380 



THE HOT-HOUSE, 



[APRIL 



therefrom a sufficient supply of juices to replace those which might 

 be exhaled by the open dry air. 



You may, in like manner, strike cuttings of many sorts of green- 

 house plants, and of any curious and valuable shrubs of the open^ 

 ground departments. 



Sow seeds of all hot-house plants that you' are able to procure and 

 wish to cultivate ; let them be sown in pots, and if room can be had 

 plunge these in the bark-bed, give them occasional watering, and you 

 may expect many kinds to come up shortly, and several others not 

 for months. The laying of panes of glass over these pots will 

 facilitate the growth of the seeds by opposing the ascending mois- 

 ture, and retaining it about the surface of the earth ; but bell-glasses 

 would more effectually answer this end. 



CARE OF SEVERAL FRUITING, FLOWERING, AND ESCULENT PLANTS 

 IN THE STOVE. 



Pay due attention to the regular watering of the strawberries, 

 kidney beans, cucumbers, and flowers now forcing in the stove, and 

 early in the month introduce others to succeed them. 



Continue to keep the grape-vines now fruiting free from all unne- 

 cessary shoots, and such as are produced from the axillas of the 

 leaves, &c., and train the others close and regular. 



A COLD PIT. 



It must be recollected that to flower plants is a very different thing 

 from merely preserving them. A structure that would answer per- 

 fectly for the latter, might be wholly unsuited for the former. A 

 " cold pit" is simply a miniature green-house, without any facilities 

 for producing artificial warmth. If the amateur gardener wishes to 



Fig. 39. 



flower plants in winter, a small furnace and flue will be requisite. 

 Indeed, under any circumstances, the means for producing heat are 

 desirable to keep the atmosphere free from damp. As this is a kind 



