108 THE HOT-HOUSE. [JAN. 



entirely as a pit for a bark-bed without any walk within, or door for 

 entrance, the necessary culture being performed by sliding open the 

 glasses at top, and the flues for the fires being formed in the upper 

 part of the back wall above the surface height of the bark-bed : how- 

 ever, it may be more eligible to form the succession-stove particularly, 

 nearly like the main one, with erect glasses in front and sloping 

 sashes at top, with a door for entrance, and an alley or walk next 

 the back wall at least, or more eligible if continued all round the 

 bark-pit. 



Observing, however, if these smaller stoves are joined to the end 

 of the main one, they may be divided from it only by a sliding glass 

 partition for communication with each other, particularly the succes- 

 sion and main stove, but with separate furnaces and flues to each de- 

 partment, because the young pine plants do not at all times require 

 the same degree of fire-heat as the older pines, especially those of 

 proper size for fruiting, so that by having separate fires, the heat can 

 be regulated accordingly. 



The nursery stove or pit may be of smaller dimensions in respect 

 to width and height than the succession house, if thought convenient; 

 and if designed wholly as a pit without any path or walk within, six 

 or seven feet width may be sufficient, by five or six high in the back 

 wall, and four in front, the whole internal space being filled with tan 

 three feet deep to form the bark bed, serving chiefly as a nursery 

 in which to strike and nurse the annual increase of crowns and 

 suckers of the ananas or pine plants the first year ; also to raise many 

 tender plants from seeds, cuttings, &c., without incumbering the main 

 stove ; and when they are forwarded to such a state of growth as to 

 require more room, they are removed to the succession house. 



But the succession house may be nearly on the plan of the main 

 stove, though of smaller dimensions both in the width and height, 

 and is intended to receive the year old pine plants from the pit or 

 nursery stove. In order to plunge them at greater distances, suffi- 

 cient to give the whole proper scope to take their full growth another 

 year, when they will generally be arrived to a proper size for fruit- 

 ing the year following, being previously removed in autumn to the 

 main fruiting stove to succeed the old fruiting plants, which gene- 

 rally by September have all yielded their. produce, are then removed 

 away and their place supplied by a sufficient quantity of large 

 plants from the succession house, being arrived to a proper state of 

 growth to produce fruit next summer; the largest succession house 

 is at the same time replenished with the plants from the nursery pit, 

 which next autumn will probably be also arrived to a proper size for 

 removing to the fruiting house to succeed the others, and the nursery- 

 pit supplied with young crowns and suckers of the year, from the 

 fruit and old plants, to strike and forward them in ready successions 

 for the above occasions. 



Thus by having the different stove departments always furnished 

 with pine plants of three different stages of growth, succeeding one 

 another regularly, i. e. the nursery pit containing the yearly crowns 

 and suckers, the succession pit the one and two year plants, and the 

 main stove the fruiting plants, a constant succession is thereby annu- 



