94 THE HOT-HOUSE. [JAM. 



simply called the pit, because the whole internal space in length and 

 width is often allotted entirely as a pit for a bark-bed, without any 

 walk within, or door for entrance, the necessary culture being per- 

 formed 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 : however, 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 en- 

 trance, 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 suc- 

 cession and main stove, but with separate furnaces, and flues to each 

 department, because the young pine plants do not at all times re- 

 quire 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 re- 

 spect to width and height, than'the succession house, if thought con- 

 venient : 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, cuttmgs, Sec. without in- 

 cumbering 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 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, suf- 

 ficient to give the whole proper scope to take their full growth 

 another year, when they will generally be arrived to a proper size 

 for fruiting the year following : being previously removed in au- 

 tumn to the main fruiting stove to succeed the old fruiting plants, 

 which generally by September have all yielded their produce, are 

 then removed away, and their place supplied by a sufficient quan- 

 tity 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 proba- 

 bly 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 oc- 

 casions. 



Thus, by having the different stove departments always furnished 

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



