600 



FORCING 



FORCING 



ally offered for sale. For planting in the border, 

 choose fan-trained trees, 2 or 3 years old, providing 

 'they have been properly transplanted. (See Priming.) 



849. Azalea, received from Europe, 

 now pruned for forcing. 



Indoor peaches and nectarines, with proper care, are 

 profitable for 10 years after planting. The following 

 temperatures for the peach house are suitable for early 

 Forcing : for the first two weeks, 40 by night and 50 

 by day ; then a rise to 45 by night and 55 or 60 by day, 

 with the sun, which should carry them until their bloom- 

 ing period ; then 50 by night and 60 to 70 by day, 

 with sun heat ; after the fruit is set, a rise of 5 or 10 

 on mild nights would be all right, with the day tempera- 

 ture correspondingly increased. Peaches delight in 

 fresh air: therefore air should be given at every oppor- 

 tunity. Syringe the trees twice a day in bright weather ; 

 hold off while the trees are in blossom ; after the fruit 

 is set, syringe again twice every bright day, and once a 

 week with whale-oil soap, using enough soap to just color 



850. Rhododendron, received from Europe, 

 ready for forcing. 



the watev. This is a good remedy for greenfly, spider, 

 etc., and produces a fine, glossy foliage. It is better to 

 disbnd by degrees rather than to remove a large quan- 

 tity of foliage at once, which would naturally cause a 

 check to the tree. Disbudding requires good judgment. 



The shoot, if not needed, should be pinched, leaving 

 three or four leaves to develop the fruit. Trees that are 

 properly cared for during the summer months need 

 little pruning in the winter. Probably the hardest task 

 of all to the grower is thinning the fruit, but this must 

 be done. There cannot be any set number for a tree to 

 carry. Judgment must be used in that respect. Necta- 

 rines can be cropped more heavily than peaches. After 

 the crop is gathered, all the useless wood should be cut 

 away to allow plenty of light and sunshine around the 

 wood that is intended for the following season. When 

 the wood is thoroughly ripened it is in condition to 

 stand zero weather. The temperature of peach houses 

 can go down below zero without a bud being killed. In 

 fact, it is not necessary to use any artificial heat until 

 starting the house. Close the house down frosty nights ; 

 open up in the morning before the temperature rises 

 much, and avoid exciting the buds. Sometimes one has 

 warm days during the winter months. On such days it 

 is well to keep doors as well as ventilators open. 



All the peaches and nectarines recommended for the 

 peach house are admirably adapted for pot work. 



Other fruits may be added to these, as apples, pears, 

 plums, cherries, figs, apri- 

 cots, etc. (see articles un- 

 der these headings). The 

 following are some of the 

 best varieties the w r riter 

 has grown: Plums Gol- 

 den Esperin, Jefferson, 

 Denniston Superb, Green 

 Gage, Grand Duke, The 

 Czar, Early Transparent ; 

 Pears Magnet; Princess, 

 Souv. du Congres, Louise 

 Bonne de Jersey, Pitmas- 

 ton Duchess, Beurre Diel; 

 Apples Williams Favor- 

 ite, Benoni, King of the 

 Pippins, Washington, King 

 of Tompkins County, Belle 

 de Pontoise, Bismarck, 

 Peasgood Nonesuch, 

 Lady Henniker, Thomas 

 Rivers, Alexander, Cox 

 Pomona. WM. TURNER. 



FORCING HARDY PLANTS. 

 An economical method 

 of obtaining large quanti- 

 ties of flowers in win- 

 ter : extensively used 

 by commercial florists 

 for cut - flowers and 

 flowering plants. 

 Plants iisually forced 

 are hyacinths, tulips, 

 narcissus and other 

 Dutch bulbs, lily-of-the-valley, astilbe, dicentra, hybrid 

 perpetual roses, Deutzia gracilis, hybrid rhododen- 

 drons (R. Sinensis, i.e., Azalea molUs), and Ghent aza- 

 leas, and lilacs. For other plants, see A.G. 14:402 (1893). 



This mode of procuring flowers at small cost has 

 always been more or less in vogue among plantsmen, 

 and of late years has received fresh impetus, owing to 

 the heavy demands for decorative plants at Easter. It 

 is not only an inexpensive method of getting flowers, 

 biit with most plants, after a little experience, the time 

 of blooming can be easily calculated. The process has 

 limitations, at any rate with our present knowledge of 

 the matter, inasmuch as, with the exception of "retarded 

 plants " and a few bulbs, it is not practicable in late 

 autumn and early winter. It is possible, however, that 

 by using "retarded plants," i.e., plants held over their 

 natural time of flowering by keeping them in cold 

 storage at a temperature sufficiently low to prevent 

 growth , this difficulty may eventually be overcome. Ex- 

 cept, however, with lily-of-the-valley, which is admir- 

 ably adapted to this practice, we know little of the pos- 

 sibilities of this form of Forcing: it is hoped that other 

 plants, equally useful, may be treated in this way. It 

 is evident that, on account of the cost of storage, bulky 

 plants could not be handled. 



The requirements for successful Forcing are: (1) a 



851. Lilac pruned for forcing. 



