616 THE HOT-HOUSE. [DEC. 



the hot-house pots of strawberries and flowering plants of various 

 kinds; sow cucumber seed and plant kidney beans, as directed in 

 January, in order to force them into early perfection. Pots or tubs 

 of bearing grape-vines may also be now introduced for early bearing 

 if there are none trained in from the outside. Such vines as are 

 planted in front of the house, and trained in under the lights, should 

 have the parts of their stems which are exposed to the weather well 

 wrapped around with hay or straw neatly tied on ; also their roots 

 covered sufficiently with long litter ; for, their juices being put into 

 full circulation by the forcing heat, renders the exposed parts much 

 more vulnerable to frost than if the entire plants stood inactive in 

 the open air. 



Having now gone through the work of the several months, and en- 

 deavored to adapt the whole to the seasons and local situations of the 

 different parts of the Union, to explain and simplify the various 

 operations, and to render the work of as much general utility as 

 possible, it is offered to the public as the result of many years' ex- 

 perience, solely devoted to horticultural and botanical pursuits, 

 without presuming to say that it is either infallible or incapable of 

 improvement. 



