FEBRUARY. 



596 



FEBRUARY. 



intended for autumn or winter fruiting kept 

 steadily growing, care fully guarding against 

 any sudden check. Succession plants in 

 pots must be kept rather dry, and the 

 linings and coverings carefully attended to. 



Vines in Houses. Vines in houses, started 

 in October, will now be swelling their fruit. 

 Thin in time, and maintain a steady growing 

 temperature of 65. Those started in 

 January will show their bunches this 

 month, and a temperature from 55 to 60 

 will be suitable. Some prefer leaving the 

 disbudding until the bunches show, and 

 then leave the best. This is safe practice, 

 and the buds up to this stage do not exhaust 

 the vine much. 



Vines in Pots. Grapes grown in pots 

 require the same general treatment as those 

 planted out. It will very much hasten the 

 ripening of the fruit if the pots are main- 

 tained in a steady bottom heat of from 700 

 to 80. 



Vines Starting. In many places the 

 first or second house will be started this 

 month. See that all loose bark is removed 

 from the vines, that they are thoroughly 

 cleaned with soap and water, and painted 

 over with a thick coating of equal parts of 

 sulphur, soot, lime, and cow-dung, made 

 into a paste with strong soapsuds, previous 

 to starting them. Begin with a tempera- 

 ture of 45, and slowly and gradually in- 

 crease it during the month 10 or 1 6. 

 Maintain a genial atmosphere in all the 

 houses by sprinkling the paths, syringing, 

 &c., and give as much air as the weather 

 will permit, allowing a rise of 10 or 15 

 during sunshine. 



February. Greenhouse, Work 

 in. 



More air may be given to, and 5 less 

 heat will suffice for this house than for the 

 conservatory. Now is a good time to ex- 

 amine and clean the whole stock of plants. 

 Many of the acacias and epacrises are ap 



o become infested with scale. So liable 

 o this pest are many acacias and epacrises/ 

 and, indeed, many other plants, that it 

 seems to be a constitutional tendency ; its 

 eradication, too, is very difficult. Preven- 

 tion is the only remedy, for experience 

 tends to prove that a perfect cure is im- 

 possible. So doubtful is this point, that 

 it is better to spend a week in looking 

 over an entire collection without finding a 

 single scale, than an hour in trying any 

 nostrum upon a single infected plant. 

 Experiments with every kind of preventive 

 and so-called cure, Gishurst's Compound 

 included, for scale and bug, go far to prove 

 that there is no remedy for these pests but 

 removing and destroying them. Spirits of 

 wine, indeed, will kill the latter, but it is 

 powerless upon the former. It has also the 

 great drawback of killing some of the tender 

 leaves. 



Achimenes. These plants are especially 

 useful in small greenhouses. They may be 

 propagated by small tubers or cuttings in 

 bottom heat. The best material to grow 

 them in is a compost of leaf mould, peat, 

 and a little well - decomposed cow-dung 

 with some silver sand. For flowering in 

 June, plant the small tubers in pans, in 

 February, and in succession for autumn 

 flowering. When about an inch high, 

 transplant into pots or pans, several in 

 each, shifting them when full of roots. 

 After flowering, the plants should be kept 

 growing till the foliage decays, that the 

 tubers may become ripe and perfect. Then 

 place the pots or pans in a warm place, to 

 be kept dry till the tubers are wanted. 



Azaleas and Heaths. If any dust or soot 

 has accumulated on the leaves of heaths 

 and azaleas, they will be much benefited 

 by a good washing. Water with care, ex- 

 amining carefully the balls of the plants, 

 which, in heaths, sometimes becomes so 

 hard and dry that the water refuses to pass 

 through. They should never be allowed to 



