239 
OPERATIONS FOR NOVEMBER. 
In consequence of the prodigious quantities of rain which fell during September 
and October, and the generally wet character of the whole previous season, the 
dampness for which November is notorious will necessarily be very much increased 
in the present year ; and the attention requisite for exotic plants must, from this 
circumstance, be more constant and assiduous. Many w T eeks ago, indications were 
apparent of a second production of bloom on various kinds of plants usually kept 
in houses, and even Rhododendrons, and other hardy shrubs, have, in some places, 
borne quite a profusion of blossoms. 
Wherever unseasonable growth or inflorescence is now observable in plants 
which are at all beneath the cultivators control, he cannot do better than continue 
to repress them, assured that the flowers borne thus prematurely will be at the 
expense of the usual display at the proper season. Unless, therefore, with a few 
comparatively worthless specimens, which may be permitted to bloom for the sake 
of rendering the houses a little gay at this time ; or such as, like Clianthus puniceus 
and some others, form their blooms in the autumn to be expanded in spring, every 
disposition to blossom in plants whose flowering period is the spring or summer, 
should be kept under by the removal of the buds as soon as they show’ them- 
selves. All extra growth should likewise be picked off, as imperfect shoots 
weaken the plant, are very apt to become mildew’ed or to suffer from dampness, and 
to spread their decay to the more healthy portions with which they are connected. 
This destruction of weakly branches is especially useful to plants, whether 
greenhouse or half-hardy, that have been obtained from cuttings within the last 
two or three months, and whose tissue is yet so tender that they are exceedingly 
liable to be injured by moisture. Immature shoots on specimens of such a kind 
act as so many absorbents of water, attractors of disease, and conductors of it 
through the rest of the system. And since they are commonly placed in pits, 
where there are no artificial means at hand of dissipating moisture, it is the more 
necessary to be careful that there shall not exist, in the plants themselves, a 
reservoir for the very element which is most likely to prove fatal to them. 
All pits and frames employed for the reception of tender plants ought to be 
somewhat elevated, to be surrounded with a dry material, and to have a dry 
wooden, stone, or slate pavement or shelf at the bottom on which to stand the pots. 
This pavement need not be thicker than is necessary for strength, and, if practi- 
cable, it should have a small dry chamber beneath it. Perforations should be made 
in its surface for the passage of whatever water is supplied to the plants ; but no 
water ought to be administered until the plants are brought just to the verge of 
suffering from drought. 
Straw hurdles should now be manufactured for covering frames and also houses 
in the depth of winter. An oblong frame, the shape of the lights to be protected, 
