98 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COD NTRY GENTLEMAN, November 16, 1858. 
riglit aud left of the trophy, were hung up tablets, with the 
names of the three divisions of our army which fought 
at Inkermau, the commanders who headed them, and the 
regiments who supplied the men. I was pleased to see 
they left the Inkerman trophy, and its accompaniments, 
for our people to see it, as—whatever may be said for 
or against wars—it is but right that those of our troops 
who went through those hardships should be remembered 
by us at home. D. Beaton. 
PIT FOB FORCING, AND STOVE PLANTS. 
“ I expect by the end of next month to have finished a small 
pit for forcing,—with top and bottom heat,—and shall be very J 
much obliged to you, if you will kindly give me some hints as to 1 
its general management; and how, at tins late season, to turn it 
to the best advantage. My object is, to have plants in bloom 
during the winter, rather than forced vegetables. The pit is 
about twenty-four feet long, and ten feet wide, with a broad shelf 
in front, and a bed with bottom heat running nearly the whole 
length at the back. 
“ I have to trust to my own efforts, as my gardener knows 
little or nothing about its management. I am willing to buy 
some good stove plants, if you will direct me which will best 
answer my purpose. I have got some nice healthy plants of 
Cinerarias, Primula sinensis, and a few Roses in pots,—what 
course must I take with them, to have a succession ? I also 
wish to have some Azaleas, Pinks, Lilies of the Valley, Deutzia 
gracilis, and Cytisus Gardenia. 
“ There is a shelf at the back of the pit for Strawberries, but 
I fear it is too late to do anything with them at this season.”— 
H. H. 
I have read over your letter carefully, and, considering 
that you have a greenhouse, or something of that sort, or 
that you wish, besides growing a few stove plants, to 
force others, either for a greenhouse or window, the first 
thing desirable to be done, is, to divide your house or pit, 
either by a fixed or moveable partition, so as to make 
two places of it instead of one. That division may be a 
permanent one of glass, with a door in the pathway, or it 
may be formed of stout glazed calico. I recommend this in 
order that you may have the proper conditions for plants 
constantly requiring rather high temperature ; and also, 
that in the case of the plants you wish to force you may be 
able to bring them on gradually, by giving more air to a 
certain part, even though the same amount of heating 
medium passes through it all. Two great errors exist 
with young beginners on this subject. The first is, that 
mere heat is sufficient to bring a plant into bloom. If 
heat is applied suddenly, and not by degrees, the 
bloom-buds will often either drop or become what is 
called blind, from the mere wood-buds growing on, and 
leave the flower-buds to perish, or remain unstarted, 
because the change was too sudden. For instance, 
suppose you kept the average heat of this pit from 60° to 
05°, with a rise from sunshine, and you at once brought 
Bose plants or Pinks from a temperature of 40°, and 1 
placed them in such a house in the beginning of No¬ 
vember, I woidd not give much for your Boses or Pinks. 
But, suppose that you had two divisions,—say, two 
lights set apart,— by merely letting in more air, you 
could give such plants a top temperature of 45° for a few 
days, then increase it to 50°, and a few degrees more at 
the roots, by plunging the pot; then, in ten days, you could 
raise it gradually to 55°, whilst the roots would be 5° or 8° 
more ; aud then, if you thought proper, you could move 
the plant into the division appropriated to stove plants. 
The second error is, to suppose that when hardy plants 
are brought into bloom by an increased temperature, that 
they will long retain their bloom in such circumstances. 
As soon as the blooms open, the plants must just be 
gradually hardened off, until they are brought into an 
average temperature of 50°, or thereabouts ; and this 
hardening process is easily effected, by making one part : 
of your pit a sort of transition department. 
These remarks are perhaps rendered more necessary 
by the mixture which you seem desirous to combine- 
The above remarks refer to Azaleas, Deutzias, and 
Cytisus ; but the common varieties of the latter will not 
stand much artificial heat above 55° without suffering, 
unless there is abundance of fresh air. Your nice plants 
of Primulas will stand 55° comfortably; but if much 
beyond that, without abundant air, the plants will become 
drawn, and the flowers of a pale colour. Therefore, they 
will not like being much in the hottest part of your stove. 
Your fine plants of Cinerarias would also be ruined in 
your stove forcing-house, unless kept at the cool end, 
with plenty of air about them. This tribe can scarcely 
be persuaded to thrive in our summers, unless in a cool, 
shady place. In a temperature of from 45° to 50°, if kept 
when forwarding them in the winter months, or you will 
have vigorous health exchanged for myriads of green fly 
and other evils. Therefore, a few at a time might be for¬ 
warded in your transition department, before going to 
the parlour, or greenhouse; but much heat will defeat 
your purpose. 
The whole lot of Dutch bulbs would suit your purpose 
admirably,—Hyacinths, Tulips, Jonquils, and Narcissi. 
In their case, the great thing is, to pot them as soon as 
you can,—one Hyacinth, one Narcissus, three Tulips, and 
three Jonquils, in a four-inch pot, supplied with rich, 
sandy loam. Put them in a cool place, protected from 
extra wet, and secured from frost, until the pots are 
crammed with roots, which will generally be the case 
before the flower-bud has pushed much. Then plunge 
the pots in your transition bed : in ten days remove them 
to the hottest end; and when the bloom is opening move 
them back again, and harden by degrees. Much in¬ 
formation on these matters will be found in previous 
volumes. 
The Lily of the Yalley should be treated something 
like these bulbs. Take up the roots carefully. Select 
those with the plumpest buds; put them into rich loam, 
in six-inch pots, as many buds as you can well cram, and 
with all the roots possible belonging to them; water 
well, to settle ; and at once plunge the pot into your bed, 
—partly at first, to give the roots a temperature of 55° or 
so ; and in a few days plunge it deeper, so as to give 65° 
or more; while the buds at the surface should be suffi¬ 
ciently exposed to keep the temperature about them not 
above 50°, until the pots are filled with fresh roots. Then 
move the pots, or increase the heat where they are to 60°, 
or even a little more ; give plenty of water, to cause the 
flower-stems to elongate freely ; and when the blooms 
begin to open nicely, again slightly lessen the tempera¬ 
ture, by degrees. 
One of the easiest things to force in winter is the 
Dielytra spectabilis but it loses colour, and gets weak 
and straggling, if kept long in heat. 
Keeping in view that winter flowers are your chief 
object in this wide pit, I would instance the following 
stove plants as likely to suit your purpose, remembering 
that the temperature will not be often below 60° in 
winter :— 
Climbers .—Comhretum purpuremn, or paniculatum .— 
Place it at the warmest end. When necessary, shift into 
turfy peat and loam. Let it be well drained, aud, when 
large enough, placed in a large pot, in similar material, 
kept open with pieces of charcoal mixed with the soil, 
and the pot at least half plunged in the bed. When the 
large panicles of bloom fade, prune back, recollecting 
that the summer-made shoots bloom in autumn and 
winter. Give but little water when the plant is not 
growing much. 
Dignonia venusta. —Treat iu much the same way. It 
requires nearly as much heat as the Combretum, and to 
be well pruned back when it has done flowering. 
Passijioraprinceps. —Produces its blooms in clusters, 
and almost constantly in bloom. 
