THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
355 
give a liberal shift, and otherwise treat them during the summer, as 
recommended for last season. If the plants are intended for bloom- 
ing the following season, however, they should not be stopped pro- 
miscuously till late in the autumn, for this would probably cause 
them to bloom irregularly and sparingly, but they should rather be 
stopped all over about the middle of August, so as to secure their 
breaking evenly, and having shoots of about equal strength before 
winter. And in this case they should occupy a cool, airy part of 
the greenhouse, until they can he removed to a cold frame, or pit, 
or until after they have done flowering, for there will be nothing 
gained by exciting plants intended for flowering too early in spring. 
They should occupy a cool, shady part of the greenhouse while in 
bloom, and after the beauty of the flowers is over, cut the shoots 
back sufficiently to secure a bushy, close growth ; also attend to 
shifting, as may be necessary to afford sufficient space for the roots, 
and keep the specimens cool, affording them a moist atmosphere 
until they start into growth, and during the growing season. 
PROTECTIONS’ OF FORCING PITS AND PLANT FRAMES. 
[TIE object for which protecting materials of all kinds is 
used is vulgarly to keep out cold, philosophically to pre- 
vent the escape of heat ; and hence that which with the 
least expenditure of money and time best secures the 
object in view must be the best to adopt. The market 
gardeners round London use principally long litter, and they prepare 
it through the summer by taking the longest straw from the dung 
as it is brought from the stables, and this, when it is well shaken out 
and dried, is formed into a stack contiguous to the frame ground, 
ready for its winter’s use. This is simply thrown over the frames to 
the thickness of four, six, or twelve inches, according to the severity 
of the weather, and answers very well. But it is untidy for a gentle- 
man’s garden, and moreover makes the glass very dirty, depriving 
the plants of much light, and rendering a great loss of labour 
necessary in washing the frames ; and also much breakage. It is, 
however, very surprising how little attention some of the best 
market growers seem to pay to the importance of light ; you may 
go into their forcing ground in the dark months of winter, when 
they are forcing cucumbers and other early crops, but you might as 
well try to look through a fourteen-inch wall, as to discover the 
contents of the frames through the glass ; yet how astonishing is 
their success ! Wood shutters and thatched hurdles have been used 
since the days of Abercrombie ; but if they are durable, they must 
be awkward and clumsy ; and if they are not durable, they become 
expensive. They have also another and still worse objection, which 
is, that if not very carefully handled they rub the paint off the 
sashes. Mats, if they are good, so long as they remain in that 
condition, are a very effective protection ; but thin, hard common 
mats, as too many of them have been of late years, are dear at any 
December. 
