272 



A SIMPLE MODE OF HEATING GREEN-HOUSES. 



finely variegated than we should have with 

 a lower temperature. Such, at least, is rny 

 experience. 



I keep my Camellias in the green-house 

 all the year round. Two reasons compel 

 me to this course : one is, that I have not a 

 suitable place for them out of doors ; the 

 other is, that I conceive that, if taken out of 

 the house in summer, they would be exposed 

 to the heavy rains, and frequently receive 

 much more water than is necessary for 

 their health ; and they would consequently 

 be liable to lose a portion of their roots. The 

 only inconvenience I experience in keeping 

 them in the house, during the summer 

 months, is their liability of being attacked 

 by the red spider; but they can be kept 

 free from that pest by frequent and power- 

 ful syringing. 



If Camellias are kept out of doors in sum- 

 mer, (i. e., from l-5th of June to 15th of Sep- 

 tember,) a site should be selected against a 

 wall, hedge, or fence, (I mean on the north 

 side,) with an awning to shade them from 

 the sun the greater part of the day, say 

 from 8 A.*M. to 5 or 6 o'clock P. M. This 

 awning could also be used to great advan- 

 tage during long and heavy rains, in pro- 

 tecting the plants from excess of moisture 



when water is not needed at their roots. I 

 have no doubt that, with these precautions, 

 namely, shelter from the sun, heavy rains, 

 and high winds, Camellias, under proper 

 treatment, will succeed just as well, if not 

 better, than those kept in the green-house 

 all the time. 



I ought to mention that, early in the fall, 

 I usually thin out the buds of my Camellias, 

 on such plants as have too many, leaving 

 only one hud on each shoot, and that only on 

 the most prominent ones. This gives great- 

 er vigor to those which are left, and pro- 

 duces flowers of greatly increased size. 



When it is desirable to have the Camel- 

 lia flower as early as practicable, I try to 

 keep a gentle heat in the green-house dur- 

 ing the autumn months, and I do not allow 

 the temperature to fall too low, so as to 

 check the sap, and cause the bud to be- 

 come black, and sometimes hard and scale- 

 like, so that they will not open; all of 

 which can be avoided by proper treatment 

 — that is, by guarding against all extremes 

 of temperature, and by attending to those 

 points respecting the watering, which I have 

 already noticed. Very respectfully yours, 

 Noel J. Becar. 



New-York, Nov. 3, 1S48. 



A SIMPLE MODE OF HEATING GREBN-HOUSBS. 



BY A SUBSCRIBER, MONROE, MICHIGAN. 



Dear Sir — I wish to give you my plan of 

 heating a green-house; and as it approaches 

 so near the " Polmaise" method, if it were 

 not that the principle has been adopted in 

 this section for a considerable time, might 

 be supposed to be only borrowed from the 

 "Polmaise." 



Description. — A, solid cylinder of cast 

 iron, one-fourth of an inch thick, 20 inches 



in diameter, and 4 feet 4 inches in length; 

 and for convenience in casting, the end, B 

 B, is left open ; after which, and before the 

 same is placed in the brick work, a front 

 of heavy sheet, or light boiler iron, is closely 

 fitted to the same, having two doors, C and 

 D, — one for wood, the other opening to the 

 ash-pit. E E, the grate. F, smoke pipe, 

 of cast iron, with an elbow, but all in one 



