"^"^sl" 



editor's table. 



NoTA Bene. — "We must say, once for all, that the editor of the Horticxdturist can enter into 

 no controversies regarding advertisements inserted in the supplementary sheet attached to 

 tills work. If an advertiser there gives occasion of ofl'ence to other houses, by offering more 

 goods than he possesses, or attempts to discredit others' wares, the same columns for reply 

 are open to all, provided said reply is not offensive. We do not pretend to exercise any 

 control over those pages ; unless attention is called to a particular notice, by addressing the 

 editor personally, the advertisement rarely meets his eye before piiblication. 



A notice, last month, respecting the Dioscorea batatus, is deemed offensive, and the pub- 

 lisher has therefore declined its continuance. 



Litters and exchanges, intended for the editor, should l)e addressed to " CTcrmantown Post- 

 Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania." 



MooREFiELD, Ky., Jan. 4, 1855. 

 Dear Sir : Will you, or some one of your correspondents, give me a plan for a " cold pit ?" 

 One best adapted for preserving and flowering plants in winter. Please mention the most 

 suitable material for construction. I wish one of large size. Don't forget to mention the 

 most convenient mode of protection by shutters ; by so doing, you will oblige 



A Subscriber. 



To flower plants is a very different thing from merely ju'eserving them. A structure that 

 would answer perfectly for the latter, might be wholly unsiiited for the former. A " cold 

 l)it" is simply a miniature greenhouse, without any facilities for i^roducing artificial warmth. 

 If our correspondent wishes to flower plants in winter, a small furnace and flue will be re- 

 quisite. Indeed, imder any circumstances, the means for i^roducmg heat are desirable to keep 

 the atmosphere free of damp. As this is a kind of house which, we think, ought to be more 

 generally used, we have prepared the accompanying plan. Tire arrangements are so appa- 

 rent, that no detailed description 

 is deemed necessary. The dimen- 

 sions of this pit are as follows : In- 

 side width, 8 feet, height of back 

 wall the same, and the front 5 feet. 

 As all the other parts are in pro- 

 portion, they can easily be ascer- 

 tained ; of course, the length may 

 vary to any extent. If under 20 

 feet, the flue should return on it- 

 self, as shown in the figure. It 

 should be constructed either of 

 brick or stone ; a dry situation 

 should be chosen, and the bottom 

 covered with 6 inches of gravel, 

 sand, or coal ashes. It may be 

 entered by a door at one end, or 

 by merely lifting up one of the 



sashes. The best covering is water-proof cloth, hung on rollers, and elevated 6 inches from 

 the glass by a portable framework of lathes, so as to include a stratum of air between the 

 glass and the covering. It is essential that the cover, when in use, should fit closely 

 round the pit ; as a protection from frost this system will be found more efficient and econo- 

 mical than any method of wooden shutters. Fire heat will seldom be found necessary, and 

 all kinds of greenhouse plants may be kept in the highest state of liealth, and flower better 

 than in a close, steaming greenhouse, llie mere exclusion of frost only is required, and 

 the day temperature may be allowed as high as 70^ or 75° during sunny weather. Water must 

 be carefully administered ; the dryer everything can be kept, compatible with liealthy growth, 

 the better will it be for the plants. A southeast aspect is best. 



(A. W. S.) You have shown great wisdom in saving all the leaves of your trees. Tliey 

 will probably not have decayed by this time, if stacked last fall, but you can have them for 

 use very soon, by the following treatment. Slake fresh lime with brine or with water 

 saturated with salt, till it falls to a powder of muriate of lime. Turn your leaves with a 

 hay-fork, sprinkling this powder over every layer at the rate of four bushels to a cord of 

 leaves. Turn the heap occasionally, and you will soon have one of the best fertilizers ; the 

 lime decomposes the leaves, and if the mass is applied to fruit and other trees, and f 

 you need nothing better ; as a top dressing to lawns, it is highly valuable. Mixe 



