NOTES ON WINTER GARDENING. 95 



is just this quick growth that we must have in the forcing 

 house. The atmosphere is quiet and is so moist that evapora- 

 tion is reduced to a minimum in the house, and heavier soils 

 are very liable to become sour or in bright sunny weather to 

 lose their water quickly and become hard and "dead." 



A good general rule for forcing house soils is to use two 

 parts of sand, two parts of well rotted manure and two parts 

 of loam from the garden or of turf from an old pasture. Freshly 

 prepared soils will never give satisfactory results in the house. 

 For this reason a large quantity of prepared soil should be 

 kept on hand in a convenient place. Rotted sod is the best 

 basis for green house soils. Our own practice is to get a 

 quantity of sods from an old pasture and place these in layers, 

 grass side down, in a regular stack. Alternating with layers 

 of sod may be placed a liberal quantity of stable manure. The 

 top of the heap should be flat or somewhat concave to retain 

 the rain and hasten decay. Decay may also be hastened by a 

 liberal use of lime while the stack is being made. The heap 

 should be thoroughly forked over after a few months and again 

 at the time of removing to the house. At the second handling 

 any desired amount of sand may be added. 



c. The Water: — An abundant and unfailing water supply is 

 essential. Where it is possible to use city water, this will be 

 the best source of supply. Otherwise cisterns must be built 

 or wells provided at considerable immediate expense. Rain 

 water or river water is to be preferred if obtainable, but this is 

 not imperative. 



When and how to supply the water is far more important 

 than the source of supply, provided there is no injurious ele- 

 ment present. The operation of watering is perhaps the most 

 important factor of green house management. The older a 

 gardener grows the more care he takes in watering, for care- 

 lessness in this operation is the exciting cause of innumerable 

 diseases of plants. It is the last operation an apprentice is 

 taught and probably not one man in twenty is thoroughly com- 

 petent in this direction. In all of the life processes of plants, 

 water is an important factor; but it is well known that plants 

 require very different amounts of water at different seasons, 

 in different situations, or in different states of health. 



