NOVEMBER. 



718 



NOVEMBER. 



month. In frosty weather the protection 

 of a mat will, in addition to the lights, be 

 sufficient protection for most of these 

 things ; but if they become frozen, do not 

 expose them too suddenly. 



Vegetables, Treatment of, in Cold 

 Frames. Plants in cold frames are often 

 treated as if they were more tender than 

 they really are. The object is not so much 

 to stimulate them into growth, but to pro- 

 tect them from such injury from frost and 

 storms as they would be exposed to in the 

 open air. Corn salad, endive, lettuce, 

 cauliflower, parsley, carrots, radishes, 

 onions, and many more light crops, are 

 not so tender but that they will stand out of 

 doors ; but then they keep so much better 

 and fresher under the protection of frames, 

 that it is well worth while to have a few 

 lights devoted to them. They also begin 

 to grow rather earlier in the spring, and 

 continue growing later in the autumn, than 

 they would do if quite exposed. 



Vegetables, Ventilation and Watering 

 of. Care should be taken not to keep 

 vegetables in cold frames in any way close, 

 so as to breed mould. If any mouldiness 

 accrue, it is a sure sign that they are kept 

 too close. Let the plants have full ex- 

 posure as much as possible, just as if 

 the plants were growing out of doors, 

 with just the aid of the lights to protect 

 them in case of sharp frosts, heavy rains, 

 snow, fog, or winds, should ftiey be more 

 than ordinary. Water should be given 

 rather carefully. Avoid giving enough to 

 chill the roots; a medium state, rather 

 approaching dryness, is better than the 

 least overwetting, especially in frosty 

 weather. 



November. Hothouse ' and 

 Forcing Pit, Work in. 



Bulbs and Flowering Plants in Pit. 

 The forcing pit, it will be remembered, is 

 an adjunct or accessary to the hothouse, 



and is artificially heated by pipes. When 

 such a pit as this is attached to the hot- 

 house, introduce into it a few more kalmias, 

 azaleas, rhododendrons, sweetbriers, violets, 

 &c. ; and also the first batch of the earliest 

 potted hyacinths, narcissuses, and other 

 bulbs, if the pots are full of roots, otherwise 

 leave them another week or two, plunged 

 in old tan in a cold pit, the best of all 

 positions for them while they are rooting. 

 If the pot (or glass, if the bulbs be grown 

 in glasses) is once full of roots, while the 

 stem is only starting into growth, a good 

 bloom, with ordinary care, is almost cer- 

 tain. In this condition they may be 

 removed to a forcing pit with a tempera- 

 ture of 55, to a conservatory, shelf, 

 pinery, or peach house at work, or a 

 sitting-room or kitchen window, with 

 almost entire certainty of success. 



Crocuses in Pit. For growing in pots, 

 pans, or baskets, few bulbs can equal 

 crocuses. The pots must be thoroughly 

 drained, as an excess of water is certain 

 destruction to these bulbs ; any light soil 

 will do to grow them in. They can also 

 be grown in moss, damp sand, &c., and 

 their general management may be the same 

 as for hyacinths. They are rather im- 

 patient of heat, or a close, confined atmo- 

 sphere, and can seldom be got to flower 

 well before the middle or end of January. 

 Any sort will do for pot culture, either as 

 edgings to pots, vases, or baskets of 

 hyacinths, narcissuses, or tulips, or 

 arranged in contrasting masses by them- 

 selves. 



Flo^vers in Bloom in Hothouse. Here 

 ilie Poinsettia pttlchcrHma, otherwise called 

 Euphorbia pulcherrima. Euphorbia jac- 

 quiniaflora. Begonia m'tida, Gesnera 

 cinnabarina, otherwise Ncegelia cinna- 

 barina, will be lighting up by their dazzling 

 grandeur and enlivening beauty masses of 

 ferns, palms, and variegated plants. Late 

 caladiums must now be watered with great 



