THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN; [GUIDE. 



59 



heart of tbe scion stock, and that of the 

 scion, are united as closely as possible, 

 and the two are tied firmly together ; the 

 wound in the scion, where the head was 

 cut off, being covered with pitch to pre- 

 vent the possibility of any moisture enter- 

 ng the wood, though no pitch is allowed 

 to touch the point of partition between the 

 sciou and the stock, lest it should pre- 

 vent the uniting of the bark. As soon as 

 the operation is finished, the pots con- 

 taining the stock must be plunged into a 

 bed of tan, lukewarm if it be in the spring, 

 and hot if it be in winter, and covered over 

 closely with a mat or hand-glass. The 

 glasses ought to be taken off every second 

 day and wiped, as too much humidity will 

 make the young plants damp off, and the 

 glasses may even be left off for an hour or 

 two occasionally, if the plants appear too 

 moist. The second mode of performing 

 this kind of grafting, and which is that 

 generally practised in autumn in Belgium, 

 is called la grajfe etovffee en placage, or 

 la graffe des Beiges, and is a kind of side 

 grafting, or rather of inarching. It consists 

 n cutting off the head of the stock, or the 



end of one of the branches, in a slanting- 

 direction, leaving a leaf and a bud above 

 the cut on the higher side, and then cut- 

 ting the scion into a slanting shape, so as 

 to fit the wound in the stock exactly, and 

 bindingthe twoclosely together with a strip 

 of bast matting, but without using any other 

 covei-ing. As soon as the operation is 

 finished, the pot containing the stock is 

 laid hoi'izontally on a bed of dry tan, or 

 on a bed of dry moss, the branches lying 

 on the surface, and the pot being half 

 buried in the tan or moss ; the grafted part 

 being covered with a bell-glass, stuffed 

 round the bottom with the moss or tan, 

 so as to pi-event a particle of air from en- 

 tering. This close covering is kept on for 

 a fortnight, three weeks, or a month, ac- 

 cording to the season ; at the end of which 

 time the graft will be found perfectly 

 united to the stock. Air is then admitted 

 to the graft by degrees, by first lessening 

 and then removing the moss from the 

 glass. The glass is afterwards taken off, 

 and the pots set erect. — Mrs. Loudon's 

 Gardening for Ladies. 



HEATING A "WALTONIAN CASE. 



I beg leave to forward to you the results 

 of a variation or two that I have tried in 

 the mode of heating the Waltonian case. 

 The disadvantage of the oil-lamp it is not 

 necessary to dwell upon. Looking for 

 some substitute, I tried aParaphine lamp. 

 The success equalled my expectation. The 

 lamp I used was one of semi-opaque glass, 

 commonly sold in the shops, of which the 

 expense is only two shillings. It holds 

 one-third of a pint of Paraphine oil. This 

 will burn from fourteen to sixteen hours 

 without trimming, and not then be quite 

 exhausted. I have frequently burnt it the 

 latter time. Trimming is more simple 

 and cleaner than trimming an oil-lamp. 

 A boy has attended to mine for weeks 

 together, without a failure. The cost is 

 rather less than oil, the price of Paraphine 

 being only 3*. 2d. a gallon. But it is 

 necessary to use a glass chimney with this 

 lamp (the upper end of which is just in- 

 serted within the bottom of the outer tin 

 case), and occasionally one breaks, though 

 rarely with proper care. They cost from 

 2d. to 3d. each. I estimate the expense 

 on this score at 1*. 6d. per year. There 

 is no fear of the lamp going low in the 

 night, and too much heat being lost. I 

 have frequently kept up a heat of 7CP for 



sixteen hours at a time without touching 

 the lamp. 



There is one, and only one, evil to be 

 guarded against. If the flame is the least 

 too high, there is an intolerable deposit of 

 soot. The remedy is simple. The flame 

 elongates as the lamp and all around gets 

 hot. At lighting, get a full flame, aud 

 then reduce it to almost one-half. It will 

 soon increase to a sufficient height, but 

 very rarely smoke. A little practice will 

 perfect this detail. 



I have two lamps, which are trimmed 

 every morning, and changed at bed-time. 

 This arrangement is convenient, but not 

 necessary. 



But I have tried another experiment, 

 still more simple and economical, and with 

 equal success. I use merely two kettles 

 of hot water, and nothing more. I effect 

 the object thus : — Between the bottom of 

 the tin case and the board on which it 

 rests I have placed three or four folds of 

 coarse flannel. The space round the sides 

 of the case is closely packed with wool. 

 Other folds of flannel are laid on the top 

 of the case, between it and the tray for 

 the sand. The whole aim is to prevent 

 the quick escape of heat by radiation, by 

 surrounding the case with a slow conduct* 



