17 



CHEAP PRESERVATIVE PIT FOR AMATEURS. 



I — t — L i 



There are few amateurs who can 

 afford to erect as many plant-houses 

 as they really require, and efficient 

 substitutes are always in request. In- 

 deed, at first-class establishments, such 

 as Shrubland, Frogmore, and Trent- 

 ham, many make -shifts are adopted to 

 assist in relieving the seasonal pressure 

 upon the regular permanent struc- 

 tures. Over-crowding in winter is 

 the frequent source of failure and 

 disappointment, and the anxiety to 

 preserve bedding and other stock, 

 where the available space is already as 

 closely occupied as it should be, leads 

 to repeated vexations, and anything 

 in the way of a plant-house, which an 

 amateur may construct himself, and 

 which will involve but a trifling out- 

 lay, must prove acceptable. At this 

 time of year, it 

 is customary to 

 see lofts, gar- 

 rets, and sitting- 

 room windows 

 all crowded with 

 pots containing 



plants, for which there is no room to 

 be found in the greenhouse or the pit, 

 and many assiduous gardeners, who do 

 not enjoy the luxury of a glass struc- 

 ture of any kind, would gladly adopt 

 some simple and cheap plan of pre- 

 serving plants, to get rid of the dirt, 

 and confusion, and trouble, and we 

 may add, the numerous losses that 

 occur towards February, where there 

 is no regular and uniform system 

 pursued. 



It is to assist such that we now 

 describe a method of constructing a 

 cold pit, which combines practical 

 utility with the utmost simplicity, and 

 is, perhaps, the cheapest form of a 

 plant-house ever adopted. The mate- 

 rials necessary are some good larch 

 piles, some rough planking, sashes of 

 oiled calico or glass, and a good stock 

 of turf, all easily procurable, and the 

 last generally to be had on the spot. 

 Mark out the place for the pit, choos- 

 ing a dry slope facing the south, if 

 possible, for damp is a greater enemy 

 than frost to all unheated structures. 

 For a substantial working pit of good 



capacity the following inside measure- 

 ments are recommended — twelve feet 

 long, five feet wide, three feet deep at 

 the back, two feet in the front. Having 

 marked out the ground, dig it out to a 

 depth of twelve inches, so that the in- 

 side of the pit will be that depth below 

 the level of the ground outside ; then 

 drive in short piles at the four cor- 

 ners, and attach a rough plank along 

 the edge of the excavation all round, 

 against which to lay the first layer of 

 turves. Then, dividing the twelve feet 

 space into three equal parts, drive in 

 four other stout piles for the sash 

 pieces to rest on, and then begin to 

 pile the turves ; these are to form four 

 solid walls, to be laid down level with 

 the ground outside, neatly built up, 

 beginning by laying them close to the 

 rough planking 

 round the pit 

 till level with 

 the top of the 

 piles; if the walls 

 are six inches 

 thick, they have 

 sufficient solidity, but they maybe eight 

 or nine inches with advantage. When 

 these are completed, trim them off 

 neatly where they require it, observing 

 that the summits should slope a little 

 downward, to throw off rain, and pre- 

 vent any trickling into the pit, and 

 also let the outside be as regular as 

 possible, that wet may not lodge any- 

 where. A labourer accustomed to the 

 handling of turf, would complete this 

 part of the job in a few hours, and 

 finish it off as neatly as a brick-built 

 wall. Then, for the sashes to rest on, 

 nail a strip of board of sufficient width 

 to lap over the turf to carry off rain, 

 and fit three of the ordinary three-and 

 a-half feet sashes, well painted and 

 glazed, and your pit is complete. 



If the expense of glass sashes is an 

 object, a substitute may be found in 

 oiled calico, and any one handy in the 

 use of a saw, may make three frames to 

 fit with but a little trouble. Use clean 

 pine, the sides two inches, the ends 

 three inches, and each one and a quarter 

 inch thick, and a little longer than the 

 pit to carry off rain. Up the middle 



