EEV. W. KINGSLEY — ON BORDEK-HEATING. 



141 



the bed in the same way again ; but I had been doing a good deal 

 of draining, and the defective tiles were good enough for this 

 purpose. My fruit-trees are in pots, some as large as 2 feet across, 

 but most of them 15 inches. The pots stand upon the coke or 

 very little above it. ' In winter they are covered with earth and 

 dry litter, so as to keep the frost off completely ; but in the mild 

 weather they are little more than half buried, and in the heat of 

 summer are raised to the surface to let the sun give them as much 

 heat as possible, and at the same time to allow the roots during 

 the summer months to pass out of the bottoms of the pots into 

 the ground. 



The way in which I have applied the heat is, as far as I can, to 

 encourage the growth of roots in winter, and to give a temperature 

 to them, when the fruit is setting, above what we get from the 

 sun in this climate, and then again, when the heat begins to fail 

 in early autumn, to give warmth to ripen the wood and get the 

 trees put to rest early, by their having heat and no water. 

 Perhaps it will be best to state how the trees are heated through- 

 out one year. During the sharp frosts of winter the hot water is 

 kept going night and day, and I have heat enough to thaw any 

 snow that falls, but I do not raise the temperature of the ground 

 so high as this, but only enough to prevent the roots being so 

 much checked in their growth as to destroy the young spongioles. 

 Whenever the weather is mild the fire is not lighted ; and by the 

 end of February there is rarely any occasion for artificial heat. 

 As soon, however, as the trees are in full blossom, the fire is again 

 lighted and the heat steadily increased, and kept up till the sun 

 warms the ground thoroughly ; at this period the fire is lighted 

 early in the morning and allowed to go out at night, and so 

 gradually till artificial heat ceases about the middle of June, or 

 later if the season be cold ; and if a few cold days come, I give 

 heat again during the day. During the blossoming-season the 

 trees have a wide piece of netting over them. The trees now will 

 have got a very great advance upon those in the open ground so 

 far as the ripening of the fruit is concerned, but they do not open 

 their blossoms more than a very few days before them. 



Then again about the end of August I give heat during the day, 

 and, according to the nature of the fruit, give water or withhold it, 

 as I would encourage growth or ripen the wood. In the latter 

 case it is necessary to cover the pots with slates or wood, to keep 

 the rain off. My rule is to withhold water and give heat as soon 

 as ever the fruit is ripe. "When the terminal buds are fully 



