generally know where they are, 

 but as their indications cannot always be relied upon, particularly in 

 an enemy's country, the fords must be looked for. They are (jenerally 

 found either in the widest part of the river, or in the direction of the 

 diagonal line that joins the salient angle of one side to the salient angle 

 of the other side, as \ B or c o. 



In the first cose the waters spread out in the wider part of the bed 

 of the river, and ore therefore less deep; and in the second, tin -re is 

 always a deposit in front of the salient angles (aa indicated by the 

 dotted lines) and consequently the water is more shallow in those 



i '" 



Fords for infantry should not exceed the depth of three feet, and 

 for cavalry that of four feet. These are the extreme depths, and if 

 the current be somewhat rapid it is dangerous to risk fording through 

 more than two feet water for infantry and three for cavalry. The 

 bottom must also be firm and even. Mud, weeds, or blocks of stone 

 are great obstacle* loose sand is also bad as a ford for cavalry, 

 for, being stirred up from the bottom by the horses, it is carried 

 away by the stream, and the ford thus becomes so deep that the 

 last hone* in such case are frequently forced to swim. The 



