552 THE HOT-IIOUSE. [Oct. 
goes through the screen, may be used for covering beds wherein 
are planted bulbous roots, &c. to protect them from frost: as much 
new tan, previously made sufficiently dry, must be added to the 
coarse part as will fill up the pits again a little above the top, 
mixing both well together as you proceed in the filling. This done 
plunge the pots as directed on other occasions. 
General Care. 
The pines and all the other exotics must have regular care and 
attendancei let water be given once or twice a week to some, oftener 
to others, as you see necessary, being careful not to give too much 
at a time, for that would not only injure many plants, but destroy 
the heat of the bark-bed. 
Admit fresh air into the house every calm or warm day, espe- 
cially when the sun shines, by sliding open some of the glasses from 
nine or ten o'clock till two, three or four, always observing to close 
the house in the afternoon while the air is warm, to supersede the 
necessity of fire as long as possible; and if you must have recourse 
to it towards the latter end of the month, use it but moderately at 
this season. 
The advantages of keeping the house as cool as may be consistent 
with the safety of the plants, during this and the next month, are 
very obvious; all the plants are gradually hardened and rendered 
thereby capable of bearing the vicissitudes of the winter season 
better than if they were drawn up tender and weakly by too much 
heat; but the pines in particular, if forced at this season, would, 
many of them, start to fruit at an untimely period, which would 
get stunted and misshapen before the commencement of the free 
spring vegetation, and would consequently be totally lost, or not 
worth their room in the house. 
When the leaves of any plants decay, they should be picked off', 
and the house kept constantly clear from fallen leaves, cobwebs, or 
any other filth, which not only renders the house neat, but is very 
necessary to preserve the plants in health. 
Wintering Hot-House plants in Garden- Frames. 
There are few tropical plants but may be preserved during win- 
ter, while in a small state, in garden-frames well constructed and 
attended, so that an ingenious and careful gardener may not despair 
of preserving the most rare plants in winter, without the aid of a 
hot-house; and even where there is one, and the stock of plants too 
numerous, such auxiliary convenience will be found of considerable 
utility. 
A frame for this purpose should be made about nine or ten feet 
long, four to five wide, three and a half high in front, and five in 
the back part, with sashes well glazed and fitted as close and neat 
as possible, so as to slide up and down freely. This frame should 
be placed in a dry well sheltered situation, exposed fully to the 
south, and where it can have the benefit of the sun during the whole 
