208 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND GOTIAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 4 , 1884. 
of plants recently shifted. Winter fruiters should, where 
there is not a separate house set apart for the swelling and 
ripening of the fruit, be kept in the warmest end of the 
warmest house, and when dry at the roots have liberal sup¬ 
plies of diluted tepid liquid manure. In order to maintain 
the fruit in an upright position two sticks, one on each side 
of the plant, should be placed firmly in the soil and the fruit 
secured thereto by two sets of ties of strong string fastened 
above and below the fruit, the top ties being fixed in a down¬ 
ward notch in the sticks at an angle of about 30° from the 
top of the fruit to admit of the latter growing erect without 
being hampered. The plants which are to produce fruit next 
summer should have completed their growth by the end of 
September, or at the latest by the middle of October. From 
that date until January next the pit must be ventilated 
freely on all favourable occasions, so as to thoroughly rest 
the plants prior to their being “ started ” about the new 
year. 
Atmospheric Moisture and Temperature. —Damp between 
the plants and slightly overhead with tepid water from 
the syringe at closing time every bright afternoon up to 
the end of September, when it should be gradually reduced 
to twice a week—the plunging material being only then 
damped—to the end of October; then the distribution of 
moisture, except for the purpose of preventing an arid at¬ 
mosphere in the event of the weather rendering severe firing 
necessary, must he discontinued until the end of February. 
At that time, according to weather and other circumstances, 
the syringe may be brought gradually into use again as the 
days increase in length. Evaporating troughs placed on the 
pipes must be filled with liquid manure at all times, except 
when the fruit is approaching maturity. A few canfuls of 
the same liquid thrown over the floor a few times a week 
at closing time, or just before dark during the growing 
season, is also beneficial. During the interval from October 
to January a night temperature of from 55° to 60° as the 
weather is mild or cold will be sufficient for plants in every 
stage of growth, except, of course, those that are swell¬ 
ing their fruits, which, if in a house to themselves, should 
have a minimum temperature of 65° or 70°, with a rise of 
10° by day and a bottom heat of 75°. When sun heat, 
which generally follows frosty nights, raises the temperature 
above 65° a little air should be admitted. This may be in¬ 
creased progressively with the internal rise of the tempera¬ 
ture, and reduced gradually as the sun decreases in power. 
Starting the Plants. —About the end of the old or the 
beginning of the new year will be a good time to treat plants 
with a view to starting them into fruit, and with this object 
in view the night temperature should be increased to 65° and 
the day to 70° without sun heat, or 10° higher with sun ; 
and the bottom heat from 75° to 85° or 90°. This can be 
done, if the pits are old-fashioned pigeon-holed ones, by 
making up the linings at short intervals with fermenting 
material, or turning on the hot water in the bottom-heat 
pipes. The soil in which the plants are growing must be 
kept rather dry, also the atmosphere of the house should 
be in order to prevent the plants making growth instead of 
starting into fruit as desired. The day and night tempera¬ 
ture can be raised 5° higher in February. As soon as the 
young fruits can be discerned emerging from the centre of 
the plants sufficient liquid manure must be given to 
thoroughly moisten the soil. Atmospheric moisture must 
be applied sparingly while the fruit is in flower, and air 
admitted more freely during that interesting stage of the 
plants’ growth, so that every pip of the fruit may be properly 
developed, after which a liberal supply of atmospheric mois¬ 
ture should be distributed over the plunging material and 
the paths, about the collars of the plants, and slightly over¬ 
head the latter at closing time on bright afternoons. In 
doing so avoid as much as possible letting water from the 
syringe or otherwise into the “ crowns,” as that would cause 
them to become too large, and thereby detract from the size 
and appearance of the fruit. It is hard to lay down rules as 
to the time Pine houses should be closed in the afternoon, as 
so much depends upon the character of the weather and of 
the structures in which the plants are growing. Assuming, 
however, that the weather is bright and that the Pine houses 
are moderately built and air-tight, I should recommend 
closing from the end of April to the middle of May at from 
three o’clock to half-past three, and from the middle of May 
to the end of June from 3.30 to 4 p.m. Vary the time of 
closing half an hour during the months of July and August, 
and always, except when the fruits are approaching maturity, 
using plenty of atmospheric moisture at closing time, when 
the temperature may be run up to 100°. 
In watering the plants—successional as well as fruiting 
—it will be advisable to pour some of the liquid manure or 
guano water into the axils of the plants for the nourishment 
of the young roots coiled round the stem at their base. I 
prefer guano water made at the rate of a 6-inch potful of 
guano to thirty-six gallons of water, as this, in my opinion, 
imparts not only a darker green and better texture to the 
leaves, but also a brighter and richer colour to the fruit. 
Shading being more or less necessary for the well-doing of 
the plants—providing it be light—from the middle of April 
to the middle of September, during the prevalence of bright 
sunshine, I prefer using for that purpose Messrs. B. Eddy’s 
No. 5 shading attached to rollers, so that it can he easily 
put on and easily taken off. This should be put on at ten to 
eleven o’clock in the morning, according to circumstances, 
and removed at half-past two to half-past three in the after¬ 
noon. As soon as gills appear at the base of the fruit they 
should be removed. 
In the matter of potting I may remark that the soil 
should only be sufficiently dry to prevent its adhering to the 
rammers. If the plants are infested with brown or white 
scale they should be well washed with softsoapy water and 
petroleum at the rate of two wine-glassfuls to the gallon of 
warm water, into which 8 ozs. of softsoap has been dissolved, 
as the petroleum is soluble in this, though it will be advis¬ 
able to stir the insecticide occasionally as the washing is 
proceeded with. Shade the plants so washed earlier than 
usual the following and two succeeding days in the event of 
bright sunshine ensuing, as the plants are then very suscep¬ 
tible to injury. — H. W. Waed, Longford Castle. 
GAEDENERS’ TORMENTORS. 
I WILL begin with personal tormentors first; acutely 
agonising, torturing plagues, and those are corns ! “ Oh, come, 
‘ H., Notts’ we don’t want a chiropodical article in the Journal 
of Horticulture; that’s too, too much; we cannot pass this.” Stay 
a bit, please Mr. Editor. If corns are not horticultural matters, 
are they not matters (and very serious matters too) to horti¬ 
culturists ? Have we not seen goed horticulturists hobbling 
about their gardens, treading as lightly, as gingerly as if they 
were walking on hot bricks, and every now and then, on a twist 
of the foot, or a touch of a pebble on the bottom of the foot or a 
stone at the side, putting their faces into horrible contortions ? 
Have we not seen this many a time P nay, have we not gone 
through the experience personally and pi-actically ? ‘‘ Oh, dear ! 
my corns ; they’re just as if they were red-hot to-day ; I’m sure 
something’s going to happen. There’ll be a change in the 
weather soon.” Are not these and such like the speeches we 
have heard from sufferers from these gardeners’ tormentors, 
corns P Shall we not notice them in the gardener’s own personal 
paper, the ./ozo-jictH/I say, Tes, we will; for they 
are important horticultural matters. They are hindrances to 
horticulture in that they impede the progress of the gardenei’S 
so tormented from doing the best they can in their work, and are 
therefore real stumbling blocks in the way of their success. Well, 
now, I have a remedy better than all the advertised corn cures 
that ever were lied about in the most glowing and praiseful 
advertisement. That remedy is aromatic vinegar. Let any 
gardener tormented with corns get from the chemist a small 
quantity of this, say three or sixpenny worth, and a small camel- 
hair brush, and every night before going to bed dress his corns 
with the aromatic vinegar, taking great care to put it only on the 
corn itself and the hard skin surrounding it. As the corn and 
skin is killed by the vinegar it must be peeled off by the thumb- 
