THE WALTONIAN PROPAGATING CASE. 



hours, or as long as the heat keeps up to 10°. If the size of the tin box is so 

 small that the body of water in it is not sufficient to keep up the heat for several 

 hours without a constant burning of gas, or oil, the first expense will be less, but 

 the disadvantage would be in greater proportion. The lid of the tin case is made 

 in the shape of a tray, with the edges raised about half an inch, so as to hold sand 

 on which the pots stand ; a tube, five or six inches long, and about an inch in 

 diameter, is soldered to the lid to let up vapor, not steam, from the hot water, 

 so as to keep the air sufficiently moist for the health of the cuttings or seedlings. 

 If too much vapor rises, cork the tube. Make the tube also to index the depth 

 of water by a float — a piece of cork with a small stick fixed in it, and rising through 

 the tube ; but it might be sup- 

 plied from the outside by another 

 tube, and a tap to empty the 

 water may be applied. But I see 

 no use in that, as the lid is not 

 fixed in the present case ; it fits 

 like the lid of a teakettle, and as 

 closely, so as to let off no steam 

 or vapor, and the raised rim of 

 the lid projects an inch beyond 

 the edge of the box. You begin 

 in February, and, when you leave 



off in summer, the whole should ^_ Gas jet mider the funnel head. B. Coil of zinc 

 be opened, and receive a coat ot tube, one inch in diameter. C. Lid covered with 

 paint, and there is no occasion to sand. D. Pots of cuttings or seeds. E. VajDor 

 draw off the water by a tap in tube. F. Smoke or smell tube, 

 the mean time. The tin box rests 



on the bottom of the wooden box without anything between them ; but the two- 

 inch spaces at the sides and ends should be filled up with sand to the level of the 

 sand on the lid. The end of the tube for heating passes down through both the 

 boxes, and ends with a funnel head to receive the jet, and there is a ' nest' for 

 holding a lamp. The wooden box stands five or six inches from the ground, on 

 legs, after the manner of a chest of drawers. The sashes to cover with may be 

 like garden-lights, or in one piece of stout glass let into a zinc frame, to move 

 ' off and on ;' or the top may be hinged on and locked, like a desk ; and, as I 

 said before, the whole may be made to suit a drawing-room, where it would ' work' 

 just as well as anywhere else. It is not calculated for the open air." 



In a subsequent article, Mr. Beaton says : " My anticipations about the success 

 of this simi)le method of striking cuttings on a small scale, are more than verified 

 already. From the middle of last February — the only time left to Mr. West for 

 testing the practicability of the contrivance — he has been unremitting in his ex- 

 periments with cuttings, plants, and seeds, under a lock and key. He has sim- 

 ])lified tlie contrivance, and lessened the expense of working it with oil or gas. 

 Ilis own lamp will burn twelve hours without trimming, and heats the Case just 

 as easily as the gas ; but still, a jet of gas is more handy, and less trouble. 



"We have discovered another very important use of the Waltonian system : it 

 may be successfully applied as bottom and toi)-heat to a Wardian Case, full of 

 orchids, or of any other section of plants — Ferns, Alpines, and all ; a portable 

 hothouse system, in fact, which will do for the top and bottom-heat equally well 

 at the same time. The whole family of An<rctoclilU(h and Pliysurads may be grown 

 drawing-room by this means, in a close Wardian Case of the higliest finish, 

 as easily as in an orchid-house. By the vapor tube you may admit as much 



