244 FRUIT CULTURE UNDER GLASS. 



to damp off or rot. A little air night and day at the 

 highest part of the house should be constantly attended 

 to. As the fruit swell and give every indication of a 

 heavy crop, thin off all the smallest, leaving ten or 

 twelve of the best-looking fruit. Every alternate time 

 of watering give either soot, guano, or dung water till 

 they show signs of colouring, when pure water only 

 must be given. At all times the water should be 

 milk- warm, and either rain or soft pond water. When 

 practicable, I have generally moved the plants into 

 another house where the air has been drier when the 

 fruit were nearly ready to gather. A few days in such 

 a place heightens the flavour and colour of the fruit, 

 and it also makes room for bringing on a succession 

 of plants. At all events, more and drier air should, if 

 possible, be afforded them when colouring. 



As the season advances, I need scarcely say that the 

 precautions enforced above are not so imperative in the 

 case of succession and late crops ; still they must be 

 adhered to, or results will be more or less uncertain. 

 Those that ripen after the month of April can be freely 

 removed to cooler and more airy places, in order to 

 make them higher coloured and better flavoured. And 

 such as ripen the end of May and June, before outdoor 

 fruit are ripe, do well when removed to cold frames 

 when colouring. In these they can have plenty of air 

 by tilting the lights up back and front, or even having 

 the frame supported up off the ground, so that a cur- 

 rent of air can play freely about them. When the 

 greater part of the fruit are colouring, they should not 

 have more water than is just enough to keep the -plants 

 from drooping. The flavour is thus improved. 



