January 13, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



pay for the fuel for forcing the Vines. Such a bed may be 

 made of well-prepared material, say in September, and with 

 plenty of air neither Grapes nor Vines would be at all injured, 

 as the bed may be surfaced at once with a little soil to prevent 

 the escape of noxious steam. There is no drawback whatever, 

 unless from the drip of plants on a stage. 



a small miscellaneous house was the following : — The house, 

 a little longer, but of the same width as yours ; heating pipes 

 round the ends and sides, leaving space for one doorway ; a 

 slate shelf, 15 inches wide, all round above the pipes ; a walk 

 round, 27 inches wide ; and a flat table in the centre, 31 feet 

 from the floor, and 5 feet wide. This might have been slate, 

 or even sparred wood, but for the Mushrooms below. As 

 economy was an object, the platform was made of oak posts 



have migrated, although our Hawthorns are loaded with fine 

 bright haws.— T. R. 



NEW ROSE LOUIS VAN HOUTTE. 

 Tins bids fair to be the Rose of the season. I have heard a 



One of the best arrangements that we have seen for such RO od deal of it. Its raiser, Lacharme, the raiser of Charle3 



Lefebvre, thinks very highly of it, and I find the following in 

 the last number of " L'Horticulteur Franvais :" — " This variety 

 has given occasion to an act of rare probity, which we are 

 happy to record. Last September, at the Horticultural Exhi- 

 bition at Lyons, the Jury gave the premier prize to a Rose of 

 M, Guillot pC-re. This honourable grower having heard that 

 M. Lacharme had one exactly resembling it in colour, they com- 

 pared their two flowers, and it being found that that of M. La- 



st inches square, the lower end resting on a tile, just like the [ charme was superior, M. Guillot suppressed his own, which 

 leg of a table, and the upper end morticed into a longitudinal : had been already announced, and sends out in its place the 

 piece 4i inches by 3 inches. Good deal, 9 inches wide, and I variety of his competitor, which is the Rose Louis Van Houtte. 



folly 1\ inch thick, was cut into the requisite lengths to go 

 across from side to side, and used in the rough state as it came 

 from the saw-mill. The first board nailed at each side had the 

 next firmly driven up to it before nailing it down, and when 

 done the boards were painted all over with melted pitch, 

 with a good bit of fat or tallow melted with it. When dry 



This conduct of M. Guillot pure needs no commentary."- 

 D., Deal. 



WOOD versus EARTHENWARE. 



As I quite agree with Mr. Luckhurst in the preference of 

 thiB was covered with a couple of inches of clean-washed small I wood to earthenware, and as I do not like to see an error 

 gravel for setting the plants on. A thin board, half an inch i likely to deceive maintained, I write a few notes in answer to 

 thick, ran round the sides, so as to hide the ends of the cross Mr. Rendle's letter in your Journal of the 30th of December, 

 boards and stand as a rim 1* inch above the gravel ; another It is quite wrong to say that it would be necessary to plough a 

 board, 9 inches deep, went all round the bottom, fastened to ' groove li inch deep to give space for the glass to be slipped 

 the upright posts, so as to form the bed beneath. The inside I up. A three-eighth-inch groove in the lower piece would be 

 of that board was pitched. The outsides of that and the rim I quite sufficient, and a three-quarter-inch plough groove in the 

 and posts were painted with anti-corrosion paint, and when wet I upper piece of wood would give a three-eighth hold to the 

 some light-coloured sand was added. The whole looked very j glass on each piece of wood. Then as for the necessity of iron 

 neat when finished. No water ever dropped through the I bars, screws, and nuts at a cost, as Mr. Rendle says, of 3s. 

 pitched boards. The platform haa stood many years, and we I a-yard, or Is. a-foot, a wooden division every 4 feet, with a 

 believe as yet shows no signs of giving way in the least. In tenon top and bottom to go into a mortice hole in the planks, 

 this house the Vines were never taken out, and extra heat was j and fastened with an iron pin when through the outer boards, 

 not given until the end of February. A part of one of the would hold all together at a cost of about 3d. for each piece of 

 side shelves could easily be made into a hotbed by shutting in wood. Mr. Rendle warns Mr. Luckhurst against infringement 

 the pipes beneath, so as to form a chamber, and covering with cf patent rights. A groove in a piece of wood to slip glass in 

 small glass boxes 14 inches wide. Beneath the platform, when without putty is, I should have thought, within the capacity of 

 all was not used for Mushrooms, a part was easily shut off I any ordinary carpenter, without having to consult a patent 

 and devoted to roots of Sea-kaie and Rhubarb. It was not un- I right, and I should fancy was used before Mr. Rendle was born, 

 common to see a healthy lot of Pelargoniums in this house in | Again, if a groove in earthenware to receive glass is the main 

 winter, and, besides good Grapes in summer on the roof, I part of the patent, wherein does it differ from Mr. Looker's, 

 Peaches, Figs, Melons, and Cucumbers from the shelves and ] who also advertises patent seed pans, cutting pans, See., with 

 bed. glass sliding in grooves ? 



All such variety, however, could only be secured by having I I think Mr. Luckhurst would 'have done better with wood 

 other houses, to change plants according to their requirements. ( only 7 inches at back and 3i in front, which would not warp 

 When the most has to be made of one house or vinery, where I so much, and then mere light galvanised wire No. 5 fastened 

 anything like forcing is attempted, we would advise making the i at the top and bottom with staples, would keep the lengths 

 Vines the main object, and obtaining as much gratification from in place if they were made only in lO.V-feet lengths with wood 

 flowers as possible in winter by growing as continuous plants ends. I can have wood delivered here from Hull, a distance of 



such as Camellias, Oranges, Epacrises, Cytisus, and more 

 ephemeral plants, as Primulas, Cinerarias, Wallflowers, &c. 

 Cytisus, and the like, may be set in a sheltered place out of 

 doors before the house is too hot. The Camellias and Epacrises 

 will enjoy the heat to make their fresh wood, and may be 



fifty miles, at Id. a-foot 7 by 1— that is, inch plank 7 inches 

 wide ; likewise 21-oz. glass at 3d. per square foot, also carriage 

 paid. I should only groove the upper board three-eighths of 

 an inch, and fasten the glass below with wive pins bent at 

 _ right angles, which could easily be moved by a pair of wire 

 turned out in a sheltered place in the end of July, to be re- pliers when it was necessary to remove the glass. The lengths, 



10 feet long, 7 inches high at back, and 3 J in front, might 

 be raised on rows of bricks, walled dry, either two or three rows 

 being used according to the height required ; and as the wood 

 would rest on brick it would last with ordinary care as long 

 as the outer wood of a vinery or conservatory. I do not think 

 the painting and labour would cost more than 3d. a-foot at the 

 outside, but I am going to make 50 feet to ascertain. This would 

 make the frames cost, glass included, lOul. a-foot, and a half- 

 penny a-foot more would pay for wire and ends. Biicks_ at 

 2s. 6d. a-hundred would cost from 2d. to 3d. a-foot, according 

 to the height to which the lengths are raised : so that in lengths. 

 10J feet long, which is a convenient size for moving, the cost 

 would be from Is. Id. to Is. 2d.— wood, bricks, glass, and 

 everything. 



Mr. Rendle must have a very poor idea of a gardener a stall 

 if he thinks it would be necessary for Mr. Luckhurst to call in 

 a glazier to put his glass into the frames Mr. Luckhurst spoke 

 of; and though Mr. Rendle might find a lj-inch groove neces- 

 sary in his patent plant protectors, yet it is, to say the least, a 

 very bad argument to say on the strength of this lj-inch 

 groove that 3-inch planks would be required. 



I have no doubt Mr. LuckhurBt will also answer for him- 

 self ; but, as I before said, as I much dislike to see any state- 



placed in the house in October. A vinery so treated may be 

 made very attractive all the winter months, and the Vines will 

 not be disturbed at all as to their necessary rest if the night 

 temperature do not rise above 45°, and at that temperature 

 Camellias that set their buds early will freely open their blos- 

 soms when assisted with a fair amount of sunshine. 



We give this long answer from knowing it will suit many 

 anxious beginners. Meanwhile, though we would not dis- 

 courage any, we must advise all not to try too many things, 

 or cram their little houses too much at first. For instance, 

 florists' Pelargoniums will do no good in a hot vinery ; the 

 Scarlet sections will stand heat if they have light enough. — 

 B. F.] 



Sighs of Swung. — Some of your distant readers may feel 

 interested in our climate here in the south. January 4th, the 

 day bright and mild, thermometer at 46° ; partridges running 

 about the pastures and calling to each other preparatory to 

 pairing, larks singing, bulbs in warm borders peeping out, and 

 spring seemingly advancing rapidly. We had our only severe 

 frosts from the 26th to the 29th ult. On the morning of the 

 latter date the register stood at 13°. It is rather extraordinary 

 to observe that all or nearly all our blackbirds and thrushes 



