CHAPTER III. 



MANAGEMENT OF THE FORCING-HOUSE. 



PROBABLY there is no horticultural industry in which 

 experience counts for so much as in the management of 

 plants in glass houses. Yet it is not essential that one 

 "serve his time" in the business in order to learn it. Many 

 of our best greenhouse men have taken up the occupation 

 late in life, or have come to it from widely different voca- 

 tions. Even then, they have come to their success by 

 actually doing the work, but they shorten their period o^ 

 manual experience by bringing to bear upon their work 

 all the helps of reading, observation, and reflection. Whilst 

 it is impossible to teach a person how to run a greenhouse, 

 it is nevertheless profitable to give certain hints and sug- 

 gestions to direct the course of his effort. 



TEMPERATURES FOR THE VARIOUS CROPS. 



The following figures represent the approximate average 

 temperatures at which winter vegetables are forced. The 

 night temperatures are supposed to represent the lowest 

 or minimum averages, and the day temperatures are taken 

 in the shade in days of average sunshine : 



Cool Plants 



Day Night 



Lettuce 55 to 60 40 to 45 



Radish 55 to 60 45 to 50 



Asparagus and rhubarb (when forced from 



established plants) 60 to 65 55 



Celery 60 to 65 55 



Cauliflower 60 to 70 55 



(49) 



