194 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 28, 1895. 
places his hand on the tire of a waggon is safe to leave a frizzling 
shred or two of skin behind him. 
The action of the cold on the human body is not less remarkable, 
and the man who would provide adequately against it has to carry quite 
a little wardrobe on his person, including, besides the other usual require¬ 
ments of dress, two pairs of trousers, two pairs of mitts, heavy felt wool- 
packs coming up to the knee, and lined cloth shoes over these again ; 
fur cap drawing over the ears, and heavy overcoat of buffalo or other 
warm fur, A silk handkerchief tied across the mouth and nose is an 
admirable protection for these members. 
A neglect of any of the above precautions is apt to entail the penalty 
of frozen feet, fingers, ears, or nose, as the case may be. Frost-bite 
announces itself by a momentary stinging sensation Lke that of a fine 
red-hot needle. If the warning is unnoticed the affected part becomes 
white ; the pain has gone, and you may proceed without knowing that 
anything is wrong until happily someone comes the other way and spies 
the danger signal. Nature’s remedy is always close at hand—a handful 
of snow—and with this the injured part is vigorously rubbed. By this 
means the frost is drawn out, and the affected member, restored to more 
than its usual colour and twice its natural size, may still look forward to 
days of usefulness. Still better than snow for extracting frost is kerosene 
or coal oil. Frost-bitten feet, when placed in a pan of cold wa er, will 
send up a skim of ice to the surface. On no account should heat be 
applied, as its effect is to drive the frost in instead of drawing it out, 
and if the frost strikes into the bone the consequences are serious. 
Strange as it may seem, the period of intensest cold is not that 
associate! with the greatest loss of life. As the thermometer falls the 
wind falls, till at 30° or 10° below zero there is usually a dead calm ; 
consequently during December and January there is little to fear for 
the most part but the odd chance of a frost-bite, and a person warmly 
clad can go about freely anywhere. February and March, with a rising 
thermometer, are the chosen months of the dreaded blizzard, when the 
wind rises to a tornado, and snow from sky and ground are mingled in 
one seething boiling mass. The blizzard attains its greatest violence 
further south—in South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota—where men have 
been known to lose their way between the house and the barn, and 
their frozen bodies have been discovered after the storm only a few 
hundred yards from their own dwelling. In such places it is usual on 
the approach of a blizzard to have a line stretched from the house to 
the barn, along which one may feel his way through the dense thick¬ 
ness of the storm. By this means stock can be attended to in any 
weather absolutely without risk. 
The foregoing are only a few familiar illustrations of a North 
Dakota winter; but the record, meagre as it is, may seem strange 
enough when we consider that North Dakota is in pretty nearly the 
same latitude as the middle of France. And yet there are compensations 
here as elsewhere — wonderful evidence of adaptation to the most 
beneficent purposes. The frost stored up during the winter yields to 
the growing plant a supply of moisture and coolness that carry it safely 
through the drought of summer, when otherwise it would droop and die. 
The hardy farmer of the North-West is far from grumbling at the length 
or severity of the winters, for they have helped to make it the greatest 
Wheat-growing centre of the world—the home of the famous “ No. 1 
Hard.”—A Dakotan (in the Pall Mall Gazette'). 
WOKHfo^ItheWEEK.. 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Pines. — Plants Starting into Fruit. —The plants of Queens, Enville, 
and Providence, selected last December and started at the new year by 
an advanced temperature and increase of moisture, will now be showing 
fruit sturdily, providing they have a position well up to the light, with just 
6ufl!cient space for developing the fruit and crown without touching the 
glass. As it is advisable to accelerate the ripening of the fruit of these 
plants as much as possible the temperature may be maintained at 65° to 
70° at night and 75° to 80° in the daytime under favourable circum¬ 
stances, ventilating at 80°, allowing an advance to 85° and closing at 
about that temperature, utilising the sun heat as much as possible, but not 
by keeping the house very close and moist in the early part of the day. 
The plants will require more water at the roots as they advance in fruit 
development; therefore examine the soil once a week, affording a supply 
to such as need it, always thoroughly moistening the compost and having 
the liquid tepid with some stimulant in it, as that of guano, 1 lb. to 
20 gallons of water. The guano contains salts that tend to promote a 
sturdy development of the fruit without unduly forcing leaf formation ; 
but where the foliage has a tendency to softness a teaspoonful of 
common salt may be dissolved in every 3 gallons of liquid used for 
watering, not using this oftener than every fortnight. The plants that 
were started about the middle of this month to follow those above named 
should have a night temperature of 65°, and 70° to 75° by day artificially, 
ventilating from 80° and freely at 85°, 
Starting Sueliers. —The starting of these will have to be commenced 
early in March, hence attention must be given to the preparation of the 
soil for potting and a fermenting bed in some suitable structure, sucb 
as a low house or pit that can be kept close and shaded, to generate and 
maintain a bottom heat of 85° to 90° near the surface, and with means 
of maintaining a top heat of 55° to 65° by artificial means with 
regularity. 
Vines. — Early Forced in Pots. —Though Vines force well in pots there 
is no question that the best results are obtained from planted-out Vines, 
not necessarily those in large structure?, but such as may be grown in 
low three-quarters span-roofed houses facing south, and with beds only 
slightly deeper than those for Cucumbers, Melons, or Tomatoei. Muscats, 
such as Madresfield Court, succeed admirably grown in that way, also 
Muscat of Alexandria when there is means of furnishing bottom heat, 
which is a great aid in all forcing operations. Black Hamburgh and 
Buckland Sweetwater do better with than without the bottom heat, 
and on the planted-out than on the potted system. If the roots on this 
method cannot have the run of the fermenting bed place strips of zinc 
3 or 4 inches deep round the top of the pots, inserting them just within 
the rim, and top-dress with rich turfy loam two parts, and one part 
decayed manure, on which may be sprinkled a tablespoonful to each pot 
of some approved fertiliser about every fortnight. Where the pots are 
plunged to the rims in the fermenting material, strips of turf may be 
laid over the rims so as to form the necessary dish, keeping the turves 
moist to encourage the roots to come over and spread in the fermenting 
bed, from which they will imbibe nutrient matter, greatly aiding the 
swelling of the berries. Supply liquid manure to the Vines at every 
Watering, not keeping the soil sodden, but allowing it to become fairly 
dry, then afford, a thorough supply. The berries swell best with a fair 
amount of lateral extension, especially above the fruit; therefore laterals 
below the bunches may be rubbed off or closely pinched as thefe is room, 
always allowing the light to act freely on the principal leaves. Care¬ 
ful treatment is required during the stoning process, which in the 
earliest started is nearly completed, ventilating at 70°, increasing it 
with sun heat to 85°, and close between that and 80°, if with an advance 
to 85° or 90°, so as to secure a long day’s work, all the better. Keep a 
sharp look out for red spider, and sponge the first infested parts of the 
leaves with a weak (2 ozs. to a gallon of water) solution of softsoap, 
supplying guano water to the roots, and sprinkling the paths occasion¬ 
ally with it, but using it discreetly, a gallon at a strength of 1 oz. guano 
therein being sufficient for 12 square yards of surface. The paths,, 
walls, and beds may be sprinkled two or three times a day with water, 
so as to maintain a genial condition of the atmosphere. In had cases 
the hot-water pipes may be lightly coated with a thin cream formed of 
flowers of sulphur and skim milk, but there is danger of the fumes 
injuriously affecting the skin of the berries. 
Early Forced Planted Out Vines. — Those started early in 
December will require the berries thinning, attention being given to 
this directly it can be seen which berries are properly fertilised by their 
taking the lead in swelling. Remove badly set and ill-shapen clusters, 
striving to secure a crop of compact, good shaped, well-furnished 
bunches, properly swelled berries, and perfect in colour and finish. 
Such only are satisfactory either for home use or marketing purposes. 
Allow laterals to extend beyond the fruit where there is room for 
the exposure of the foliage to light, but in no case must growth be 
encouraged to the prejudice of the principal leaves. Attend frequently 
to stopping, for the alternating checks to root action, consequent on 
removing large amounts of growths, nullify the accelerations of their 
formation, and are attended by bad consequences to both foliage and 
fruit. Maintain anight temperature of 60° to 65°, and 70° to 75° % day, 
advancing 10° to 15° from sun heat, commencing to ventilate from 70°, 
keeping through the day at 80° to 85° when the external conditions 
are favourable, closing between those temperatures, damping at the 
time. Afford thorough supplies of liquid manure to inside borders at 
such intervals as necessary for keeping the soil in a moist, healthy 
condition, supplying the liquid after moistening the soil with tepid 
water, or top-dress with chemical manure, and wash in. In the case 
of borders of open material or limited areas, mulch the border with 
about a couple of inches thickness of sweetened, short stable manure, 
material prepared as for Mushroom beds acting perfectly. If quite 
fresh there is danger of the ammonia evolved prejudicially affecting 
the foliage. Avoid syringing the Grapes, as however clear and soft the 
water may be there is danger of a sediment, which may not appear 
until the fruit ripens, and then it is a great blemish on an otherwise well- 
finished crop. 
Vines Started at the New Year. —Attend to disbudding the Vines as 
the best shows can be determined, but it is wise to let this be plain, as 
any scrutiny of the points of the shoots by forcible means more or less 
damages the growth. It is also desirable to let the shoots grow up to 
the light, always attending to tying in time to prevent the points 
touching the glass, and in bringing down be careful not to snap the 
growth off at the base, or cause it to break at the point by too abrupt 
depression. Allow no more growth to remain than can have full 
exposure to the light, not only for the principal leaves, but a fair amount 
of lateral growth. Stopping is be;t attended to whilst the growths are 
forming, the leaf at the stopping joint being about the size of a half¬ 
penny. Allow at least two, and if possible three or four, joints beyond 
the bunch, stopping all laterals below the fruit at the first joint, or they 
may be rubbed off except from the two lowest leaves. The laterals from 
these should be pinched at the first leaf, and any subsequent growths 
from them pinch at every leaf ; but those on a level with or above the 
bunch may be allowed to extend as space permits, always stopping early 
enough for securing subsequent growth and with space for its develop- 
