GREENHOUSES 3 



For example, the skilled hand who has spent many years in 

 the scientific building up of young fruit trees is likely to know 

 but little, and to care even less, about the propagation of 

 Lobelias, Begonias and other bedding plants ; and a " hand " 

 whose greatest joy in life is the Rose (and there are many such 

 men), who is a great enthusiast, and successful because he is 

 an enthusiast, is not likely to interest himself very deeply in 

 Cacti and Orchids. A wise nurseryman, knowing these pro- 

 clivities, avails himself of all the enthusiasm belonging to them, 

 and thereby secures the services of hearts, as well as those 

 of brain and brawn. 



CHAPTER I. 



GREENHOUSES 



As the heart is to the body, so, in a very real sense, is glass 

 to the nursery. Take this statement literally, think out all 

 that it means, and you will come to appreciate its truth. 



Hothouses are designed to produce artificially conditions 

 approximating to those under which plants of alien origin grow 

 in their native habitats under tropical skies. Unheated green- 

 houses are designed to counteract the vagaries of our English 

 climate, to conserve the heat given by the sun, to exclude cold 

 winds and generally to promote genial conditions. 



Hothouses range from the " Stove," with its minimum 

 temperature of 60 to 65, in which tropical plants are cultivated, 

 to the " temperate " house, with its minimum of 45, where 

 the native plants of more temperate zones find a home. In 

 the former houses very special provision is made for heat 

 combined with moisture, the two elements essential to the 

 plants there grown ; but the less exacting plants of the temperate 

 house need the same elements, though in a modified degree. 

 The degree of skill and judgment brought to bear upon the 

 supply of these, combined with ventilation, will prove whether 

 the management of the houses is efficient or otherwise. 



While a close and careful study of the habits and needs of 

 plants generally is the best guide to their successful cultivation 



