SEPTEMBES — FOURTH WEEK. 



99 



noon to secure as much sun heat as possible. Plants 

 swelling their fruit to be assisted with a brisk tempera- 

 ture, both at top and bottom, from 65° to 70° at night, 

 allowing it to rise to 80° on sunny days with a steady 

 bottom heat of about 80°. When watering is necessary 

 let it be given in sufficient quantity to moisten the whole 

 of the soil. The suckers and crowns that were potted 

 in the summer months should now be shifted, if they 

 have grown freely : they should then be plunged in a 

 brisk bottom heat in the succession-house or pit, from 

 which the plants have been removed, to the fruiting- 

 house. Any remaining suckers on the old stools to be 

 taken off, potted, and plunged in a brisk heat in the 

 nursing pit. 



Vines. — The early house, or the first lot of Yines in 

 pots, if it is intended to start them in November or De- 

 cember, to be pruned, that sufficient time may be allowed 

 to heal up the wounds, and the buds to become more 

 plump and prominent. The border of the early house to 

 be thatched with straw, or covered with any other such 

 material, to protect it from heavy rains. It is also ad- 

 visable in some situations to cover the borders of the 

 houses in which it is intended to keep Grapes late, to 

 prevent the soil getting saturated about the roots. Con- 

 tinue to look over ripe fruit, cutting out the mouldy or 

 tainted berries ; applying gentle fires only when necessary 

 to expel damps, with a free circulation of air — as a warm, 

 close atmosphere is as injurious as damp. Where the 

 long-rod system is adopted, the old shoots should be cut 

 down as soon as the fruit is gathered; and, whatever 

 system is adopted, if there are any shoots to remove 

 they should be taken out as soon as they can be spared ; 

 the ends of the remaining shoots, if green, to be cut off. 

 Continue to pay strict attention to late Grapes, look over 

 them daily, and cut out every decayed berry. 



