THE FORCING HOUSE Oil STOVE. 
51 
be every danger of cutting or bruising those 
which do not show above ground. 
Hyacinth Beds. — Stir the earth between 
these plants as soon as they are up, to give air 
to the. roots and refresh them. Cover with 
long litter, in preference to a mat or cloth, 
such as peas haulm, or rough broken straw ; 
the straw from the truss, unless broken up, lies 
too close a good deal. 
Cuttings and Small Plants in store pots 
and pans, must be kept in their several pits or 
frames, or other place of protection, without 
much water; merely keep them free from dead 
leaves, and dead plants, if any happen to have 
gone off. 
Generally speaking, the ground is too wet to 
enable us to work much in the open air this 
month ; but, if it be open dry weather, alter- 
ations and improvements may go on ; box- 
edging may be repaired or made, clumps may 
be formed, and all kind of work that would be 
better done in the autumn may be done never- 
theless ; but all this should be done in the 
autumnal months. 
THE GREEN-HOUSE. 
The most essential thing to guard against just 
now is damp, and it will be necessary to light a 
fire occasionally and give air at the top of the 
house at the same time; this draws the damp 
out, and it escapes. This should be done in the 
middle of the day. The pots should be all 
examined to see that the drainage is free. If 
any of the soil looks black and wet, and the pot 
feels heavy, there is something wrong. If any 
of the pots are too full of root, the plants 
should be removed into pots a size lai'ger; and 
the soil should be rich, light, and moderately 
porous. There is a soil which is good for 
almost every kind of green-house plant — loam 
with the turf rotted in it, decayed cowdung, 
leaf- mould, peat -earth chopped small, or 
rubbed through a very coarse sieve, and road 
sand, equal quantities of each ; it will do for 
everything; but if we had heaths to grow, we 
should treble the quantity of peat-earth, and 
not alter the others, so that it would be one of 
each of the others and three of peat-earth, 
instead of one all round. In moving a plant 
from one pot ■ to another, take care that the 
plant be not sunk in the least more in the new 
pot than it was in the old one, and see that 
the compost, well mixed up, is made to go 
down very nicely all round the old ball of 
earth. Plants shifted in this way should have 
a little water to settle the earth to the roots. 
All the shelves of the green-house, and all the 
plants, should be cleared of dead leaves, and 
the places kept very clean. 
the forcing house or stove. 
Flowers and plants are easily bloomed 
earlier than their usual season, by placing them 
in a stove, or a wanned green-house, or a com- 
mon hot-bed, and inmost establishments, even 
small ones, there is something to be done in 
this way. If you have already been for- 
warding any flowers, or flowering plants, 
which are now upon the eve of blooming, 
they may be removed to the warm sitting- 
rooms, where their flowers are to be enjoyed, 
and others may be put in to get forward. All 
things for forcing should be prepared by 
lower heat first, and then have it increased. 
Hyacinths, and most flowering bulbs, would 
bear placing in heat at once, if kept well 
moistened. Roses, Rhododendrons, Azaleas, 
and most flowering shrubs, require to be 
gradually introduced to heat, beginning a 
while at 40, and increasing to 45, 50, 55, and 
even 60 ; but if you are not in a hurry for 
flowers, the less the heat at which they are 
produced the better they will bear removal, 
and the longer they will last after removal. 
Hyacinths, bloomed at the temperature of a 
common sitting-room, will be in flower for 
weeks ; while those flowered in a hot-bed of 
60, or 65, or 70, will soon lose their beauty. 
The great point to attend to is, to begin in 
time, and not use too high a temperature. 
Stove plants are for the most part resting, 
and must not be watered too much. The end 
of this month, or the beginning of next, many 
will begin to grow, when they must be en- 
couraged ; if necessary, shifted into larger 
pots; and this will set them off. Gesneras, 
Gloxinias, Achimenes, and many tuberous and 
bulbous-rooted subjects, require immediate 
attention ; they should be potted in good 
compost, like that recommended for the green- 
house plants. The house must be thoroughly 
cleaned, the dead leaves and dirt all removed. 
All specimen plants, which make growth and 
bloom on the new wood, must be examined 
and washed, or syringed, to free them from 
any kind of vermin : they must also be shifted 
if required, especially the beautiful Ixoras, 
Euphorbia Jaquiniflora, Gardenias, Brug- 
mansias, &c. Seeds of all kinds, both of green- 
house and stove plants, may be sown in pans, 
pots, or boxes, and placed in a cool part of 
the stove, and preparation may be made to 
receive Dahlias to propagate ; for it is much 
easier than a hot-bed to break them and take 
off the cuttings. Many other subjects that 
require heat for propagation may be set to 
work in the stove. Climbing plants on trel- 
lises beginning to grow fast, must be fastened 
as they advance, and not be allowed to hang 
about, or grow on the wrong places, as their 
leaves will never show their proper faces so 
well after being set, as it were, by their 
straggling growth; for when the branches 
are trained, after being neglected, half the 
leaves are with the backs to the spectators, 
e 2 
