602 



FORCING 



855. Forsythia suspen 

 Sicboldi (X! 



rectly iu a Forcing-box or pots, generally made over the 

 pipes in tiie hottest house, where a temperature of 8U° to 

 95° F. can be maintained. They are first soalted in water 

 tor a day or two and then kept in this heavy lieat until 

 tiower buds are well developed (Pig. 853). Tulips, hya- 

 cinths and 

 othei bullis, 

 sometime s 



or lilac, can 

 also be hur- 

 ried up in 

 such a box, but it is 

 dangerous, and not 

 good practice; better 

 and more lasting 

 flowers come with or- 

 dinary trea'tnieut. 

 Trilliums (Fig. 8.54) 

 and various early- 

 flowering wild plants 

 may be forced with 

 satisfaction. 



Although no rules 

 can be given for the 

 time required in Forc- 

 ing, it is knowledge 

 not hard to acquire 

 with even surprising 

 exactness. Nothing 

 is likely to require 

 more than three 

 months in houses 

 ranging from 45° to 

 5.5° F.-i. e., after 

 bringing in from the 

 pits. A month or six 

 weeks is good time to 

 allow iu February 

 and March, but with the same plants and temperatures, 

 more time would be needed earlier; with the advance of 

 the season, the work is quicker and less uncertain. 

 There is great difference in plants. Rhododendrons (the 

 hybrids) require eight weeks or more, but one species 

 will often bloom in March, within twenty-four hours. 

 Plants like the rose, which must make a growth before 

 the buds form, take more time than azaleas. The differ- 

 ence between dull and bright weather is an important 

 factor, but with extra firini?, or the use of the Forcing- 

 box, these matters even up, and the average time of 

 flowering is wonderfully even. In this work, a man with 

 good plant sense is most likely to succeed. 



B.M.'^ATSON. 



FOKESTlfiRA (after Forestier, a French physician). 

 Syn. Adelia. OleAcew. Deciduous, rarely evergreen 

 trees or shrubs, with opposite, entire or serrate, gener- 

 ally rather small Ivs., inconspicuous yellowish lis. and 

 small black or bluish berries ; without much decorative 

 value, and but rarely cultivated. Thev cannot be grown 

 North, except F. acuminata ainl F.'Ugu.'itritia, whi^h 

 are tolerably hardy iu New Englanil. They grow in al- 

 most any soil, and are propagated by seeds and layers. 

 About 15 species in N. Araer., from Illinois south ; 

 also in Mex. and W. Indies. Fls. dioecious, apetalous, 

 with or without calyx, in small, axillary clusters in eaily 

 spring, before the Ivs.; stamens 2-4: fr. a small, 

 mostly black, 1- or 2-seeded berry. 



acuminata, Poir. (Adelia acumindta, Michx.). De- 

 ciduous shrub, to 10 ft. high, sometimes spiny, glabrous: 

 Ivs. slender petioled, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 

 remotely serrate, 13^-4 in. long : staminate fls. in dense 

 clusters ; pistillate fls. in short panicles : fr. narrow, 

 oblong or cylindrical, falcate, acute, J^ in. long. W. 

 Illinois to Texas. Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 2:225. B.B 

 2:003. 



ligustrina, Poir. {4(Ze?m ZtfifHsWim, Michx.). Decidu- 

 ous shrub, to 6 ft., pubescent: Ivs. elliptic-obovate to 

 oljlong, obtuse, appressed-serrulate, about 1 in. long: 

 fls. in fascicles : fr. sessile, short-ovoid, obtuse, H in. 

 long. Tenn. to Fla. and Ala. 

 FNio-Mexicana,QT!i.y. Shrub, to 10 ft.: Ivs. spathulate. .al- 



FORESTRY 



most entire, usually gLibrous, Kr.-iyisli green and rather small: 

 fr. ovate or short-oblong, obtuse, Jain. Texas to K. .Mex. and 

 '-'"'"'•'"^°- Alfred Rehder. 



FOHESTHY is the rational treatment of forests; this 

 treatment may vary with the object in view. Forests 

 may subserve various objects, giving rise to three 

 classes of forests: they furnish wood materials for the 

 arts — supply forests ; they furnish a soil cover, which 

 prevents the blowing of the soil and formation of 

 sand dunes, or which retards the erosion and washing 



856. Flowers of Forsythia suspensa, var. Fortunci. 

 Natural size. 



of the soil and regulates the waterflow, or which acts as 

 a barrier to cold or hot winds, and exercises other bene- 

 ficial influences on climate and surroundings— /Jro/*^c- 

 tion forests ; or finally, they furnish enjoyment to thft 



