November 10, 1863. ] JOUI^AL OF HOETICTJLTUEE Ai«D COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



379 



Heat.!.o a Pit (A S,.6»criScr).-We are very sorry, b"t we a<, not thmk 

 we can add anything more to that which we published at page 319 about 

 your iron tank. We fail now to comprehend your description of the tank 

 >aiscd abore the flue, with chambers beneath, &c. A section would hav e 

 made all clear. We would bave preferred the tank being set on he flue, 

 not 3 inches above it, and we think you complicated the affair with your 

 turf and sand above it, and all the rest of it The simp est wj^y J™ "" 

 manage the tank is to pour hot water into o inches at t^» ''»"°'"' °"* 

 ihin slate over that, and then sand or tan to plunge in, and then co^er the 

 top with moveable squaies of rUss. With such means you may strike any 

 sort of cuttings. Why jou failed we cannot clearly see, because we do not 

 know the processes you a.lopted. For all the minulia! of cuttlng.makln(,^ 

 and much besides, see "Window Gardenmg." By such a moce you may 

 use your present cool greenhouse for the purpose, and your little propjgat- 

 ing place will be much handier than any bed or pit out of doors. _\\ e ha>e 

 read over carefully your proposal to have a flue through a two-light fran,e 

 with this iron tank at side and top, and a chamber for steam formed by a 

 slate covering. &c., and the result in our opinion is, that when you lie.it hy 

 such a flue you had better make u^e of your tanks for something else, as 

 holding clean or manure water, and depend on the flue alone for the heat 

 you require. For instance : you want a good heat for propagating in two 

 lights lit matters not whether frame or pit, though we should Pref" "je 

 latter), and a more moderate heat in six lights. Well, It would be best to 

 heat the first two lights separately by taking the flue round-say 2 feet or 

 18 inches from the sides, and shut off from the pit by means of a damper 

 Move ihe damper, and the heat would at once pa.-s along the centre of the 

 pit to a second chimney at the fariher end, or, but for the expense, it could 

 return and join the back flue in Ihe two lights. With such a contrivance 

 the cheapest plan would be to fill up all round the flues with bnckbats 

 stones, flints, &c., so as to be as open as possible, cover the top of the Hue 

 and all across with pebbles, and then gravel and sand. Ihe next oesr 

 would be to make a chamber across with rough slabs of wood, leaving 

 openings between them to be filled with clinkers, stones, &c., and sand or 

 tan above. The next and more expensive mode would be to cover all aeioss 

 with flagstones, slate, or iron ; and whichever mode was adopted, there couia 

 be no want of heat or moisture by any of the modes frequently alluded to. 

 A pipe communicating with the stones round the flue would always give 

 moist heat enough. 



Eerata.— Page 350, second col., seventb line from top, "heat was not 

 wanted," leave out not. Next paragraph, " fruit wall," should be tront 

 wall" Page 351, first col , sevenlh line from top, " warm borders should 

 be "side and end borders." Page 358, first col., sixteenth line from 

 bottom, instead of " ten years," read " two years." To give the same 

 amount of protection from two to three mats would be needed eveiy year, 

 and then the protection would not be equal. — R. F. 



BortEBs {Subscriber).— Both your gardener and builder are, to a certain 

 extent, right ; but as far as the burning, if " anything," is concerned, we 

 prefer the saddle to the tubular form, while for efficient heating and atten- 

 tion in stoking we very much prefer the tubular. At the same time the 

 saddle is also a good boiler in these two latter respects. We would advise 

 yon to let your gardener have the saddle if he prefers it, and more par- 

 ticularly if the firing to be used is not of the best description. He will 

 then be more likely to meet vour wishes. If your house is for late Orapes 

 —that is, autumn Grapes-ohd bedding plants iu winter, a flow and return 

 four-inch pipe will be enough, 



Thdneeegia (Hexacentris) coccinea Culture (C. (?.). — Keep your 

 plant dry and cool through the winter, and when in spring it begins to 

 grow freely, shift into rich turfy soil and grow on luUy exposed to light, 

 and if it does not flower under such circumstances, you may consider you 

 have a shy-flowering plant not worth expending labour on for another year. 



Eemovinq TccciS (J^. Newnwii;.—1he end of April is a good time for 

 removing Yuccas. Take out a trench round them, and move them with as 

 much soil to their roots as will adhere to them. Water well when planted, 

 and shade from bright sun for a time. They are as easily and as success- 

 fully moved as a laurel. It will be beat to pot the suckers of the Aloe 

 singly into small pots, 



Scpeephosphate of Lime to Vine-eokdees — Pines Planted-oct 

 IF. TF.). — You may apply the superphosphate of lime at the rate of 

 2J bushels to a rood. The best time to apply it is when the\ines are 

 starting. You should not start your two-year-old Vines, particularly if 

 they are weak, till February. You will succeed very well with your rines 

 by putting 2 or 3 feet of firmly-trodden Oak or Beech leaves below the soil. 

 They will yield heat more or less for twelve months. We do not like such 

 a mixture as you describe for planting Pines in, and prefer moderately 

 rough loam, with about an eight-inch potful of bone dust, to a barrowload 

 of soil, and alterwards to water with liquid manure. 



Eoeage {Nemo).— It is an annual. You would gain nothing by solving 

 before March. You may plant Lilium lancifolium now. The bulbs should 

 not be disturbed oftener'than once in four years. 



Mr. Fortune's Plants (inimio).— If you write to Mr. SUndish, Nur- 

 series, Ascot, he will give you the mformalion you seek. 



Plikts for an Eastern Balcony (S. J.).— We know of nothing better 

 than masses of Chrysanthemums, or Aucubas, Lauruotinus, and Cypresses 

 in tubs, with borders of Snowdrops and Crocuses, with a few Hellebores. 

 Where is your balcony, in town or country ! 



Roses and Clematis Montana not Flowering [Lcighton S).— If you 

 had stated more particulars as to the soil and situation in which your Roses 

 grow, and what sort ol Roses they are, we would be more likely to hit on 

 the cause of their not flowering. Roses when grown in shady situations, 

 and not sufficiently thinned out with the pruning-knife do not flower freely 

 nor produce fine flowers. When in a good exposure and kept properly 

 thinned of wood Roses seldom fail in flowering if healthy. The same 

 remarks are applicable to the Clematis, it being a remarkably free-flo«erirg 

 plant when grown in an open situation, and particularly on a wall. If 

 •t:icy are thick of wood thin well out, and let sun and air to them, and ifhoth 

 Koses and Clematis ate healthy they will flower. The planting of CUauthus 

 had better be deferred till sprmg. 



Plums and Cbeeries foe Noeth Wall {Mrs. Burroics, Cavan).— 

 Plums : Early Orleans, Drap d'Or, Reine Claude Violette. Cherries : 

 Morello, May Duke. We cannot detect your plant from such a specimen. 

 Send a sprig and some of the fallen flowers in a card-box and a little 

 damp moss. 



2J 



Vines in Pots {A. Beal).—Yon can»ot do better than keep your Vines 

 in vour cold greenhouse all winter, if the temperature does not exceed 

 JO'with fire heat. They will do under the stage in any cool corner ul the 

 hou>e. As soon as ever they show signs of swelling their buds in spriBg 

 train them up under the rafters of vour greenhouse, keeping tliem at least 

 16 inclies from the glass. The pots cin stand on the front shelf with whicn 

 your house is, no doubt, furnished. The sorts are not well adapted lor 

 fruiting in a cold greenhouse. Few Vines require so much heat iis Alicante, 

 and both Lady Downes' and Black Muicat require more heat than tlain- 

 buighs. If you could exchange them with any one for Ham lurghs tne 

 latter would be more satisfactory in a cool house. Of course, i; T°" "^^^ 

 keep your greenhouse warm from May till September they will do very 

 well. 



Altering the Time of Flowering in Camellias {Soulh Devon).— The 

 time that Camellias flower depends so entirely on the time that they inake 

 their young wood and set their bur:s, that you must let this process take 

 place later in the season than has been the case with yours. To gain your 

 object as quickly as possible, keep your plants as cool a» possible all winter 

 and early spring ; and, instead of putting them in heat to make tneir 

 growth and set their buds, keep thcni in a cool, dry. and somewhat sliaaea 

 position. This followed out for a le.ir or two will cause your plants to do 

 later in making their growthaiid setting flower-buds, and as a consequence 

 they will flower later. 



Teebizond Ndt Tree ^Leaminglon).— This is mentioned in the "Gar- 

 deners' Year Book for 1863," and our correspondent wishes to know where 

 a plant of it can be purchased. 



Patent Stoves [3. C.),— No such stoves, for they have no chimneys, 

 should be admitted among plants. These are alway= injured by the lumes 

 from the fuel. 



Making Aspar»oU3-bed3 — Planting Sea-kalf. (S". Botvell). —Tbe 

 ground should be well drained to the depth of 4 feet, and 21 feet from drain 

 to drain. The ground should then be trenched to the depth of 3 feet, ana 

 6 inches of manure worked in. If the soil be deficient in sand or clay a 

 like quantity of sharp aand or ashes should be added to it and wolfed in. 

 Divide the ground into beds 5 feet wide, pointing north and south, with 

 two-feet alleys between the beds, and drivins a "takedown at each corner ot 

 the beds. Cover the latter with a layer of well-decomposed dung 3 inches 

 thick, and throw out ths alleys equally over the beds to the depth of 1 toot. 

 F'ork the beds over and leave them rather rough for the winter. 1 he Decis 

 should be prepared this month, taking advantage of dry we.ither. You win 

 plant three rows of two-year-old plants along the beds, the outer rows 

 1 foot from the edge of the beds, and the same distance from plant to plant 

 in the rows. We consider Giant or Karly Battersea the best variety to 

 plant. Prepare the ground for the Sea-kale iu the same way as tor Aspa- 

 ragus, but do not form the ground into beds. Plant in lines 2 feet 6 inches 

 ajiart, running north and south ; tliree plants together, 1 foot 3 inches 

 asunder in the line, so that they will represent the points of an equilateral 

 tiianglethus ' and 6 inches from crown to crown. (JS. --I. i').— see tne 

 above reply to" H. Howell as to how to make the beds. We do not recoin- 

 mend planting full-grown plants, .as they rarely do any good. Two-year -out 

 plants, and even one-year plants from the seed are better. 'Ihey should 

 be planted in the beginning of April. Four years is about the time neces- 

 sary to obtain Asparagus fit for cutting. If the grass be strong, at three 

 years a few heads maybe cut; but the stiength and time of coming into 

 bearing depends on the hberality of the treatment given, as liquid manure 

 twice weekly in summer. 



The Use op Dampees (.1 Constant Subscriber).— A little crumbling now 

 and then is vastly superior to continual flattery. We do not like dampers 

 because they confine the smoke and its direful gases in the flue, whilst ex- 

 posing the fire to a full current of cold air. This confining of the smoke 

 materially aids in bursting flues from the collection of gases in them. whit_h, 

 becoming ignited, explode, because the damper prevents their escape by 

 the chimney. Confining smoke in a flue by means of a damper is just the 

 same as woiking a steam boiler to the highest pressure its parts are capable 

 of resisting and then shutting the sifety valve. If jou stop a racehorse at 

 full speed the collision is fiercer than when the animal is walking. So with 

 dampers. The damper checks the draught, but not until the air has attained 

 its full velocity -, and do you think that it is not better to prevent the 

 draught by shutting the ash-pit door than to allow it to rush in there, and 

 then by me,ius of a damper to hinder its pissing along the flue ! Dampers 

 fill flues with smoke, prevent its free jiassage to the cbiuiney, and if there 

 are any cracks in the flue the smoke thus confined is sure to find them out. 

 Dampers cause an unnecessary strain on all the parts, aud this sooner or 

 later ends in a smoky flue. Dampers flU flues with soot, and are always 

 out ol repair. If ho air can reach the fire-under, through, or over it at 

 the furnace— the Are cannot burn at all. The draught is given at the 

 furnace, and where the cause begins that is the place, and that only, to 

 check or increase it. The furnace-door should be as air-tiglit as it is 

 possible to make it, for we want no air to enter there to cool the air that 

 rises from the fire ; but the admission uf the air that gives the draught should 

 be by the ash-pit dour, so that the air will pass through the tire and 

 become heated before it passes into the flue. Providing the ..sh-pit door fits 

 closely and the furnace-door the same, the fire will burn very slowly indeecl 

 in a wind ; and it they fit quite closely, admitting no air, a strong fare wiU 

 gradually die out. Let us examine any of the slow-combustion stoves 

 used for warming halls, and what principle are they on ? The ;i3h-pit door 

 rculates the draught ; the stove is made hotter or colder by shutting or 

 opening it, and not by having a damper to hold back tne heated air and mi 

 the room or place with gases and smoke. The pans above the hre should 

 be open at all times to .iflord a free passage lor the smoke to escape by, 

 and the opening below the fire admitting the air can be regulaied at wiU 

 by shutting or opening. We have no difficulty in regulatrig the draught 

 of our fires, and we never have used a damper; but we have had to work 

 many fiues and boilers where they were, yet never did, and never will, use 

 them. We have worked flues that burn a ton of coals per week individually, 

 without any ash-pit door or even a damper, and could have any heat ol nue 

 by raning the fire according to the weather. If your ash-pit door is made 

 to fit quite close, aud does not then prevent thai roasiing heat you complain 

 of, wc can only say your furnace is loo large f -r its work, and must bum 

 fuel that would be economised by having a less furnace.-G. A. 



AiE Pipe (O. Child).— We have it inside the house. No steam ought to 

 escape from it. 



Glass <A. Q.).-It wUl do very well for your " ground vinery." We hav8 

 ao intormaUon relatiro to ripening Peaches in such a structure. 



