476 THE HOT-HOUSE. [Aug. 



Let this shifting, where neglected last month, be done, if possi- 

 ble, in the first or second week of this, that the plants may have 

 time to establish strong roots, and to be advanced in free and 

 vigorous growth before winter. For the method of shifting, see 

 page 458. 



Besides the watering of the pine plants in the common way, it 

 will be of great service to them in very warm weather, to water 

 the walks and iluesof the hot-house occasionally; this should always 

 be done late in the evening, and the glasses ought to be immediate- 

 ly closed. The great heat of the house will exhale the moisture, 

 and raise a kind of artificial dew, which will soon stand in drops 

 on the glasses; the leaves of the pine being succulent, they will 

 imbibe the watery particles and be greatly benefited thereby. 



Raising the Pine from Seed. 



New varieties of the pine may be obtained from seeds, and when 

 such is found in the fruit, which is very uncommon, even in the 

 West Indies, they should be carefully preserved in dry sand till 

 March, when they will vegetate and succeed better than if sown at 

 an earlier period. The pots for this purpose should be then filled, 

 to within an inch of their rims, with light rich earth, and plunged 

 into a warm part of the tan-bed for a day or two before sowing the 

 seeds, which should be placed therein, about an inch apart, and 

 covered not more than a quarter of an inch deep. Cover the pots 

 immediately with pieces of glass that will fit the tops very close; 

 this, by preventing the mould from drying and giving an additional 

 heat to it near the surface, will soon cause the seeds to vegetate. 

 After the plants appear sprinkle them over with water occasionally; 

 as they advance in size give them increased portions of air and 

 water, and by the time they have five or six leaves, they will be 

 able to withstand the general air of the hot-house. 



By the end of August these seedlings will be grown to a proper 

 size for transplanting: when they should be put into small pots, 

 filled with the same mould recommended for crowns and suckers 

 in page 45G; and from that time their treatment requires no differ- 

 ence from that of those. 



Shifting the various Exotics, fyc. 



The beginning of this month is a very proper season for the shift 

 ing of aloes, sedums, cactuses, mesembryanthemums, and all othei 

 succulent exotics; they will now take fresh root sooner than at any 

 other time of the year; you should at the same time take off" any 

 offsets that may be produced, and plant them into small pots filled 

 with fresh sandy earth, placing them where they may have only the 

 morning sun for ten or twelve days, and observing to refresh them, 

 now and then, with a little water. 



The several kinds of tender exotics that require it, should now 

 be shifted in order to establish strong and fresh roots before winter; 

 observing to place them in the shade immediately after, till they 



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