MARCH. 



615 



MARCH. 



process of making this will hardly be neces- 

 sary. If the frame is not put on at once, 

 however, it is advisable to cover the bed 

 with litter or mats, in case of heavy rains, 

 which would reduce the temperature of the 

 bed. 



Dahlias, Cuttings from. This is the 

 best month for increasing dahlias by cut- 

 tings. If the old stools were placed in a 

 warm pit or house, as recommended last 

 month, cuttings 3 or 4 inches long may 

 now be secured. Cut them off close to 

 the stem, if you can find as many as you 

 want by this mode ; if not, leave one or 

 two eyes on the old stool, and in another 

 week these eyes will furnish two, four, or 

 six more cuttings. Place them in light 

 sandy soil ; plunge the pots in a bottom 

 heat of 80 and a top heat of 60 ; in a 

 week or ten days they will be rooted. 

 The white, scarlet, yellow, and purple 

 bedding sorts should be placed into heat, 

 where an increase of stock is required. The 

 dwarf whites will be found to be much 

 more difficult to increase than the other 

 colours ; nothing can look richer than rows 

 of these dwarf dahlias in ribbon borders, or 

 groups of them in front of shrubberies. 



Hotbeds, Maintenance of. At this time, 

 as formerly, dung beds must be lined with 

 prepared dung, to maintain the heat ; for 

 any decline below the point of safety, which 

 is about 70, will check the growth of the 

 plants, and throw them back considerably. 

 This applies to the culture of cucumbers 

 and melons, and of forcing plants generally ; 

 but, in the case of plants which are to be 

 turned out later in the season, it is neces- 

 sary to inure them, by a gradual decrease 

 in that of the frame, to the natural tempera- 

 ture of the air. 



Hotbeds ; Te?nperature of. After the 

 frame is on, place a bushel of loamy soil 

 under centre of each light too much soil 

 at once would induce too much heat. It is 

 an old fashioned but safe plan to thrust a 



pointed stick into the bed. By drawing it 

 out occasionally, the temperature of the 

 bed can be ascertained by feeling it ; if 

 more exactness is desired, a ground ther- 

 mometer might be plunged into it. If the 

 plants have been raised in a temporary bed, 

 they may be planted five or six days after 

 the bed is made ; they will thus be ready 

 to start into active growth at once. If no 

 plants are ready, sow two "seeds each in 

 3-inch pots, only half filled with soil at 

 first, and add fresh soil as the plants grow. 

 The soil in which they are to grow should 

 be rather coarse, and by no means sifted. 

 The after treatment is the same as that 

 described in January. 



Melons. This is a good time to make, 

 up hotbeds for melons, to ripen in June 

 and J uly. The soil should be put into the 

 frame at once to the depth of 8 or 10 inches, 

 and trodden or pressed rather firmly, if the 

 dung has been carefully turned and the bed 

 well beaten down in the making. Two 

 plants should be planted under each light, 

 the vines radiating from the centre ; or 

 place them further apart, and train the 

 vines back and front, picking off all super- 

 fluous soil, and leaving only sufficient to 

 nourish the fruit. 



Melon s, Sowing Seeds. Where a cucumber 

 or melon bed is in full operation, the other 

 seeds may be sown in pots, and placed in 

 them ; and when up, repotted, and grown 

 till the beds destined for them are ready : a 

 great saving of time and material is thus 

 effected. Where a good sort is growing, 

 which it is desired to increase, it may either 

 be done by plunging some pots filled with 

 soil, and laying shoots of the vines into 

 them, or by taking off cuttings, and placing 

 three or four round the edge of a pot ; they 

 will strike root readily in about the time it 

 takes to raise plants from seed, and bear 

 rather quicker than seedlings. 



Mint, Parsley ', &c. Some roots of mint 

 and parsley planted in this month in a hot- 



