36 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



appliance of hot-water pipes or tanks for bottom-heat, 

 will be spared the trouble and anxiety which is at- 

 tached to the otherwise by no means inefficient, when 

 well managed, fermenting bed. They can regulate the 

 bottom-heat with much more ease and safety. 



In selecting the plants for starting at this early 

 season, those only should be taken which are most 

 likely to start without making a growth. I will 

 therefore suppose that the cultivator has a hundred 

 plants of those treated of as " succession plants," and 

 that from these it is desired to have a supply of ripe 

 fruit from the first of June till October, and recom- 

 mend that fifty of those most likely to start at once 

 should be selected. In doing so the experienced eye 

 will fix upon those with the thickest collars, and that 

 have the greatest number of short sharp-pointed leaves, 

 thickly set together in their centres. These are the 

 most likely to send up their fruit without making a 

 fresh growth, although some of them may disappoint 

 even the most experienced ; still, in a general way, 

 when prepared the previous autumn and winter as I 

 have described, they will not disappoint. 



In arranging and plunging these plants, a few of 

 the bottom leaves should be stripped off, all the loose 

 soil on the surface removed, and a top-dressing of loam 

 put on, pressing it firmly to the collars of the plant 

 and the sides of the pot. In moving these plants it 

 is a common practice to tie the leaves up for the sake 

 of convenience ; but I would here say that it is a 

 practice that is injurious at any stage of the pine's 

 growth, and particularly when the plants are full 

 grown, and should have stubby, short, thick leaves 

 that will not bear being squeezed into a bundle 

 without considerable injury. I seldom tie pines up 



