Febrnary 25, 1869. ] 



jOXJBNAIi- OF HOETICUIiTUBE AND COTIAGE GARDENEB, 



Ul 



abont ten o'clock, smelt a emell of burniog, and {oiiocl the 

 ooooa fibre round the pipe red hot dawn tn the elatee. On 

 mentioning this to tho foremuii of Mr. Foster's hothouBC 

 factory, he said, " Jiiat oorae this way, pir," and pliowod mo a 

 steam-pipe piissin;; from Mr. Foster'a steam cnKine wrapped 

 with a hayband to keep it warm. The surface of this band 

 next to tho pipe is iiiiite charred, and no one seeinf! it can 

 doubt, that if the mass of hay wore thicker it would fire. As 

 it is in the enKinc-room where tiiere is no danRer if it wore to 

 fire, I hope it will not be taken off, that those interested may 

 Bee it. I hear from Mr. Jerram, the engineer of Derby, that Mr. 

 Boden always says his warohouae, at Nottinfiham, was burnt 

 down by a hot-water pipe, but it was thought necessary to 

 account for it by a supposed shortness of water, or, as it was 

 on the high-pressure principle, by tho super-healing of the 

 water. I cannot see how there could be a short supply of 

 water in the boiler whilst there was a drop in the pipes, and 

 on tlie latter supposition X think an explosion, not a fiie, 

 would have been the oonso()uenoo. 



To those who are nnable to realise the idea of combustion 

 without the contact of lire, it may be well to allude to the 

 lact that a certain heat only is necessary to produce com- 

 bustion. A piece of paper held before a hot fire will burn 

 though it do not touch the fire. A stack of badly-got hay will 

 fire ; what is this but a case of accumulated heat ? A moderate 

 amount of heat generated by fermentation surrounded by a 

 large mass of non-conduotinp; substance, increases till the 

 point of ignition is reached. How is it sought to be prevented ? 

 By providing or cutting a chimney to let out tho heat and thus 

 prevent its accumulation. I cannot help thinking it would be 

 .about as safe to live in a coal pit as in some gentlemen's well- 

 warmed houses. Those who still think it impossible that a 

 steam or hot-water pipe may cause a fire, will find it diflioult 

 to believe a river onoe burnt down a wooden house ; quite as 

 likely, they may think, as that I shall ever " set the Thames 

 on fire," but the river Soar once performed this feat. The 

 Soar in a flood once readied a wooden house in which lay a 

 quantity of quicklime. The heat generated was. sufiicient to 

 make some large nails red hot, and these fired the building.-^ 

 J. li. Peabson, Cliihcell, Nottiiiflliam, 



THE ALPINE ROSES. 



I HAVE observed on more occasions than one the question, 

 " How am I to grow the Alpine Rose, of which I have been 

 seat some seed?" But what, then, is the Alpine Eose ? Al- 

 most every visitor of Switzerland has at one time or other worn 

 a bunch oi it in his liat, descending to his hotel, after a walk 

 in some of the higher Alps, with a certain feeling of superiority 

 over those who had stayed at home ; and some, perhaps, have 

 never known that this plant, taking the place of our Heath at 

 that altitude, is what you learned Latin-speaking Editors call 

 Rhododendron ferrugiueum, or Rhododendron hir.^utum. The 

 former is that which grows about Chamoui.Y, the latter is 

 generally found on the Oberland Alps, and both are perfectly 

 hardy. 



Now, as to growing these from seed gathered by oneself, no 

 doubt most people would feel an interest in the little plants — 

 that is, if most people aro at all like myself, for I confess to 

 have plants, shrubs, and trees, which I delight to visit, re- 

 calling to me as they do the spot where in days long gone by 

 either the thing itself grew (a tiny little thing then), or the seed 

 was gathered. In this species of Rhododendron there is little 

 if any chance of obtaining varieties by seed, and as it grows 

 most freely by cuttings or layers, which often blossom the first 

 year, growing it from seed is hardly worth the trouble. A 

 box of peaty soil, 20 inches by 10 inches, and C or 7 inches 

 deep, will contain upwards of fifty cuttings, which, if taken off 

 now with some old wood, will almost all grow unless treated 

 too tenderly. 



With the large-growing Rhododendrons, however, the case is 

 very difierent. As a rule they do not grow from cuttings, there- 

 fore it is well worth growing them from seed ; and if the seed 

 be gathered from fine named plants in a large collection, there 

 is every likelihood of having great variety in the seedlings. It 

 is also a very easy and inexpensive way of obtaining a good 

 stock where planting is required on a large scale, and the best 

 kinds are now just as hardy as the commonest. Then there is 

 an aimually recurring interest each blooming season, as to 

 what these children will be like, and if some should turn out 

 the same in flower as their parents, a rare occurrence, I think 



the foliage of a seedling is generally superior to that of a graft 

 and there is no danger, aa in tho graft, of suckers unatteniled 

 to doing any mischief ; in fact, they are rather advautageoue 

 than otherwise. 



I see advertised in " oar Jonrnal," a sale of two-year-old 

 seedlings, at a very cheap rate, and for oharity, too ; ai)d as J 

 know few private collections superior to that from which the 

 seed was taken, a purchaser of these would save two years' 

 growth, and by getting a few every year, a constant successioa 

 of some new kinds might be looked for after the first year o£ 

 blooming. The giver of these, I think, made a mistake in 

 letting them go out the first and second year too small, and if 

 I might make a suggestion, it would be that compensation lor 

 losses in these years might bo encouraging to any of the parties 

 ordering new sets now. 



But all this in favour of seedlings must not be taken to 

 mean that grafted plants or layers of the best kinds can be 

 dispensed with ; on the contrary, a few of the best kinds should 

 be purchased every year from the best nurseries. 



Many people, I fear, aro deterred from planting Ehododen- 

 drons from an idea that peat is absolutely necessary for them; 

 a trial will show this to be a mistake. With me they grow in al- 

 most any soil moderately retentive of moisture, where tho sub- 

 soil is granite ; even in a rabbit sand of decomposed granite, 

 where the common Brake Fern and Foxglove grow, they do 

 remarkably well. They are growing vigorously, too, on the 

 site of an old brick-kiln ; but here, again, seedlings have an 

 advantage, for if planted out at three or four years old they 

 generally accommodate themselves to almost any soil. The 

 mention of rabbits reminds me of one great virtue in the Rho- 

 dodendron, it is not injured at all by those enemies to all im- 

 provement; indeed, cows or sheep will not touch the plants 

 after the first leaf is tasted. Some day I hope to give the 

 names of a few rabbitproof plants. — Y. ,;; 



WINTERING PELARGONIUMS IN YORKSHIRE. 



There are many ways of striking Pelargoniums, and of keep- 

 ing them through the winter, but undonbtediy the best plan to 

 winter these useful summer favourites is as follows. 



Mr. Luckhurst must make allowance for the difference 

 between the climates of Kent and Yorkshire. I have lived 

 several years in the latter county, and have had a little experi- 

 ence in the winter management of this class of plants, and 

 testify that the sooner one can put the cuttings in, the better is 

 the chance they have of living through the damp and dull 

 months. Certainly, for my o%vn part, if there were plenty of 

 conveniences, I should say winter them in thumb pots and keep 

 them steadily growing ; yon have thus a better chance with 

 them, as more air can pass between them than when they are 

 stored in cntting pans. If any one wishes to see the sort of 

 plants I mean, a trip to Shipley Kurseries, near Bradford, will 

 at once convince him that a light airy situation with a cool 

 dry temperature suits this class cl plants to perfection. It 

 would be wholly absurd to adopt in Yorkshire Mr. Luckhurst's 

 direction for covering them over with thatched hurdles. How- 

 ever well the plan may answer in Kent, it will never do for 

 any gardener in the north of Yorkshire, as he would find to 

 his cost before one-half of the winter was over. 



I have had stock plants of Pelargoniums in full bloom in s 

 vinery at rest nearly all through the past winter. Of course 

 there was a small amount of fire heat to dispel damp and frost ; 

 then there was air left on night and day. Watering was per- 

 formed only on fine clear days, but this class of plants wiU do 

 for weeks without it. The drier they are kept the better they 

 stand the winter.— John Bowlbt. 



TRANSIT OF PLANTS TO ST. PETERSBURG. 



YoDR contemporary, the Gardeners' Chronicle, page 191, 

 gives a mode of transporting plants to St. Petersburg, and I 

 take the liberty to point out to you a few errors. If it take 

 ten days from Antwerp to St. Petersburg, it will take twelve 

 from London via Antwerp at the least, and show plants will 

 suffer. Also, Messrs. Smyers' dispatch by rail (if need be), 

 from Revel or Cronstadt is impossible, as there is no railway 

 from Revel, and Cronstadt is an island— I'ia Oranienbanm 

 might do — though I am quite sure, with the Emperor's will, a 

 quick dispatch could be effected if a steamer had to unload at 

 one of these places. I once myself witnessed (it was before 

 there existed a railway between St. Petersburg and Moskowa), 



