Chapter 4

Cherries.--When they begin to change they will require free exposure to light, and abundance of air, to bring out their colour; and, at the same time, a diminution in the supply of water. Carefully examine all curled leaves, and destroy the grubs they contain. If the trees are very luxuriant, and are making strong foreright shoots, stop them to within a few buds of the main branch.

Figs.--Give the trees in pots some clear liquid manure when they are swelling off. Stop the shoots at about six or eight inches, and thin out any useless shoots. Syringe and water freely.

Melons.--Keep the vines thin, and stop regularly. Shade only in very hot weather. Water sparingly overhead. Plant out succession crops.

Peaches and Nectarines.--When the fruit in the early house has gone through the critical process of stoning, the final thinning should take place; the borders--if inside, or out, or both--should be copiously supplied with water; using liquid manure whenever a weak habit, from poor soil or over-exhaustion, shows it to be necessary. Syringings to be given twice a-day--early in the morning and at shutting-up time. The night temperature to be no more than 50 deg.; but during the day it may range to 85 deg., if accompanied with air in liberal quantities.

Pine Apples.--Lessen the moisture amongst the fruiting plants when they approach maturity. Shift and grow on the young stock in a moist atmosphere; admit air freely in fine weather; prepare beds, and turn out the plants, if preferred.

Strawberries.--They should be kept near the glass: temperature, 65 deg. to 70 deg. by day, and 55 deg. to 60 deg. by night; succession crops rather cooler. Reduce the water to those ripening. Support the stems, and thin the fruit where superior produce is wanted. Keep them clear of runners and decayed leaves, and give an abundance of air.

Vines.--Continue to thin the Grapes in the early houses: a few berries may require to be taken out of some of the bunches up to the time of their changing colour. Keep up a high temperature--about 75 deg. by day and 60 deg. by night: in later houses, where the bunches are in course of formation, it is a great object to bring them out well. In later houses, where the bunches are formed, or in bloom, let the heat be moderately increased, and admit an abundance of air at all favourable opportunities. Shift pot Vines often, and keep them near the light.

FOURTH WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

The plants that are introduced to the conservatory from the stove, forcing-pit, or any other such structures, merely for the blooming season, will require particular care to be taken in the application of water that they may not become sodden and diseased. Continue to stop, prune, or pinch back all rambling and luxuriant shoots in due time. Stir the surface of the bed in the conservatory, and apply fresh soil, to maintain the plants in good health.

Azaleas, Chinese.--Supply them liberally with water at their roots during their blooming season, and prevent damp and drip from injuring the bloom.

Calceolarias.--The herbaceous sorts that have been pushed along in a gentle heat will now be showing bloom, and will require to be grown in a cool, airy place, to prevent the flower-stems from being too much drawn. Keep down green fly. Shift on young stock, keeping the plants well down in the pots as they throw out fresh rootlets from the stem. Cuttings taken off now will root readily in a gentle bottom heat.

Camellias.--Apply shading the moment it is necessary, to protect the young leaves.

Fuchsias.--Grow them steadily on in a moist, warm temperature. Use the syringe freely. Stop any that have a tendency to be long-jointed, to produce uniform and bushy plants.

Heaths.--Admit air liberally to them, and such other hard-wooded plants that are now in bloom, or approaching that state.

Pelargoniums.--Shift on young plants. Any that are wanted for late blooming should now be stopped.

Rhododendrons, Hybrid Indian.--Treat as advised for _Azaleas_.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

Continue a kindly moistness amongst the Orchids, and slightly increase the temperature. Shade with tiffany, or close-meshed netting, in bright sunny weather; removing it early in the afternoon. Water liberally all that are making free growth. Repot any that may require it as soon as they have fairly commenced their growth. Continue to give liberal shifts to the free-growing young stock of stove plants, slightly shading for a few hours in hot weather, shutting up early in the afternoon, and producing a kindly humid atmosphere by damping the walls, floors, pots, &c.

Begonias.--Repot and propagate. This is one of the most useful tribe of plants that can be grown, both for the stove and the adornment of the conservatory.

Clerodendrons.--Encourage by a moist heat.

Climbers.--Keep them neatly tied up, and give them liberal supplies of water, if in pots.

Gardenias.--They delight in a close atmosphere; a pit with dung linings is most congenial to them.

Gesnera zebrina.--Pot bulbs for late flowering.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cherries.--Thin out the fruit where in large clusters; admit plenty of air at favourable opportunities, and never allow the trees in tubs, or pots, to become dry.

Figs.--The same as last week.

Peaches and Nectarines.--Keep the leading shoots regularly tied in, and pinch out the points of some of the stronger ones.

Pine Apples.--It is advisable to keep all that are starting, or have already started, into fruit, at one end of the house, or pit, that more air may be admitted to them than to the others more advanced, to produce a more robust growth, and to avoid the necessity of using stakes to support the fruit. Air to be admitted freely to the succession plants at every favourable opportunity.

Strawberries (in pots).--Where fruit are colouring, keep a rather dry atmosphere, with a liberal supply of air, in order to secure flavour. When the plants are in bloom, keep them near the glass, and the atmosphere dry, with a good supply of fresh air; but avoid currents of frosty air. Introduce succession plants under glass according to the demand. Do not expose those from which fruit has been picked to the open air till well hardened off. Give them the protection of a cold pit for a time, as they are invaluable in open-air plantations.

Vines.--Where the fruit is on the change to colouring admit air on every favourable opportunity, not forgetting to give it in the morning before the sun shines on the house, to prevent the condensed vapour, which would affect them injuriously, from settling on the bunches. Attend to stopping the laterals, thinning the young shoots, tying in leaders, &c., in the later houses. Remove the top dressing from the outside border, to allow the increasing power of the sun to act beneficially upon it.

MAY.

FIRST WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

Attend in due time to all plants that require potting into larger pots; and pinch off the tops of all that are of a rambling or loose habit of growth, to make them compact and bushy.

Azaleas.--As soon as they are out of bloom, take them into heat to make their growth, syringing them frequently and supplying them occasionally with manure water, and shade for a short time in the middle of the day when the sun is powerful.

Calceolarias.--Give them weak liquid manure occasionally, and shade those in bloom.

Cinerarias.--When done flowering, cut the stems down, to favour the development of suckers, and remove them to a cold pit or frame.

Climbers.--Keep all neatly trained.

Heaths and New Holland Plants.--The late-flowering sorts, or such as have already flowered, and the young stock intended for another season, may be removed to cold pits or frames. Such plants as require it must be shifted, stopped, and shaded; particular attention being paid that they do not get dry at the root.

Pelargoniums.--Shade such as are in flower; and shift and stop such as are wanted to flower late.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

Keep up a kind humidity and a gradual increase of temperature in correspondence with the increase of solar light, and shut up early in the afternoon with sun heat. Continue to propagate the choice stove plants, and keep all free from insects.

Achimenes.--Pot off.

Begonias.--Continue to repot as they go out of bloom, pruning in any straggling shoots, and propagate as advised last week. Keep them close, and syringe frequently, when they will soon commence growing. Keep them some distance apart, to allow their fine foliage to expand. The following are good sorts:--Prestoniensis, Cinnabarina, Fuchsioides, Martiana, Zebrina, Barkeri, Rubra, and Argyrostigma.

Gloxinias.--Repot where necessary.

Succulents.--Opuntias, Melocacti, and Epiphyllum, to be excited into vigorous growth by intense light and abundance of heat and moisture.

FORCING-HOUSE.

Cherries.--Temperature 65 deg. to 70 deg. by day and 50 deg. at night, and give plenty of air; but guard against wet and cold.

Figs.--Stop and thin the shoots. Keep a damp atmosphere, and use the syringe over the foliage, when the house, or pit, is shut up in the afternoon, to keep down red spider. When the fruit is ripening, the syringe must be dispensed with, and the atmosphere kept drier; but, as there is generally a succession of fruit on the trees, water must not be wholly withheld at the time of the first crop ripening, as it would endanger the succeeding one; but it may be given more sparingly.

Melons.--Stop and keep the shoots very thin. When the crop is safely set, give the soil a good soaking of clear, tepid manure water. Let swelling fruit be exposed as much as possible to the light.

Peaches.--Continue to stop all gross shoots, which will both increase the size of the fruit and the smaller shoots at the bottom of the tree. The syringe, when used frequently, is useful for the same purpose, and to keep down insects. Air and light to be admitted, to give flavour and colouring to the ripening fruit.

Pines.--The fruiting plants now swelling, and in pots, may be treated with a little clear liquid manure. Guano water, or soot water, or both combined, will produce a perceptible improvement in foliage and growth, with the caution that it be given in a warm, clear state, and not too strong. Ply the syringe freely on warm afternoons, and close up with a temperature of 85 deg. or 90 deg.; giving air again towards evening. When indications of ripening by changing colour appear, desist from the use of the syringe, and give them no further supplies at the root.

Strawberries.--When ripening their fruit they may be placed in a frame where a free admission of air can be given.

Vines.--Encourage the young stock intended for growing in pots next year, to make healthy, luxuriant growth, by giving them plenty of pot room and manure water, to set them in a light situation in some of the forcing-houses, and to pay early attention to the leaders as they advance in growth. Where Muscats are growing with Hamburghs and other such free-setting varieties, it is advisable to keep up a brisk day-temperature for the Muscats during their season of blooming, and until their berries are fairly set, with a reduction to a night-temperature of 65 deg. or 68 deg., to suit the other varieties.

SECOND WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

A free ventilation is of importance, and by closing with a humid atmosphere early in the evening a vigorous growth will be promoted. Liberal shifts to be given to such plants as may now require them, before their roots become matted. Remove all plants intended for bedding out, and let them remain for a short time under the protection of a cold frame, or in beds hooped over, and covered at night with mats, or other such protecting materials. This gradually-hardening-off will better enable them to withstand unfavourable weather, if it should occur after they are planted out.

Azaleas.--All irregularities of growth should be corrected by pruning. We have lately seen the beneficial effects of close pruning on such plants; they had been cut in severely last season by removing strong, straggling branches of old wood, to give some a spherical and others a pyramidal form. When pruned, the ball was reduced, the plant fresh potted in a smaller-sized pot, and the peat soil rammed as hard as it was possible to make it; then watered, and introduced to heat. The plants treated in that manner are now covered with bloom, and in a high state of vigour.

Heaths.--Keep the tops pinched off, to form bushy plants.

New Holland Plants.--Some of them of weak growth, and which naturally make long, straggling shoots, are much improved by bending down the branches, and fixing them to a wire hoop, or string attached to the rim of the pot. By such means the nakedness of the plant at its base is hidden, and the check imposed on the ascent of the sap will induce an increased supply of shoots. Pick off the seed-pods as the plants go out of bloom. Cut back and arrange the shoots in the best manner, to produce compact growth.

Pelargoniums.--All that are showing bloom, unless of very gross habit, will receive benefit from a supply of a little weak manure water. For that purpose put cow, horse, or sheepdung into a tub, and to one peck add five gallons of rain or other soft water. When taking it for use draw it off clear, and give the plants a watering twice a week. Give air freely, shut up early, and syringe the plants overhead till the flowers expand, when syringing should be discontinued. As the petals are apt to drop very soon in hot weather, it is recommended to touch the centre of the flower with a camel-hair pencil, or small feather, dipped in gum water, which will stick the petals together and prolong the blooming. Such is the general practice at our metropolitan exhibitions.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

As the stove plants grow, allow them more space, especially such plants as are prized for the beauty of their foliage. Give frequent attention to stopping and training. Look to the climbers frequently, to regulate their growth and to prevent entanglement, and a world of trouble and confusion. Put in cuttings of such plants as Brugmansias, Clerodendrons, Eranthemums, Erythrinas, Poinsettias, and those winter-flowering plants _Euphorbia jaquiniflora_ and the _Gesnera bulbosa_. Where there is only one house in which to grow Orchids, a compromise as to temperature must be made to suit the natives of the hot and moist valleys or shady woods of the East, and those which inhabit high and airy regions in the Western hemisphere. To accomplish this it is advisable to allow a free circulation of air during the early part of the day, with an abundance of atmospheric moisture, and to shut up early in the afternoon with a high degree of temperature.

Achimenes.--They delight in a moist heat, and a partially-shaded situation. More air to be given as they advance in growth. The shoots to be staked out neatly.

Gesneras to be treated similarly, with the addition of more light.

Gloxinias.--The same as _Achimenes_.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cherries.--Give more air, and keep a drier atmosphere when the fruit is ripening. Give plenty of water to the trees swelling their fruit. Keep them free from insects, or the fruit will be of little value.

Figs.--Air freely, to give flavour to the fruit now ripening. Avoid wetting the fruit when it begins to soften.

Melons.--Keep up the heat of the beds by renewing or turning the linings. Slightly shade the plants when the sun is powerful, to keep the foliage in a healthy state, without which good fruit cannot be produced. When the frames are at liberty, Melons may be grown in them with a little assistance from dung heat at bottom.

Peaches.--Give a liberal supply of air, with less water, to trees, the fruit of which are ripening.

Pines.--Continue the previous instructions in the management of the plants in the different stages of growth.

Vines.--Thin and stop the shoots, and thin the berries in good time. Attend to the late crops, and set, by hand, the blossoms of _Muscats_, _West's St. Peter's_, and other shy setters. Be sure that inside borders are properly supplied with water, giving sufficient quantities to thoroughly moisten the whole mass of soil.

THIRD WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

Attend carefully to the stock of plants for summer and autumn decoration, and do not allow them to suffer for want of pot room and water.

Azaleas.--Continue to encourage all that have flowered by timely potting, syringings, and applications of weak liquid manure.

Camellias.--Introduce a gradual declension of artificial heat amongst all that have completed their growth. A curtailment in the supply of water, giving merely sufficient to keep them from flagging, will induce the production of blossom-buds.

Epacris.--Repot with a pretty large shift the early-flowering sorts that have freely commenced their growth. Use good fibrous heath soil, rejecting any of a spongy or greasy nature. Such plants, for some time after being newly shifted, require particular attention in watering, that the soil may not become soddened. Let the plants be placed in a cold pit, and be slightly shaded during bright sunshine. The stopping or pinching out the points of strong shoots must be regularly attended to during their growing season, to establish a uniformity of sturdy growth.

Heaths and New Holland Plants.--All that have flowered, and have made their season's growth, may be removed to cold pits, or frames, to allow those that remain, and are promising to flower, more air, sun and light.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

Keep up a liberal supply of humidity, with ventilation, at favourable opportunities. The plants here should now be growing very freely, and should, therefore, receive frequent attention as to stopping, training, &c. Keep them properly accommodated with pot room, and allow them all the sunshine they will bear without scorching; also, allow them sufficient space for the development of their foliage. Plenty of moisture is now requisite to encourage a free growth in Orchids, to get their pseudo-bulbs firm, well nourished, and ripened in good time. Free ventilation in favourable weather and a slight shading in bright sunshine are also requisites for their healthy growth.

FORCING-HOUSES.

Cherries.--When the fruit is ripening, air to be given freely, even to the drawing the lights off completely in favourable weather. Fires may be discontinued altogether, unless the nights are very cold.

Figs.--Give them plenty of water in all their stages of growth; discontinue the use of the syringe during the ripening process. They frequently require attention in stopping all long young shoots.

Melons.--If there is a sufficient depth of soil for the plants, they will not require any large supplies of water after the fruit is swelling off; but it will be necessary to sprinkle the plants overhead, and to shut up early every fine afternoon with a good heat. Lay the fruit on a tile or piece of slate.

Peaches.--When the fruit is swelling off, or beginning to ripen, admit air freely in favourable weather, even to the drawing off the lights entirely, so as to admit a free circulation and the direct influence of the sun, by which flavour and colour are best attained. Continue to stop all very-luxuriant shoots, and thin out the young wood. Some persons lay in plenty of young wood to select from in winter pruning; but fruit-bearing wood, regularly disposed all over the tree, is best attained by the judicious and successive thinning of useless shoots during their growing season. Continue to tie in the shoots of the late houses.

Pineries.--When the repotting of the plants has recently taken place it will be necessary to shade for several hours, during bright sunshine, for a few days; but for the general stock shading should be dispensed with as much as possible--as short, stiff leaves and sturdy growth are best attained by judicious airings and humidity. Do not water much at the root immediately after repotting. Maintain a brisk bottom heat to the succession plants. Admit plenty of air during favourable weather.

Vineries.--As the fruit in the early houses become coloured, it is advisable to remove all superfluous or rambling shoots; but to retain and to preserve with the greatest care the principal leaves--as the good quality of the fruit and the healthy condition of the tree for the ensuing season will depend upon the number and healthy state of the principal leaves.

FOURTH WEEK.

GREENHOUSE AND CONSERVATORY.

As most plants here are now in active growth, they will require a liberal supply of water. If the sun shines very brightly, a slight shading would be of benefit for a few hours on very hot days.

Azaleas, Chinese.--When done blooming, they succeed best in a close pit, kept moderately moist and slightly shaded in the middle of the day. If they are too large for a pit, they will do well in a vinery, or in any other large house where they can stand at a distance from the glass without shading.

Balsams and Cockscombs.--Promote their growth by shifting them into larger pots, in rich soil, with an abundance of light near the glass, and heat.

Camellias to be treated as advised for _Azaleas_.

Geraniums.--If any remain after the flower-garden masses are furnished, they should be potted and treated with every attention as to watering, &c. When they have made fresh roots, and begin to grow freely, to be stopped, to make bushy plants. _Calceolarias_, _Fuchsias_, _Petunias_, _Verbenas_, &c., treated in a similar manner, will be useful as a reserve to succeed the greenhouse plants that are now in bloom, and to fill up vacancies as they occur in the beds and borders.

Heaths and New Holland Plants.--Many being now in full growth will require an abundance of water, more especially in bright weather. Many fine specimens are frequently lost through imperfect watering; for if the ball is once allowed to get thoroughly dry, all endeavours to restore the plant to health and vigour are generally unsuccessful.

STOVE AND ORCHID-HOUSE.

Ornamental stove plants--such as Brugmansias, Centradenias, Clerodendrons, Eranthemums, Euphorbias, Geissomerias, Gesneras, Justicias, Poinsettias, &c., to be supplied with clear liquid manure, and to have their rambling shoots stopped. Many of the free-growing plants will require shifting occasionally. The great object should be to get rapid growth when light abounds, and thus to secure luxuriant foliage at the right season, when there will be more time for the wood to be properly matured for winter. The syringings to be given early in the afternoon, that the plants may get dry before night.

Achimenes.--When grown in large seed-pans they produce a fine effect.

FORCING-HOUSE.

Cherries.--Give more air, and keep a drier atmosphere when the fruit is ripening. Give plenty of water to the trees now swelling their fruit. Syringe frequently, and keep the foliage and fruit free from insects.

Chrysanthemums.--Pot off as soon as rooted. If not already struck, the cuttings should be put in at once.

Cucumbers.--Stop them, and water freely. All that are intended for ridges, if hardened off, should now be planted out. See that the ball of earth is well soaked with water before planting.

Figs.--Give them plenty of air during the day in fine weather, with abundance of water. Use the syringe freely, except when fruit is ripening.