Thomas Moore

“ If we figure to our minds, a plant which in its native habitat enjoys a climate far more genial, and a temperature far more elevated, than our own country affords, it must be obvious that some regulation, and increase of temperature, either positively, by the artificial application of heat, or negatively, by affording shelter and protection, will be required in order to ensure any degree of success in its cultivation. ”

“ I will preface the following remarks on the structures adapted for the growth of Cucumbers, by stating, that a forcing house, a pit, and a common frame, present the means of bringing this fruit to its perfection, equally, one with the other, provided that a course of cultivation suitable to the structure, is followed out; the comparative merits of each, depend not so much on the nature of the results which may be obtained by adopting them, as on the facilities they afford for the attainment of those results. ”

“ Growth, that is mere extension, may go on in proportion as heat and moisture are supplied to plants, but light is the agent to whose especial influence we owe the production of their active properties and secretions, and the perfection of their fruit. ”

“ A forcing house, whilst it secures all the advantages which are presented by a pit, combines with these, some important points which are peculiarly its own: by adopting a pit, we provide a structure of which Cucumbers manifest their approval, by thriving equally as well as in their more ancient location on a dung bed; but further than this, a pit enables us to dispense with much of the labour, and all the filth, and the uncertainty which are consequent on the use of fermenting manure as a means of keeping up the temperature in which they are grown. ”

“ In cultivating plants, therefore, we should administer the conditions which are favourable to their growth and development, in somewhat the same proportions each to the other, in which they are naturally blended—not supplying one essential, in an undue manner, and, at the same time, neglecting others; for successful cultivation must ever depend upon the connection and influence of numerous circumstances upon each other, and can never be attained, unless these conditions are complied with, either designedly, or, as it often happens, by mere accident. ”

“ It may be thought that the check arising from transplantation may do good, by preventing too great luxuriance of growth, and thereby tending to accelerate fruitfulness; but even if this result may be apparently produced by such means, it is surely far more natural to check the plants, by withholding a portion of food, rather than by mutilating the organs by which their food is conveyed to them, and then actually placing them in a position where food is still more abundantly supplied than before. ”

“ When cold air is admitted to any position where it can unite with caloric, and not in an equal ratio with moisture, it necessarily becomes arid, and in that state it eagerly combines with moisture in any form with which it can come in contact therewith; and consequently if cold air is admitted to a plant structure, where it can have the means of combining with heat, faster than with moisture, it would be brought into this arid state, and would supply its voracious appetite, by abstracting the juices of the plant. ”

“ It should rather be our object to adapt the plant to the climate of our country, since we cannot change the climate to supply the natural circumstances, with which the plant is favoured; and acting on this principle, we should never aim at supplying the agents which would induce a premature and therefore debilitated developement, when the whistling wind, and the drifting snow, tell us that Nature, would have, at least the members of her vegetable kingdom, be at rest. ”

“ It cannot indeed be assumed that plants will not continue to grow, unless they are supplied with an intense degree of light; but it is certain that the successful nature of their growth, their maturation, and their fructification, are dependent in no ordinary degree upon the nature and force of its action; for without it, the vital energies of animated beings are unable to maintain and perform the processes of elaboration, and assimilation, upon which their nutrition depends. ”

“ The advantages of warming and moistening the air thus admitted, are very important ones; for when either a cold or dry state, of the atmosphere prevails, its influence is very injurious to plants in these confined situations: cold raw air, when it comes in contact with the tender foliage of the plants, has the effect of chilling the sap in its progress through their tissue, and thus lessening their excitability, when it should be increased; whilst dry air acts as an incessant drain upon the vegetable juices, which it abstracts through the stomates and pores of the leaves and stems. ”

“ The science of Chemistry has taught us that the ingredients composing the soil, act on, and dissolve, and combine with each other in various ways, sometimes being simply dissolved and held in solution, and at other times, entering into new combinations, and forming new compounds; but in all cases, the natural agents, heat and moisture, are necessary to produce these results, and to present to the tender roots of plants, food [Pg 15] so duly prepared, as to be fit for their assimilation. ”

“ An abundance of food, a high temperature, and a deficiency of light, are just the conditions which are opposed to the developement of the floral organs in plants, and are inductive of mere barren extension: not that plants grow thus, because they delight in such a state of things, but because they are thereby unnaturally excited and compelled to do so, although that growth cannot under such circumstances, become properly matured ”

“ It is by means of the moisture of the soil, that the plants are enabled to grow on rapidly and vigorously, because that moisture renders the food contained in the soil, soluble, and therefore available to the roots; but the elaboration and assimilation of this food depends on the degree of light and heat with which they are supplied: without these conditions, to convert the crude sap, by their united agency, into organic compounds, such as lignin, gum, starch, and sugar, and to induce their deposition, the fruit will indeed be formed—it will grow, and perhaps may even tempt the eye ”

“ There is a liability of applying water in excess, when the particular stage of growth, the peculiar state of the weather, or the season of the year, are not duly regarded: thus, an adult plant will consume more water than an infant plant; and any plant, will decompose a larger quantity of water, in sunny weather, when evaporation is going on briskly, than in cloudy weather, when it is scarcely perceptible ”

“ Thus it is also, that cuttings of flowering plants generally, are far sooner in arriving at a blooming state, than seedling plants of the same species: flowers and fruit being formed only by the aid of the perfectly elaborated sap; which is taken up into the system, and assimilated in the plant, in proportion to the number of healthy and mature leaves, in a full state of action: during the younger stages of growth, the crude material imbibed from the soil, is only partially elaborated, and in this state, is only converted into food suitable and destined to increase the foliaceous organs ”

“ In the vegetable kingdom, heat and fight as derived from a united source, are the agents appointed to bring about these results, and in order to ensure their proper action, they must both be present in a powerful degree: in artificial schemes of culture, we can command a supply of the one, but the other is not within our power; our consistency therefore depends on our applying so much of the one under our controul, as will secure the united action of it, with the existing degree of the other—consequently, when light is absent, or deficient, heat should also be diminished ”

“ It should however be borne in mind, that charcoal, is a substance whose decomposition except under the influence of heat, proceeds very slowly indeed, and therefore its chemical influence must not be overrated: doubtless however, the small portion which does combine with the oxygen of the air, is directly beneficial to the plants; for it is a function of the vegetable kingdom by the action of their leaves, when under the influence of light, to decompose carbonic acid, the oxygen of which is liberated, and the carbon fixed in the living tissue. ”

“ When a moist atmosphere is duly and regularly maintained, there is but little fear need be entertained of the establishment of a colony of insects—such as the thrip, and the red spider, which are perhaps the greatest pests which have to be overcome in the forcing house; nor is there a more effectual method of destroying them, than by applying a high temperature in conjunction with an intense degree of moisture. ”

“ When these matters are all duly attended to, our climate, at least during the winter, still offers obstruction enough to our success, in its mists, and fogs, its long dark nights, and dismal cloudy days, and therefore wisdom would teach us, to avail ourselves of all which we can grasp, by a course of untiring assiduity, and attention to such apparently trifling matters as these. ”

“ If any noxious qualities exist in the atmosphere of structures, to which the external air has not free ingress, they must result from some neglect or ignorance on our part, in suffering extraneous and unwholesome matters to accumulate in such situations, and there to decompose, and enter into combination with those gaseous bodies, which form the volume of the internal atmosphere of our plant structures. ”

“ The necessity of applying water, of a temperature equal to that of the soil, is rendered evident by a reference to the natural conditions by which the soil is watered. In a small and nearly globular form, the water gathered up by the action of the sun, and forming the clouds above us, is precipitated through the atmosphere, and there its temperature becomes equalized or assimilated with that of the medium through which it has been passing ”

“ It is not because they cannot be induced to grow at any other period of the year, for the mere extension of vegetable tissue will go on, though the influence of the natural agents is but limited and feeble; but it is because maturity, perfect development, and, above all, the full assimilation of the sap, cannot take place sufficiently to ensure a good flavour in the fruit, except light and heat are not only unimpeded and constant, but powerful and united in their action. ”

“ The influence of the atmosphere is exerted beneficially, by its constituents entering into combinations with other matters, which are taken into the system by the roots, and spread out and exposed in the leaves: this exposure has so far the effect of altering the character of the substance carried up from the roots, that it is no longer a body of crude juice, but is undergoing a process of elaboration, and is being assimilated with the superincumbent tissue of the plant. ”

“ Neatness, convenience, certainty, and economy, are the principal points of advantage which are gained by the adoption of pits heated by means of hot water, over those of a structure, depending for its supply of heat, on the aid of fermenting masses; whilst the attainment of a still greater degree both of convenience, and of certainty, which may be secured by cultivation in forcing houses, point out at once the advantages which render such houses, preferable to pits. ”

“ It is probable that nitrogen might be supplied to plants, through the medium of the atmosphere in an artificial manner, by placing within any structure, a portion of some of the volatile salts of ammonia, which latter being given off, would at once supply the demands of vegetation. Carbon might be applied, by the use of charcoal; and it is worthy of experiment how far the combustion of charcoal, in plant structures, by accelerating the formation of carbonic acid gas, may have a beneficial influence on vegetation. ”

“ Plants absorb fluids through the extremities or spongioles of the roots, and it is thus that those portions of the substances which serve them as their food, and are derived from the soil, are carried into their system, in a state of solution: these spongioles are not strictly to be regarded as analogous to the mouths of animals, for they are not provided with openings, and cannot imbibe even the most impalpable powders; their action seems to be more analogous to that of the lacteals in animals, for these, as well as spongioles, serve to convey fluids only. ”

“ A very great objection to the use of dung when applied in a solid state in the composition of soils, consists, in its being presented to the roots of plants, not only in the advanced periods of their existence, but equally so, during the early stages of their growth ”

“ There are nevertheless some considerations which render the admission of air, when regulated and applied with discretion, an operation of importance to the health of [Pg 54] plants: it is productive of beneficial effects in carrying off the noxious vapours, which may although unseen, and guarded against, still float in the atmosphere; and there can be little doubt that another beneficial influence which it exercises, results from the motion which is produced by a body of air changing its position, which probably promotes circulation, and increases the excitability of the plants. ”

“ On the other hand, in dull weather, and at night, the source of light being in the one case absent, in the other obscured, a comparative state of lethargy or repose is prevalent, and the natural functions of vitality are but feeble in their action, if not in some cases, absolutely in a quiescent state; with such a state of things existing, it is barely rational to apply stimulants, and to induce unnatural excitement. The application of exciting and stimulating agents at such periods, may be compared in its effects to the excitement of a frightful dream acting on the human frame ”

“ There seems to be no reason why those particular gaseous bodies which plants appropriate to themselves from the atmosphere, should not to a great extent be supplied to [Pg 55] them artificially, at such periods as it may be necessary, or desirable, to accelerate their growth, and induce a more perfect and mature developement. It has been already stated, that the most important of these aeriform bodies, are nitrogen, which plants derive from ammonia; and carbon, which they derive from carbonic acid gas, on the liberation of the oxygen, which is one of its constituents ”

“ The admission of the external air, by the ordinary process of opening the sashes of forcing houses, has been said to be unnecessary, or at least by no means important, in so far as the function of vegetable respiration is concerned, because the buoyancy of the air within all such structures, would enable it to escape in sufficient quantity through their openings and crevices, to counterbalance any thing like deterioration, which might by any means result from the vital action of the plant. ”

“ Probably a few pieces of charcoal placed perpendicularly in the soil, and kept continually wet, by the action of some little capillary contrivance, would serve as the best possible means of conducting moisture, and distributing it to the roots of plants.
It will be observed that the application of dung, in any way whatever, has not been recommended; neither do I consider it to be at all requisite, or desirable, in the culture of winter Cucumbers: luxuriance is not a consummation which it is at all desirable to attain to, a moderate, well matured growth, being far preferable ”

“ The angle of elevation is not, as it is sometimes asserted to be, a point of indifference, though mathematical accuracy is certainly by no means required: in the annexed engraving, the angle of the roof is about 55°, this provides for the admission of the sun’s rays in the winter months, when his position is comparatively low in the horizon, to a much greater extent than could take place if a more ordinary slope were adopted. ”

“ In sunny weather, the natural agents which cause excitement and activity of the vital functions, are in full action; and consequently at such periods we may rationally indulge in the application of those exciting agents which are under our controul—always however bearing in mind, that we must not unduly apply one agent, when we either cannot, or neglect to apply the others also. ”

“ It is not enough to plant them in proper soil, and duly to water them, unless attention is also paid to the temperature, as well as the constituents of the atmosphere to which they are submitted; neither will attention to these latter points be sufficient to ensure success, if at the same time, the former are neglected. A soil of suitable chemical, as well as mechanical composition, a pure and wholesome atmosphere, water promptly and properly applied, and heat duly regulated, are conditions which equally require minute care and attention in their adaptation ”

“ From the changeable nature of our climate, there is some difficulty in apportioning the degree of applied heat, so as to suit exactly the requirements of the plants in these respects; and it is especially difficult to maintain with certainty the low degree of night temperature which would be desirable, and at the same time avoid risking the safety of the plants, through a sudden declension of the temperature of the exterior air. ”