536 
THE MANAGEMENT OF GRSENHOUSES. 
may make. Take loam (No. 9) which is pi'e- 
sumed to have no dung or other exciting 
matter in it, droppings (No. 10), or, for want 
of it, dung (No. 5), peat (No. 1), and leaf- 
mould (No. 4), in equal quantities ; and if it 
be too adhesive, take half a part of sand to 
make it more pervious to water, or at the 
most a whole part. Mix these well together. 
It will suit everything a little ; and if the 
plant does not do all you wish, you can at 
least grow it well enough to get cuttings from, 
and try them in lighter, poorer, or richer 
composts ; but as we know camellias, gera- 
niums, heaths, and succulents, will grow in 
it, — and these are very much opposed in their 
natures, — it is fair to presume that any plant 
will grow in it enough to answer the tempo- 
rary purpose of saving it to grow others from. 
Keep all shelves free from W'it and dirt ; have 
grooves cut along the middle of them, for the 
water to run along, instead of dripping off 
along the edges, and provide for the drip at 
the end, so that it does not make any mess, or 
dirt, or litter, at the part it runs down. 
Provide, if possible, the means of shading 
the greenhouse in any hot or bright weather, 
as, in the spring, when the azaleas, hoveas, and 
many other fine plants are in bloom, a few 
hours' sunshine would shorten their duration 
some days. A canvass roller-blind outside is 
very easily contrived ; or a thinner blind of 
calico, or some such material, inside, would 
have as good an effect, and be somewhat 
lighter. But shade from the excessive heat 
of the sun will make several weeks' difference 
•in the lasting of the blooms. It must, how- 
ever, be recollected, that, as whatever ex- 
cludes the light in any part of it is an evil, — 
and, therefore, shading a choice of evils, — the 
blind must not be down an hour more than 
necessary. 
When the bloom of a plant is over, you 
have to make up your mind whether you 
intend it to seed or not. If not, pick off all 
the remains of flowers, that the pods may not 
swell ; for the seeding of any plant stops, in a 
great measure, the growth. If it be past the 
middle of May, you may turn a plant out in 
a sheltered part of the garden, for want of 
better accommodation ; but if you can give 
plenty of air in the greenhouse, and shade 
firom the extreme heat of the sun, plants may 
as well complete their growth in the house as 
not ; for it is not desirable to expose them too 
much, nor do the lovers of plants like to see 
the greenhouse empty. 
As camellias and azaleas, cactuses, epiphyl- 
lums, and many other subjects, are turned out 
to harden their growth and get the benefit of 
air in summer, the greenhouse may be sup- 
plied with annuals. Balsams, cockscombs, clin- 
tonia, salpiglossis, rhodanthe, and other tender 
annuals, may be sown in a hot-bed in March 
or April; and, although they require particu- 
lar treatment for large specimens, may be 
planted out in pots, and grown still in the 
hot-bed, until the time they are wanted to 
supply the shelves of the greenhouse. 
In August, everything ought to be cleared 
out, and the roof of the greenhouse should be 
well syringed ; all the dirt washed from the 
glass, the walls, posts, shelves, and every part. 
Cleanliness is everything with plants ; and 
the house should be thoroughly clean before 
the plants are put in for the winter. Nor is 
it at all a bad precaution during the period 
that it is empty, and before the syringing, to 
fumigate it well with tobacco, and afterwards 
with sulphur. The one will kill everything up- 
wards, the other anything downwards. The 
syringing should be done with such force as 
to drive everything out of the corners. 
When the plants are taken into the green- 
house, let the surface of the earth be stirred, 
the pots cleared from anything that they may 
have attained in the way of dirt, snails, or 
vermin, or anything that will cling to the out- 
side or in the holes at the bottom. 
Let the paths and floor of a greenhouse be 
kept dry and clean : it ought to be a paved 
floor, or a concrete, or some other impervious 
to wet ; and provision should be made for the 
running off of all the water that may fall to 
the ground ; for if the ground absorbs wet it 
too often engenders n^ildew. 
Plants should never be trusted to the open 
air before the middle of May, nor remain out 
after the middle of September. All before 
or after this is running a considerable risk. 
Grapes may be grown in a greenhouse, if 
the growth be confined to a bianch for each 
rafter to fruit, and the shoot which is trained 
alongside of it for the next year's bearing. 
This does not materially exclude light, but 
any more would be injurious; and even this 
must not be attempted if the shelves are to 
be filled after the present crowded fashicn, in 
which the plants touch each other, and form a 
complete shade for the backs of the whole. 
The Sweetwater and Black Hamburgh are 
the only sorts which should be tried. 
Hot-water pipes are the best means of 
warming a greenhouse in winter-time, but 
better avoid lighting a fire as long as possi- 
ble. Mats hung up in front are a great pro- 
tection to the plants, and that is always the 
coolest part of the house ; but when the glass 
is down to thirty-five, there may always be 
expected a frost in the night, or at least 
it should be provided against. The man who 
looks after the fires should be on the alert, 
and the mats in front should be always hung 
up in doubtful weather, because it is little 
trouble, and does no harm to the plants. 
