'November 19 1888. j 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
503 
PINES. —During the next two months it is likely the weather will be 
sunless with cold nights, which is not at all favourable to vegetation, 
yet in the cultivation of Pine plants rapid progress at this time of year 
is not advisable. It is better to rest content with a slow advance being 
made in a steady uninterrupted manner; hence the temperature should 
be lowered to its minimum in each department, which for the fruiting 
house should range from 65° to 70°, successional houses 60° to 65°, and 
for suckers 55° to G0°, allowing a rise of 5° to 10° from sun heat. The 
house containing the fruiting plants will need constant attention in 
sprinkling the pathways and moistening other surfaces in the house as 
they become dry. In airy houses the plants will need to be lightly 
syringed at least once if not twice a day. Examine the plants at inter¬ 
vals of not less than a week, and give tepid liquid manure abundantly 
to those which require it. Plants in fermenting beds do not, as a rule, 
require nearly so much water as those subjected to the heat arising from 
hot-water pipes ; but, notwithstanding, the plants must be looked over 
at least once a week. In succession houses and pits, where less heat is 
applied, a moderate and equable state of moisture should abound, and 
no more fire heat be employed than is absolutely indispensable, which, 
with covering over the lights at night, will in a great measure dispense 
with fire heat, and therefore should be employed whenever practicable. 
Take care that the plants have the full benefit of light in every division 
by keeping the glass clean. 
Vines. — Early Vines in Pots. —Pay attention to fermenting material 
in pits, which, as every pot is placed on a solid pedestal built from the 
bottom of the pit, will admit of frequent additions being made as the 
heat declines, the whole mass being turned without displacing the Vines, 
and root action will be all the steadier and less liable to be checked when 
the pots are only partially surrounded by the plunging material. Afford 
liquid manure whenever moisture is needed in a tepid state, and cease 
syringing the Vines after the bunches show, when the final disbuding 
should be made, leaving the most promising with a surplus for con¬ 
tingencies. Stop the growths a couple of joints beyond the show of 
fruit, laterals below the bunch at the first leaf, and those beyond may 
be allowed to extend as far as it can be done without crowding the 
principal foliage. Keep the temperature at 65° to 70° by day, 5° to 10° 
more from sun heat, and 60° to 65° at night, damping available surfaces 
two or three times a day. 
Early Forced Planted-out Vines. —AVhen the buds in the house 
that was closed about the middle of November show signs of swelling, 
give the inside border another supply of water in the case of vigorous 
young Vines, and liquid manure when they are old and require simulat¬ 
ing. This should be applied at a temperature of 80° or 90°, and if not 
already done some good fermenting leaves and stable litter laid in heaps or 
ridges on the borders will help the surface roots and give off a genial 
moisture to the atmosphere, reducing the necessity for hard firing and 
incessant syringing. Young Vines that have not been forced early will 
require bending down to a horizontal position to insure an even break 
down to the base, but old Vines may be tied to the trellis immediately 
they are pruned, and will usually break freely. 
Succession Houses. —Take advantage of unfavourable weather out¬ 
doors to get Vines pruned, always bearing in mind that early pruning 
conduces to a strong and even break when the time arrives for forcing. 
In dressing the Vines do not remove more than the loose bark, and 
wash with soap and water in preference to a composition which leaves a 
thick deposit. Thoroughly cleanse the glass with water, the woodwork 
with soap and water, and the walls with limewash. Remove the loose 
surface soil, and give fresh material; lumpy loam with a little charred 
refuse and steamed bonemeal, or some approved fertiliser, may be 
similarly employed. 
Late Houses. —The attention of growers has frequently been directed 
to the importance of starting the Vines and helping them forward with 
fire heat in the spring, as being safer and more economical than trusting 
to sun heat during the early part of the season and having to employ fire 
through the autumn to have the wood and fruit ripe, or apparently so, 
by November. In fine hot seasons it may answer well enough, but in 
a cold wet season the Vines hold the foliage until it is displaced or 
liberated by a rapid depression of temperature. This sudden check is 
not ripening, and the chances are that the Grapes, particularly such 
varieties as Mrs. Pince and even Lady Downe’s, do not retain their 
colour and freshness until the time arrives for cutting in January ; and 
when Grapes begin to shrivel on the Vines it is useless trying to keep 
them in the Grape room until May. This is given for the benefit of those 
who have not hitherto made a start sufficiently early to insure a 
satisfactory result in autumn. All Grapes intended for keeping fresh 
and plump for some months after they are cut should now be hanging on 
leafless Vines that had completed their season’s growth and ripening by 
the end of October. Where Vines are in this condition the Grapes will 
keep satisfactorily with the temperature falling as low as 40°, with just 
sufficient fire heat to dispel damp and protect them from frost ; but fire 
heat after the leaves fall must be sparingly applied, particularly to 
Muscats and thin-skinned varieties that soon begin shrivelling in a warm., 
dry atmosphere ; whilst in a stagnant moist one they are very liable to 
spot, and when that sets in all further chance of keeping the Grapes is 
gone. In damp weather, when the external air is charged with moisture, 
the house should be kept dry, cool, and close, and when the nights are 
clear and frosty light non-conducting material such as scrim canvas, or 
even fishing nets drawn over the roof, will prevent the radiation and 
economise the fire heat, whilst the subdued light is rather beneficial than 
otherwise to the Grapes, and certainly does no harm to the Vines. 
PLANT HOUSES. 
Chrysanthemums .—As the flowers fade cut down the plants within a 
foot or a few inches of the base, and stand them in a light airy structure to 
induce them to produce strong cuttings. Any plants that have pushed up 
weak growths from the base should have them removed, so that good cut¬ 
tings will be produced by the time they are wanted. The plants will need 
considerably less water, in fact only sufficient to keep the soil in a 
moderately moist condition. Plants for late flowering that are only just 
swelling their flower buds will be benefited by weak stimulants or arti¬ 
ficial manure applied to the surface of the soil. Keep these as cool a 3 
possible by admitting air freely by day as well as at night on all favour¬ 
able occasions. If aphides attack any of the plants fumigate lightly 
with tobacco. 
Roses .—Tea Roses that are outside with their pots unplunged should 
have the protection of a cool house or cold frames. All plants required 
for very early forcing, whether Tea varieties or Hybrid Perpetuals, 
should be pruned without delay. The unripe ends of such varieties as 
Gloire de Dijon may now with safety be removed, and the houses they 
occupy thoroughly cleaned. Keep all as cool as possible that are not 
required for forcing before the beginning of the year. If red spider or 
mildew exists upon the old foliage of the plants at pruning time remove 
the foliage—that is, from those with well-ripened wood that will be 
forced into bloom. If insect-infested foliage is left upon the plants 
until they have produced young growth it will soon be attacked, and 
red spider and mildew may prove a source of annoyance the whole 
season. From plants that will come naturally into flower the old 
foliage, if not infested, should not be removed for some weeks. 
The Forcing House .—It is a good plan where practicable to set a 
house apart for the purpose of forcing such plants as the varieties of 
Azalea indica, with the Ghent and Mollis type, Guelder Roses, Laurus- 
tinus, Rhododendrons, Lilacs, and similar plants. The plants start freely, 
almost naturally, if stood upon a bed of fermenting material. This 
should be principally composed of leaves that have been stored in a dry 
state. A little litter may with advantage be added, but this should not 
be too near the surface so as to interfere with plunging the pots. Be 
careful not to use too much litter, or a violent heat will be created 
which will do more harm than good by unduly exciting the plants. All 
that is needed is a gentle moist heat such as a bed of leaves is capable 
of yielding. The varieties of Azalea indica should not be plunged, but 
merely stood on the surface. The other plants will bear plunging with¬ 
out injury. Pot hardy shrubs for forcing, and arrange them with 
Deutzias, &c., in Peach houses and vineries as they are prepared for 
starting. The forcing house can then be supplied from these structures. 
The greatest success attends the forcing of these plants by starting 
them gently at first. 
Bulbs. —Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissus, as soon as they are green 
after removal from the plunging material and display signs of growth,may 
with advantage be stood amongst hardy shrubs in the forcing house- 
until they display signs of vigorous growth. They must then occupy a 
position close to the glass to prevent their foliage and flower spikes 
becoming drawn. Tulips will require brisk heat to bring them forward, 
and the pans or boxes in which they are grown may be plunged 
amongst the leaves. Our earliest Tulips are produced by plunging the 
pans containing them in close propagatingframes. A few Amaryllises may 
be introduced to the forcing house, these may be plunged as soon as 
the bed is ready for them. 
Lily of the Valley .—Early frosts sent these to rest sooner than usual,, 
and imported crowns are coming forward this year very freely. The 
best way of forcing these early is to lay the crowns closely together in 
cocoa-nut fibre refuse, covering the crowns an inch or more below the 
surface. They should be in close frames, where they can enjoy brisk 
bottom heat. This course is necessary for all that are needed up to the 
end of the year. After that time they will come forward freely enough 
in any warm moist structure. Spiraeas should be plunged in brisk bottom 
heat, if the flowers are required as early as possible. 
SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 
As we are approaching the close of another year we may take a 
glance backwards in the annals of bee-keeping—say for thirty years 
or more—and compare it with the present and last dozen years. In 
the first named epoch the same principles in the art of bee- 
husbandry as now practised were then advocated in these pages. 
