BOOK 1. PINERY. GENERAL CULTURE. 535 



seven hours after leaving it : when the nights are longest, the decline of the fire will 

 thus be repaired three hours before sunrise." 



2876. The season for fire-heat falls mostly within the limits of eight months, specified 

 below. Fire-heat is first resorted to in evenings ; and is extended to mornings when 

 the weather is cloudy and damp, or frosty. The lateness or forwardness of the seasons 

 will require occasional deviations from any outline drawn from the practice of a single 

 year : the following outline is given to assist, and not to fetter, the director of the 

 stove : 



2877. October. As soon as cold nights or foggy days occur, fires will be wanted in houses where the stand- 

 ard temperature marks a high minimum. The pinery first demands the aid of the furnace, on account of 

 all the plants having been recently potted. Gentle fires made in the evening, to last only for the night, 

 will supply the few degrees of heat in which the natural climate is defective. Artificial heat is not ap- 

 plied to excite the pines to grow in the herb at this time ; but merely to prevent any check to the new 

 roots from cold and damp. If the tan-bed send up a good heat, the use of the stove in the pinery may be 

 deferred till the middle or end of the month. One object is, to keep the temperature up to a given mini- 

 mum ; another, to interfere with 4 fire-heat when the declension in the natural climate is unseasonably 

 abrupt. Thus 62 degrees at the end of September, is more severe than 58 degrees at the end of October. 



2878. November. Work regular fires every evening, and occasional fires on cold mornings, and through- 

 out severe days. A violent heat would be pernicious. The maximum to aim at for the day-time, in rigorous 

 frosts, is 65 degrees, independent of any rise in the thermometer from occasional sunshine. 



2879. December. Attend punctually to the furnace in the afternoon, late at night, and timely in the morn 

 ing. Between five and nine in the forenoon, never let the course of the fire-heat relax : but if, between nine 

 and three, the sun should shine sufficiently to raise the thermometer to 70 degrees, the furnace may 

 be stopped, and need not work again till three in the afternoon. 



2880. January. Recruit and regulate the stove evening and morning. To have the heat defective, or in 

 excess, would be alike prejudicial. 



2881. February. The furnace must be carefully attended as the three principal hours of daily regulation 

 come round. Maintain fires all day in rigorous weather. 



2882. March. From the returning influence of the sun, and the gentle impulse of the stove, the plants will 

 be excited strongly into growth. To conduct them by an equal progression, the fire-heat should be regu- 

 larly sustained morning and evening, and raised, as noon approaches, to 70, 72, and 75 degrees, in-case the 

 power of the sun alone has not elevated the thermometer, by ten in the morning, at least to 70 degrees. 

 To make the continuation of fire in a hot-house during the day depend merely upon the presence or ab- 

 sence of frost, is to treat a stove like a green-house. According to the climate to be imitated, the tenor 

 of artificial heat ought to bear some analogy to the revolutions of temperature caused by the sun, as it 

 respects both the history of a day, and the rise and acme of a growing season. 



2883. April. Continue fires regularly while the sun is down ; and when the weather is chilly and gloomy, 

 work the furnace all day. 



2884. May. Goon with the evening fires: have a gentle heat in the early part of the morning, at least till 

 appearances promise a fine warm day. Some managers, to spare fuel, dispense with the stove as soon as 

 the thermometer can be kept, by the shelter of the house and the influence of the bark-bed, from sinking 

 below 60 degrees at the coldest time between sunset and sunrise. But, on the principle laid down in 

 March, the heat ought to be progressive where pines are grown, and, indeed, where any fruit is forced 

 that will repay the cost : in the pinery, then, the minimum for May is 64 degrees at the beginning, and 

 68 at the close. 



2885. June. If the weather be seasonable, no fire-heat will be wanted. But, if it be midsummer, ac- 

 cording to the kalendar, resume fires in unseasonably cold intervals, in order to give sufficient air, without 

 checking plants that have been excited by a higher temperature than that at which the natural climate 

 may happen to be during an anomalous day or two. (Abercrombie.') 



2886. Air. The following monthly directions on this subject by Abercrombie cor- 

 respond with the practice of the other authors quoted : 



2887. July and August. You can scarcely give air without restraint, even in the day-time, at any other sea- 

 son than the last weeks of July and the course of August. When the nights are warm, leave openings for 

 a gentle interchange with the unconfined atmosphere, so as not to expose the pines to casual rain. A con. 

 slant circulation of pure air will always invigorate growing plants, and heighten the flavor of ripening fruit. 

 In the middle of sultry days, keep down the heat to the maximum under Temperature^ by a very free 

 circulation of air. 



2888. In September commences the necessity for caution in admitting air, so as not to lower the temper- 

 ature beyond the minimum for the house. When air is given in reduced quantities, divide it equally to all 

 parts of the pit. The atmosphere at the autumnal is not equally cool as the vernal equinox, because the 

 heat from the past summer is not at once dissipated. The 23d of September will more often correspond 

 with the middle of May than with the 21st of March, as to the influence on the glass of the withdrawing 

 nd returning heat in the natural climate. Proceed in September as in June and May below. 



2889. October. To give air without hazard, see Temperature for the house, and the directions in April 



2890. November. In calm fine days, give moderate admissions of air from about ten till two. Be careful 

 to shut the sashes, if the atmosphere turn cloudy or excessively cold. 



2891. December. In the middle of a clear sunny day, when such occurs, though the air be frosty with it, 

 slide down a light alternately a little way. Meanwhile keep up a maximum heat by the flues ; and shut 

 the glasses by two o'clock, or sooner, if the weather or the thermometer requires. 



2892. January. As in December. 



2893. February. As in November ; rather freer : in order to which keep good fires. 



2894. March. Watch for favorable opportunities to give air. In warm cheerful days, with a little wind, 

 draw open some of the glasses about three hours before twelve, and close again by lour in the afternoon ; 

 or reduce the interval, as the suitable hours may be few. 



2895. April. Every fair warm forenoon, as soon as the sun's influence will prevent the house from being 

 chilled, admit fresh air by opening the sashes a little. From nine till noon, gradually widen the aperture 

 for the air. Close again two hours before sunset, or before the thermometer is below 60 degrees, or 

 the higher minimum prescribed by the forced advancement of the plants in particular houses. Whenever 

 the weather is gloomy, raise the fire-heat preparatory to giving air. 



2896. May. Fresh air may be admitted, in bright warm mornings, an hour sooner than in April ; and, on 

 fine afternoons, the sashes may be kept open proportionally later, so as the thermometer be watched, and 

 the exceptions after shifting plants, or renewing the bark-bed, be attended to. 



2897. June. Give air liberally from seven to six, if the weather has attained a seasonable settled 

 warmth. When the thermometer is down to 66 degrees, shut the glasses for the evening. 



2898. Water. The same agreement is observable in Abercrombie's general instruc- 



Mm 4 



