148 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENING. 



growth will be encouraged on the commencement of 

 winter, a condition from which., as is well known to 

 practical Pine-growers, no after-treatment can en- 

 tirely restore them. 



As f utui'e success depends upon keeping the plants 

 vigorous, compact, and sturdy through the winter 

 months, care must be taken that they do not sink too 

 far away from the glass, w^hich must be kept scrupu- 

 lously clean; that they do not become crowded to 

 the slightest extent; and air must be given, as may 

 be most convenient, either at the back or front, so as 

 to avoid creating a draught. 



Assuming that the plants occupy a light pit and 

 the points of the leaves nearly touch the glass, the 

 temperature throughout September should range 

 from 65^* at night to 75'' by day, with air, and lO'' to 

 15'' more for a short time after being shut up on fine 

 afternoons, with solar heat. As days decrease in 

 length, and sun-heat becomes feeble, a gradual fall in 

 the top and bottom heat should take place thi'ough 

 October to the extent of, say, 5^, more or less, ac- 

 cording to the state of the weather, so that by the 

 beginning of November the bottom heat will range 

 from 76" to 80'', and the top heat from 58"" at 

 night to 65° by day. As there is no standing still in 

 nature, the object through the winter months should 

 be the maintenance of steady heat, which will keep 

 the plants slightly progressing. This is the safest 

 and only means by which the roots can be kept in a 

 fresh, healthy condition ; and as the minimum heats 

 contained in the preceding paragraph will be found 

 ample, they must not be exceeded when it is mild, 

 while in the event of unusually dark, heavy, or severe 

 weather setting in, it will be found the most pru- 

 dent course to descend a little from these figures, in 

 preference to following the old and now exploded 

 plan of exciting the plants when they should be 

 resting. 



Water. — If any of the plants are plunged within 

 the influence of the hot-water pipes, it will be neces- 

 sary to examine them occasionally, and in the event 

 of the tan having become dry, a little water must 

 be given, not only to the plants so situated, but to the 

 tan as well. It is not, however, often necessary to 

 apply water in winter, as the plunging material is, as 

 a rule, sufficiently moist to keep the soil and roots in 

 a sound and healthy condition. Still, with hot- 

 water pipes around and below the small pots, there 

 is always a possibility of some being affected by the 

 dry heat, and it is by paying timely attention to 

 minor details like these that some succeed where 

 others fail. 



In a preceding chapter attention was drawn to the 

 importance of making pro^dsion, be it never so 

 limited, for getting into the smallest pits in winter, 



as well as for covering the glass in severe weather 

 during the hours of darkness. Under the old system 

 of management the first arrangement was not con- 

 sidered necessary ; consequently it often happened 

 that for days and weeks together the lights could not 

 be opened to admit of the daily details recei\Tjag 

 timely attention. To compensate for this di-awback, 

 and to insure what were considered snug and com- 

 fortable quarters for the almost hermetically encased 

 plants, a general turn-over took place as soon as the 

 newly-fallen Oak-leaves could be secured ; a violent 

 bottom heat followed, and the roots of every plant 

 perished, owing to their subjection to a temperature 

 considerably too high for Pines at any season of the 

 year. Some twenty-five years ago it was my mis- 

 fortune to take to a stock of Pines in May, which 

 had been so treated. Eveiy plant was rootless, and, 

 down to the smallest succession, started into fruit. 

 Had the plants been allowed to remain in the old 

 plunging material until February, there can be no 

 doubt that the -white, healthy roots, which every good 

 Pine-grower now expects to find about that time, 

 would have been present, and the loss of a number of 

 good plants would have been avoided. 



Ventilation. — In mild winters we experience 

 many fine days, when a little air for an hour or two 

 can be admitted, without ha^dng recourse to extra 

 firing. ^\Tienever this is the case, a very small 

 opening at the apex will change and sweeten the 

 atmosphere ; gi'eat care must, however, be observed, 

 as the smallest chink will soon tell upon the tem- 

 perature, and sudden depressions are at all times 

 injurious. But as a constant supply of fresh air is 

 important, and we no longer have the old six-inch 

 squares of glass with open laps, forming a most per- 

 fect system of ventilation, or filtration of the air, 

 the best arrangement under the modern system of 

 glazing will be found in the introduction of sliding 

 brick ventilators under e^-ery light, a little above the 

 ground-line, and opposite the hot-water pipes, both in 

 the front and back walls. As these can be opened or 

 closed fi'om the exterior in all weathers, and the air 

 so introduced becomes warm before it reaches the 

 foliage, plants can be kept in the best possible condi- 

 tion when the elements are adverse to top ventilation. 



Winter Growth. — In Pine-growing estabhsh- 

 ments, where a good stock of plants in every stage 

 of growth exists, the treatment here recommended for 

 the management of autumn suckers will result in the 

 production of a set of robust healthy succession plants, 

 fit for shifting in February, and growing steadily on 

 into fruiting stock by the following autumn. But, 

 assuming that a general stock does not exist, and 

 fruiting plants are wanted with all speed, then a 



