50 THE FU)RIST AND 



regular distances among the pistillate plants, and endeavor to have a 

 gentle breeze blow over them occasionally, the better to disperse the pollen. 

 Staminate varieties are considered most suitable for forcing. 



Peaches, Cherries, &c, in pots should now be gently excited. A vinery 

 started about this time is a very suitable place for bringing forward the 

 above fruits in pots. A small house devoted to this purpose, with graper- 

 ies up the rafters. Peaches, Nectarines, Plums, Cherries, &c, in pots and 

 boxes on the floor, with a shelf on the back wall near the glass for Straw- 

 berries, would form a very appropriate winter amusement for the fruit ama- 

 teur. There is less difficulty in managing a house of this kind than is gen- 

 erally supposed. The greatest error is being in too great a hurry, keeping 

 up too much heat at the tops and too much water at the roots, causing all 

 ilower buds to be abortive. Syringe occasionally with warm water, and keep 

 the floor and paths damp. There is great loss of moisture where much fire- 

 heat is applied, and its extraction from the air occasions many failures in 

 the culture of exotics. 



Grapevine Borders, to be planted in April, should be in course of pre- 

 paration; so much has already been said on this subject, that further allusion 

 to it seems superlative, but it requires to be " kept before the people," that 

 ordinary soil, well trenched, draisied, and manured with common yard ma- 

 nure, will giow them to great perfection, so that any one that can command 

 these conditions need not be deterred from erecting graperies because they 

 cannot procure bone dust, oyster shells, leather parings, woolen rags, &c. &c, 

 "which, although useful when properly applied, are by no means to be con- 

 sidered indispensable in the permanent formation of a soil, capable of pro- 

 ducing grapes in the greatest perfection. In the many instances on record 

 of long-lived, healthy, fruitful vines, no such ingredients have ever been ap- 

 plied to the well drained, comparatively poor soil in which they are growing. 



S. B. 



Flower Garden. — In our State this month is usually rather open, and 

 will afford many opportunities for getting our spring work ahead — sometimes 

 Hyacinths and Tulips come to hand too late to be planted out in the fall. 

 The earliest opportunity should be taken to attend to them, as well as to 

 Crocus, narcissus, and other hardy bulbs. Those planted in the fall will 

 begin to appear at the surface, and should be slightly protected by a thin 

 layer of ashes or half rotten leaves. The planting of Trees, Shrubs, Roses, 

 &c, should be forwarded whenever the ground becomes somewhat dried — 

 no advantage is gained by operating in wet, clammy soil ; whatever pruning 

 remains unfinished should be deferred, and all things tied up and got in 

 readiness for the spring's return. Towards the end of the month, when all 



