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THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[August i, 1884 



thing may be illustrated by making a pin-hole in a door 

 and allowing the direct rays of the sun coming through 

 it to be received on a sheet of paper behind the pin-hole. 

 By moving the paper from the door it will be seen that 

 the picture of the pin-hole enlarges in diameter as it re- 

 cedes from the hole. The reason, of course, is that the 

 disc of the sun being larger than the hole the rays pro- 

 ceeding from the edges of the disc cross each other at 

 the hole and diverge again ad infinitum. The difference of 

 size between the sun's disc and the diameter of the reeds 

 is, I take it, the reason of the beautiful subdued light 

 which fills the interior of the " chick " house — so suited 

 to all plants which, in a state of Nature, are found in 

 forests, and lighted only by the mingled lights and shadows 

 produced by the leaves and branches of the forest trees 

 and bushes. Before setting up my first " chick " house in 

 the Luckuow Horticultural Garden many plants, including 

 Ferns, could not be grown at all. By irrigating the soil 

 under this house from a well, a moist ground and atmo- 

 sphere were kept up in the driest season. The screen of 

 "chicks" protected the plants not only from the scorch- 

 ing hot wind outside in summer, but to a great extent 

 from the frost in winter. In my annual report to Govern- 

 ment of 1874 I find the following: — 



'• The most successful experiment of the past year has 

 been the * chick ' house or conservatory. It has answered 

 for many things beyond my most sanguine expectations. 

 Pteris longifolia and cretica, Asplenium esculeotum and 

 dentatum, Nephrolepis exaltata and tuberosa, Nephrodium 

 molle and truncatum, Polypodium proliferum, lineatum, 

 and irioides ; Oheilanthes formosa, Adiantum Oapillus- Ven- 

 eris and caudatum — all Ferns — thrive with a luxuriance 

 which cannot be surpassed in their native habitats. The 

 Acalypha tricolor, which delights in the moist, hot climate 

 of Bombay, lit up the conservatory with its painted leaves. 

 The superb Heliconia (now, I believe, called Musa cocci- 

 nea), resembling a dwarf Plantain, tiowered under this 

 cover for the first time, and produced a head of brilliant 

 scarlet bracts. The wiry Passiflora kermesina climbed up 

 the posts with great luxuriance, and festooned itself be- 

 tween them, dropping here and there its graceful branches, 

 studded with crimson starlike flowers. The exquisite Sela- 

 grnella laevigata, with its creeping stems and lace-liko fronds; 

 the Eucharis ainazonica, with its waxy milk-like flowers ; 

 the large-leaved Scindapsus, exotic Palms, and Araucarias, 

 with their varied and charming foliage — all these and many 

 other delicate plants have found a home in this conserv- 

 atory, and promise to become a great acquisition to Luck- 

 now. This house is u'4 feet long, 40 feet wide, and S feet 

 high." 



A judge in the Indian Civil Service, who came out with 

 me on my return from furlough in 1881, told me one day : — 

 " Your ' chick ' house made quite an era. AVe had a very 

 nice one put up in our compound, and used to have chota 

 hazri (early breakfast) in it every morning, surrounded by 

 Ferns and other pretty things." 



Of course such houses can be mado more expensive and 

 permanent with iron posts and framework. Later on, in- 

 deed, a very fine conservatory of this kind was erected 

 in the Royal Botanic Garden at Calcutta. There, how- 

 ever, it was covered over with wire netting, and over this 

 were tied leaves of a long kind of grass. Many other 

 " chick " houses were erected in different places. I made 

 a tour in South India last year. At Bangalore and Madras 

 I saw them — although there, instead of M chicks " they use 

 open mat-work made of thin laths of Bamboo, with meshes 

 about an inch or so wide. 



These " chick " houses are invaluable for hot climates, 

 where the frost in winter is insignificant. They temper 

 the heat and dryness of the atmosphere to a remarkable 

 extent. Iu the rains, the atmosphere inside is apt to be- 

 come too damp from want of ventilation. To counteract 

 this, I made windows all round, closed with " chick " blinds 

 during the hot and winter months, and opened up during 

 the rains. 



It is interesting to find that the " lath shadings " iu use 

 in France, and now being introduced into England, answer 

 the same purpose, iu mitigating the force of the direct 

 sun-rays, and the subdued light produced under them is 

 explainable by the same causes as stated before. The screen 

 of whatever material made, must be a certain distance 

 from the plants, so that the sun-light may reach them after 



the shadows of the laths have crossed, in order to exclude 

 direct rays. If the plants are placed immediately below 

 the screen, they will, I have no doubt, still be scorched 

 where the direct rays touch them. 



It would be interesting to know at what date the French 

 began to use these lath shadings, in order to ascertain 

 whether they took the hint from our "chick" houses. In 

 Florence, hi 1880, in one of the nursery gardens, I saw 

 a structure something similar to our "chick" house for 

 summer use. 



These houses can be modified in various ways. One I 

 roofed with dried leaves of the common Phcenix Palm; 

 another I roofed with " chicks," leaving tho sides all round 

 quite open. Being screened on the wind side by trees, 

 the latter made an admirable place for germinating seeds 

 of all sorts in pots and for raising young plants. 



I believe that houses covered in this way might be used 

 in England during the summer for screening plants from 

 the sun and wind. In a country where everything is made 

 by machinery something might be devised of a permanent 

 nature — such as wire screens — like " chicks " and painted ; 

 or screens made of strips of zinc. Both these might, 

 however, radiate too much heat towards the plants. The 

 " chicks " or blinds that are now made in England for 

 windows, of thin strips of wood would, I think hardly 

 answer, as they are too close, and would not stand wear 

 and tear. In Florence I saw blinds of this kind made of 

 a strong wiry reed called " Giunco." Those would promise 

 to be more durable, if the string which binds them were 

 tanned or tarred. — E. Bonavia, M.D., Etawah. [Such houses 

 are, we believe, common in Italy — we havo seen them iu 

 the Pisa Botanic Garden. — Ed.] — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



PEATY SOILS AND THEIK TREATMENT. 



Peat consists of an accumulation of vegetable matter, 

 in a state of greater or less decomposition. It is generally 

 found in low, moist situations, where mosses, lichens ami 

 other plants grow, which are with difficulty decomposed; 

 these become interwoven, and unite with the mud and 

 various substances deposited by the water; the whole amal- 

 gamates, vegetables putrefy, and gradually lose their organic 

 texture, and are at length uiiited with the other substances 

 into a compact spongy mass. 



There is this obvious difference in the origin of peat soils, 

 and those of sand, chalk, gravel, clay, &c. ; the latter have 

 been formed by the geological operations of nature, and 

 generally brought from a distance, and deposited by the 

 action of water; but peat soils have been formed wherever 

 they now exist. A soil covered with peat is a soil covered 

 not only with fuel, but also with manure. It is the excess 

 of manure only which is detrimental ; and it is much more 

 easy to destroy than to create it. To cultivate a bog is a 

 much less difficult task than to improve a sand. If there is 

 a proper level to admit of draining, the larger the scale of 

 operation, the less the comparative expense must be, because 

 machinery for many purpose takes the place of manual 

 labor. 



As peat is formed by the decay of various kinds of plants, 

 so it will be found to differ in its qualities. Nothing so clear- 

 ly indicates the quality of peat as the plants which it spont- 

 aneously produces, for the moss soil and its products are 

 nearly the same substance, and the crop of the preceding 

 year is the soil in which the next year's crop vegetates. 

 Again, the moss plants now vegetating indicate the degree 

 of moisture; for, as soon as a permanent saturation is 

 effected, the sphagnum, &c, is produced, to the almost 

 total exclusion of the other plants; but, on the water being 

 drawn off, it dies, and is succeeded by heath and sundry 

 coarse aquatic grasses; or, if rendered sufficiently dry, 

 bent grass prevails. If decomposition is by any means 

 effected, then rushes, and also the finer pasture grasses, 

 supplant the latter. While moss plants continue to grow, 

 it is evident that the depth of the moss must be still on 

 the increase, and this by means of the antiseptic qualities 

 of its product* ; but where, by any means, pasture grasses, 

 or even rushes abound, it is manifest that the proper moss 

 is in a state of decay ; decomposition has commenced, and 

 a very different treatment is called for. Peat soils include 

 a large proportion of several counties of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. In the Falkland Islands almost every kind of 

 plant, even the coarse grass which covers the whole of the 



