AUG.] THE HOT-HOUSE. 457 



time to establish strong roots, and to be advanced in free and vigo- 

 rous growth before winter, For the method of shifting, see page 

 449. 



Besides the watering of the pine plants in the common way, it 

 will be of great service to them, in very warm weather, to water 

 the walks and flues of the Hot-house occasionally : this should al- 

 ways be done late in the evening, -and the glasses ought to be im- 

 mediately closed. The great heat of the house will exhale the 

 moisture, and raise a kind of artificial dew, which will soon stand in 

 drops on the glasses ; the leaves of the pine being succulent, they 

 will imbibe the watry particles, and be greatly benefited thereby. 



Raising the Pine from Seed. 



New varieties of the Pine may be obtained from seeds, and when 

 such is found in the fruit, wnich is very uncommon, even in the 

 West-Indies, they should be carefully preserved in dry sand till 

 March, when they will vegetate and succeed better than if sown 

 at an earlier period. The pots for this purpose should be then filled 

 to within an inch of their vims, with light rich earth, and plunged 

 into a warm part of the tan-bed, for a day or two before sowing the 

 seeds, which should be placed therein about an inch apart, and co- 

 vered not more than a quarter of an inch deep. Cover the pots 

 immediately with pieces of glass that will fit the tops very close ; 

 this by preventing the mould from drying and giving an additional 

 heat to it near the surface, will soon cause the seeds to vegetate. 

 After the plants appear, sprinkle them over with water occasionally ; 

 as they advance in size, give them increased portions of air and wa- 

 ter, and by the time they have five or six leaves, they will be able to 

 withstand the general air of the Hot-house. 



By the end of August these seedlings will be grown to a proper 

 s'ize for transplanting ; when they should be put into small pots, 

 filled with the same mould recommended for crowns and suckers 

 in page 446 ; and from that time their treatment requires no differ^ 

 ence from that of those. 



Shifting the various Exotic s^ &c. 



The beginning of this month is a very proper season for the 

 shifting of Aloes, Sedums, Cactuses, Mesembryanthemums, and all 

 other succulent exotics ; they will now take fresh root sooner than 

 at any other time of the year : you should at the same time take off 

 any offsets that may be produced, and plant them into small pots 

 filled with fresh sandy earth, placing them where they may have 

 only the morning sun for ten or twelve days, and observing to refresh 

 them, now and then, with a little water. 



The several kinds of tender exotics that require it, should now 

 be shifted, in order to establish strong and fresh roots before winter ; 

 observing to place them in the shade immediately after, till they 

 shall have recovered the check occasioned by the removal. This 

 work should be performed early in the month j for if they are shift- 



