34 



CASSELL'S POPULAE GAEDENINa. 



Bure being the order of the present day, the thoughtful 

 cultivator -will endeavour to produce and preserve a 

 maximum of heat at a minimum cost. Double 

 glazing has been brought forward, but has never 

 been successful; indeed, it has proved baneful to 

 the plants placed under its coddling influence. 

 Blinds, on the other hand, attached to rollers for 

 running down at night and during severe storms, 

 form the best covering, as they can be drawn up when 

 not wanted, to give the plants the fuU benefit of 

 light and sunshine. Stout canvas or Frigi-domo 

 answers very well, as the last is an excellent non- 

 conductor when properly fixed and judiciously used. 

 In the arrangement of blinds, either for shade in 

 sunmier or warmth in winter, the rollers should be 

 sheltered from wet under the ridge-capping, and a 

 thin stratum of air secured between the blinds and 

 the glass by running the former on laths raised a few 

 inches above the roof. Where winter-swelling or 

 ripening Pines have to be kept in a night tempera- 

 ture of 70°, with nothing but a thin sheet of glass 

 separating them from a bright starlit sky, the thin- 

 nest covering will be found of immense value in 

 reducing the necessity for hard firing, as well as for 

 preventing the loss of moisture, which must be 

 constantly used to counteract its drying influence. 



Ventilation. — In its naturalised habitat, the West 

 Indies, where the mean temperature ranges about 

 80°, and the plants are exposed to the open air, a 

 much higher degree of heat during bright sunshine 

 does no harm ; but when tropical plants are confined 

 within the limits of a hot-house, the conditions are 

 very different; hence the importance of providing for 

 the constant admission of fresh air to prevent the 

 elongation and scorching of the foliage when the 

 atmosphere is not properly charged with moisture, 

 as well as to allow of its escape at the apex after 

 they have absorbed a portion of the carbon which it 

 conveys. As a rule. Pine-growers are averse to a 

 draught even on the hottest days we experience in 

 these islands, and many never give front air at 

 all ; but it is well to provide for so doing should it 

 prove necessary. It is therefore a good plan to have 

 ventilators fixed in the front wall immediately oppo- 

 site the hot-water pipes, for opening on very hot 

 days, when the shading is down, and the top venti- 

 lators are nearly closed to prevent the too rapid 

 escape of moisture. 



"Water-tanks.— The only other item to which 

 attention may be drawn in the arrangement of the 

 Pinerj' is the provision for watering and syringing 

 with pure soft water. In some places the ordinary 

 supply of water suits the plants verj' well ; in others, 

 in proportion to its purity for domestic purposes, it 



is useless or injurious to the roots of plants. There- 

 fore on no account should the formation of commo- 

 dious tanks for the reception of soft water from the 

 roofs of the houses, as well as any of the surrounding 

 buildings, be neglected. It is usual to make large 

 collecting tanks under the floors of the houses, but it 

 is perhaps better to have one large central tank in 

 the open air. whence smaller tanks or cisterns in 

 every house can be fed by means of pipes with ball- 

 taps attached. In course of time the water becomes 

 as warm as the mean temperature of the house, and 

 is then in the best possible condition for use. In 

 order to render the water arrangement as complete 

 as possible, a coil of piping supplied direct from one 

 of the boilers or mains through the tank is strongly 

 recommended. In some gardens the mains from the 

 boilers are made to pass through the soft- water tank; 

 indeed, within fifty yards of the room in which 

 these lines are now being penned such an arrange- 

 ment exists, where water for every purpose can 

 always be had at a temperature ranging from 80° to 

 100°. In forcing-gardens where there is a constant 

 demand for hot water, a few pounds laid out in this 

 way wiU be found a very profitable investment. 



Soil. — ^With every other convenience for producing 

 good fruit at his disposal, the modem Pine-grower 

 will make but poor progress where the soil at his 

 command is unsuitable. If a, strong healthy plant, 

 which has been grown in a pot, is examined, the 

 greatest quantity of active roots will be found coiling 

 round the extremity of the ball, and revelling in the 

 <rough, lumpy pieces of turf placed over the crocks, 

 and even in the crocks themselves, where it is quite 

 impossible that water can gain a lodgment. If 

 amongst a set of vigorous plants one is found which 

 has gone wrong, the chances are ten to one that the 

 drainage has become impaired, or a drip from the 

 roof has saturated the soil, and the natural conclu- 

 sion is strengthened by two negative examples — that 

 a close heavy soil, through which water cannot pass 

 freely, or which becomes sour and pasty after it has 

 been watered a few times, is not the compost for 

 Pines. 



All the highest theoretical and practical authorities 

 agree in showing that soils havinga tendency to hold 

 water are strongly condemned, while friable, fibry , and 

 sandy loams, peat, and sandy peat are recommended. 

 Now, as these writers founded their theory on the 

 nature of the family to which the Pine belongs, and 

 the conditions under which it is found growing, and 

 all successful Pine-growers are proving every day 

 by their practice that this theory is correct, we have 

 satisfactory proof that a sweet fibrous loam which 

 does not readily decompose is the best that can bo 

 used for plants in pots or turned out into open beds. 



