266 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
the last week in August or the first week in September, and if placed in a 
greenhouse along with other cutting-pots, no plant that I know is more easily 
struck or wintered than the Tomato. 
As soon as forcing is commenced, which is about the 1st of February, I pot 
off the plants into 48-pots, and grow them on ; at the same time their tops are 
taken off to make some more cuttings, which, if placed in a house or pit with 
a temperature of 50° or 60°, will soon make nice plants to succeed those struck 
in autumn. The latter I shift on from 48’s to 24’s, using plenty of rotten dung 
and road sand, and as soon as the plants have filled the 24-pots with roots I 
shift into No. 1-sized pots, using about 2 inches of turf for drainage and the 
same soil as that employed for the last shift, potting them as firmly as possible. 
I set the pots on the flue in the forcing-house, and train the plants to wires or 
stakes as most convenient. After the plants have filled their pots with roots, 
growth will be very much strengthened by watering twice or thrice a-week 
with liquid manure, as the Tomato is a very gross feeder. At the same time 
they may have a mulching of about 3 inches of rotten dung placed over the 
soil in the pots, which keeps the roots cool and moist. 
By the above mode of cultivation I have been able to keep the family pretty 
well supplied throughout the summer, as well as during the spring months ; but 
of the plants upon the open walls scarcely any ripened fruit, for they suffered 
from disease worse than the Potato, and this is not surprising considering how f 
much more the Tomato is exposed to the atmosphere than the tuber of the 
Potato, which is under ground. 
In 1865 I ripened a large quantity of fruit in the open air on a south border 
by training the plants to stakes 5 feet from the wall, and as soon as they 
reached the top of the stakes, which were 3 feet above the ground, I began to 
cut away some of the small fruit as well as a portion of the leaves. In whatever 
way the Tomato is grown, success in a great measure depends on the thinning 
of the fruit and foliage, so as to admit both the sun and air to the fruit 
to colour it. 
Elsenham Hall Gardens. William Plester. 
ON THE SEEDING OF CONIFERS.—No. 3. 
PlNUS INSIGNIS, PATULA, AND PSEUDO-STROBUS. 
Pin us insignis is one of the most lovely and distinct free-growing Pinuses, 
and has beautiful deep grass-green leaves. Its leading shoots here make a 
growth of from 2 to 4 feet in length in a season, and the tree is branched to 
the ground. The cones are produced in clusters of from two to six, and adhere 
closely to the wood. They are large, heavy, from 4 to 6 inches long, broadest 
a little below the middle, of a light brown colour, smooth, and shining. 
Squirrels do them very little injury. The seeds take four years to ripen, 
counting from the first appearance of the cones. 
For many years Pinus insignis has produced cones and seeds at this place, 
and there are specimens from 3 feet to 80 feet high. Many raised from seed 
of our own saving are 30 feet or more in height, and have also produced cones 
for several years. The wood with us is very full of turpentine. There is one 
fine tree here with a stem 11 feet in circumference at 4 feet from the ground. 
This will give some idea of the growth made in the few years which have 
elapsed since Douglas first introduced the seed into this country. 
Pinus patula is a very graceful, handsome tree. The wood is smooth, 
shining, lead-coloured, and the leaves are long, of a beautiful shining bright 
green, and have a remarkably fine appearance, especially when the sun plays 
