378 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, MabCH 22, 1859. 
wet autumn, the leaving too much wood on the trees, 
and commencing to force in the beginning of Novem¬ 
ber—rather too early Tinder the circumstances. I hare 
noticed (lie same evil under different circumstances; 
and, perhaps, some of these may meet your case. 
The next time I was invited to notice such a defect, the 
gardener rightly attributed the evil to his slap-dash attempt 
at forcing, shutting up his house, keeping it rather dry, 
and giving it at once a night temperature, rather above 
60°. The buds swelled and broke weakly. The whole- 
trees betokened distress ; even the petals of the flowers 
looked flimsy; and, in the hurry and scurry of such 
a steeple-cliase, the most important parts never fairly had 
a fair starting point. All forcing should proceed by 
gradual and easy changes. 
The next time I noticed this defect, the trees had 
been forced pretty early the previous season, disbud¬ 
ding properly attended to, the wood well thinned and 
ripened almost by the commencement of autumn. The 
autumn was a very dry one,— a variety of other matters 
led to the comparative neglect of the Peach-house,- the 
soil got extra dried; the trees were all planted,and had 
their roots inside the house; and the sashes, being merely 
slid and not removed, prevented even heavy dews and 
light rains from getting to the trees. The gardener, with¬ 
out closely watching the matter, was in high ecslacies at 
fhe leaves dropping so early ; believing it to be owing to 
early maturation, when, in fact, it was partly owing to 
want of liquid support. When the trees were prepared 
for forcing, it struck him tho borders were extra dry, and 
orders were given for a good watering. The watering 
was given by a regular sprinkler, vko. standing bolt up¬ 
right, went over the ground several times with the rose 
of a watering pot; his mind, if engaged at all, being 
wholly taken up with the varied curves each drop of water 
presented as it passed from the rose of the pot to the 
ground. This all came out afterwards. Meantime, the 
worthy gardener saw the surface was damp and puddled 
enough ; and, like many of us in other eases, was de¬ 
ceived by appearances. Forcing was commenced in the 
usual proper and successful way; but the buds did not 
break kindly—they seemed as if they had been extra 
hardened and ripened—and patience was brought into 
requisition. But, as the heat was gradually increased, a 
good part of the fruit-buds dropped altogether from their 
sockets ; and a great many of those that did open were 
defective in the parts of fructification. The roots were 
at last thought of. The gardener, with a Parks’ light 
fork, commenced turning up the soil, and, O horror! 
beyond two inches from the surface, as respects moisture, 
the roots might as well have been iu the dry sands of the 
Sahara. Need we wonder that that gardener ever since 
looks after tho wielder of the water-pail, and considers 
that dryness in the autumn, for the purpose of ripening 
of wood, may even be carried to an excess. 
Note here in passing, that that surface sprinkling not 
only was deceptive, but, in reality, instead of doing any 
good, did great and absolute barm. I have had the 
surface of a border so concreted, for years, that no rains 
could pass directly into it; and yet, when that surface 
was broken, the ground beneath it was found moist 
enough. The sun, beating on that hard surfnee, so heated 
it, that moisture was drawn from the ground surrounding 
it, and freely exposed to the atmosphere and its rains. 
In like manner, when the surface of tho ground is dry, 
and the heat of the sun, or any heat, acting on the 
surface, continues to dry it to a greater depth, plants 
growing in it will often seem wholly unharmed—nay, 
to rejoice in it rather than otherwise; because, the 
greater the depth to which the drying heat penetrates, 
the greater will be the supply of moist vapour that w ill 
be raised from st-il'l greater depths, aud which will ho 
artly absorbed by the roots of plants as it passes them, 
o long as the surface is dry and warm, this pumping-up 
of moisture will continue, just as long as there is any 
within reach, to come. This, it will he seen, will open up 
the whole question of deep pulverisation for vigorous 
crops. But merely moisten the surface of the ground, 
and you stop at once this moisture rising from beneath. 
That will only be resumed -when the wetted surface 
has become as dry as before. Few of the Peach roots 
would he benefited by this inch and a half of surface- 
watering. All roots beneath that depth were placed in a 
comparatively torpid state, as respects moisture ; unless, 
instinctively, they struck much deeper down in search of 
it. Fntil the surface-moisture was evaporated, no moisture 
could rise to assist them from beneath. I have noticed 
vigorous-growing vegetables standing the sun well in 
hot, dry weather. A warm sunny shower comes and 
refreshes the foliage, and, rising from the hot ground, 
places them in an atmosphere saturated with moisture, 
and everything looks as promising as could he. But what 
at one time used to surprise me greatly, was the fact that 
frequently, in a day or two after this refreshing shower, 
the same plants would flag before the force of the sun s 
rays, and, in a day or two more, without receiving any 
watering, would hold up their heads as briskly as ever. 
The slight shower arrested the rising of moisture from 
beneath. When that shower was all thoroughly evapo¬ 
rated, then the former capillary hydraulic action of the 
pumping-up moisture was commenced. Hence, surface 
waterings are chiefly Tiseful for refreshing foliage, and 
lessening evaporation from them. Hence, too, all arti¬ 
ficial waterings, unless for the above purposes, that do not 
reach the great hulk of the roots, are worse than useless. 
“ A great part of my young fruit has dropped. The 
leaves looked as if they were scalded. I kept up a good 
heat at night, from 65° to 70°; aud, as the weather was 
very cold and stormy, gave little air, though the sun was 
very hot at times. Could extra heat effect the disappoint¬ 
ment ? ” 
No doubt of it. Heat ruins more Peach-houses than 
cold. Sec what they will frequently stand on an open 
wall uninjured. From 55° to (50° is quite high enough 
for Peaches at any time at night. From 80° to 85° is hot 
enough in bright sunshine. In very hot weather, they 
will stand a higher temperature than that, if air have been 
given early, and the heat is the result of the rays of the 
sun, and not greatly, if at all, assisted from the furnace. 
In frosty weather, 55° will be quite enough at night, and 
they will take no harm w ith less. If the air is cold and 
frosty during the day, prefer giving a little air early, if 
the sun is likely to be strong; and put out the fire, or 
lock tho stoke-hole door. Sun beat is flic best every 
way—why not use it when it can be obtained, and dis¬ 
pense with coal heat as much as possible P It is when 
10 th heats are extreme, and air-giving is too long 
delayed, that such casualties as those you speak of conic 
as a matter of course. Here is an instance : a cold frosty 
night; heat kept up from 60° to 65°; a kocn, frosty, clear 
morning; fires rattled up; pipes made so hot that the hand 
can scarcely touch them ; the sun strikes forcibly on tho 
bouse by eight or nine o’clock; the thermometer rises 
rapidly. You have heard of the evil of lotting in great 
volumes of cold, dry air, and the heat increases fast; then 
jerk down go the sashes, when tbe roasting and the 
cooling rapidly have managed to do the injury. 
Suppose we look at the matter with ordinary common 
sense. Imagine that either yourself, or the important per¬ 
sonage who docs the stoking for you, possesses the ability 
to wield tho fire shovel with judgment and economy, 
which, simple though it may seem, is a difficulty that is 
never surmounted by some clever people. Suppose that 
that young active fellow has more of thought and of mind 
in him, than just to see the necessity of setting a brisk 
fire going this morning, as a work of routine, because 
he set one going the day before, when it was really 
wanted ; and that, after going into his house, seeing the 
thermometer near 60°, and feeling the pipes and flue, and 
still perceiving them a little warm—just comfortable, and 
