152 
Rustic Adornments. 
to be hardened somewhat before removal to the conservatory or outdoors, to 
be transferred from the higher to a lower temperature with less risk cf 
injury. 
The management of a greenhouse embraces such important phases of 
cultural routine as ventilation, watering, shading, heating, and expulsion of 
insect pests. With regard to the first, no definite rule can be laid down as 
to when this should begin. Generally speaking, however, air should be 
admitted to the heated greenhouse when the maximum temperature is reached, 
closing the ventilators again when the sun loses its chief power. In the case 
of unheated greenhouses, open the ventilators first thing in the morning and 
close them again in the evening. Of course, wet days and frosty weather 
are exceptions to this rule. In such cases air must be cautiously admitted. 
Water should be administered carefully in winter, but freely at other seasons. 
Shade, too, should be given in a similar manner to that advised for con¬ 
servatories. As to artificial heat, this should be used with caution. Keep the 
fire going steadily till the maximum heat is attained, then check or allow it 
to go out altogether until required again. Insect pests may be got rid of 
by fumigating with one of the many preparations of nicotine or tobacco in 
the market, by syringing with liquid insecticides, or by the application of 
tobacco powder or sulphur. 
The proper association of plants in houses is a matter of the utmost 
importance. A hot wall and long rafters may answer admirably for vines, 
but we shall not succeed in growing any great variety of flowering plants 
beneath them; yet it may happen that a few ferns, begonias, and even 
camellias, will thrive there if not too heavily shaded, especially as we can 
remove the camellias into the open air towards the end of the summer to 
finish their growth, and all winter and far into spring the vines will make no 
shade at all, or too little to be of any consequence. So again, hard-wooded and 
herbaceous plants do not generally thrive under the same roof with the same 
treatment, for the hard-wooded plants need abundance of light and air, and 
such herbaceous subjects as cinerarias and begonias need far less of both; 
yet much may be done by means of skill and care if the selection is judiciously 
made. Succulent plants are but little grown by amateurs, yet they have 
high claims to their attention, and will abundantly repay the genuine lover 
of plants who will take them in hand in earnest. Abundance of light is 
one of the first essentials of success in the management of these, and they 
must be dry in winter. But of all the plants that are grown for ornament, 
