576 THE HOT-HOUSE. [DEC. 



air and ventilate the house ; for if the plants are kept too close they 

 will become tender and weak, and besides, it will cause the leaves 

 of some kinds to turn of a yellowish sickly colour, and after to 

 get mouldy and drop off. 



N. B. The plants must never be deprived of light by keeping the 

 shutters close, a moment longer than it is found absolutely neces- 

 sary for their preservation ; and though I am not an advocate for 

 much fire-heat in a Green-House, yet I would prefer it to keeping 

 the plants too long in darkness, which has an extremely bad effect 

 upon them. 



For particulars respecting watering and other information, I 

 would recommend to your perusal at this term, the entire of the 

 article Green-House, in January, and also in February, pages 78 

 and 158 ; the general care during each of these months is nearly 

 the same. 



The plants which you are wintering in garden-frames, must now 

 be carefully attended, agreeably to the directions given in page 563. 



THE HOT-HOUSE. 



THE frost generally sets in very severe in this month, and the 

 winds are keen and cutting; therefore it will be necessary to keep 

 up your fire heat in proportion to the severity of the weather, which 

 must be regulated by a thermometor ; never letting the air of the 

 house be colder than 52 degrees of Fahrenheit, nor warmer, at this 

 season^i/ySn? heat, than 62 or thereabouts ; for it is very injudicious 

 to force the plants now into a fresh state of vegetation, all that they 

 want at present is to be kept comfortably warm and rather in an inac- 

 tive state ; consequently as the heat of the day in sunny weather in- 

 creases, you must slacken your fires or put them totally out, as 

 the case may be, always renewing them in the afternoon or whene- 

 ver you find the due warmth on the decline. 



It will be generally necessary to attend the fires till eleven or 

 twelve o'clock at night, when, if wanted, a sufficiency of fuel must be 

 added to support a proper degree of heat till morning; and in ex- 

 tremely severe weather it may sometimes be necessary to sit up all 

 night to guard against untoward consequences : at all events you 

 must be up very early in the morning to renew the fires. 



If the Hot-House is furnished with shutters or covering of any 

 kind, as noticed in page 90, they will now be of considerable use, 

 both for the preservation of the plants and the saving of fuel. It 

 will, however, be very proper to hang thick mats every severe 

 night in front of the upright sashes, which will prevent the wind 

 from rushing in immediately on the plants, through any deficiencies 

 that may be in the work. 



If the bark -bed was properly made or renewed in October, or in 

 the beginning of November, it will yet be in a proper state of warmth, 



