84 



patch of white lead or thick paint on every wound of 

 the knife ; this, however, should be applied the mo- 

 ment the vines are pruned in the end of autumn. 



2. Breaking Period. — The house being now 

 closed, some little advance in temperature will, of 

 course, take place, independent of fires. We may as 

 well state, however, at the commencement of this di- 

 vision of the subject, that slow "breaking" tends to 

 equalize the sap, or in other words, the aggregate 

 strength of the vine; whilst hurried "breaking" 

 tends to give an undue preponderance to the upper 

 parts already gorged, it may be, at the expense of 

 the inferior or weaker parts. The chief point, in ad- 

 dition, is to secure plenty of atmospheric moisture : 

 in fact, the stems, from the commencement of forcing 

 until the leaf begins to expand, should be seldom 

 quite dry. The old plan of introducing fermenting 

 matter in some parts of the house, during this period 

 of breaking, has ever been found an excellent prac- 

 tice. However, in the modern and improved mode 

 of producing atmospheric moisture, such may be in 

 the main dispensed with. Until the buds are actually 

 developing, little alteration of either heat or cold, 

 moisture or dryness, is necessary : a temperature, 

 ranging from 45 to 55 degs. will be found sufficient 

 until the buds begin to unfold. When such takes 

 place, a gradual rise must commence in the ther- 

 mometer, of a steadily progressive character : such 



