Janaar; 9. 1868. ] 



jouenaij op hobticulture and cottage gardener. 



57 



Kawbone. Nothing could surpass the richness of its velvety 

 {oliago ; and as I happened to call on one of the finest mornings 

 we had been privileged with during the summer, I saw the beds 

 in their very best trim. The most useful varieties of I'elar- 

 goniums out of the ordinary run were Lord Palmerston, with 

 lake-coloured (lowers tinted with crimson, and line bold trusses ; 

 also a variegated form of Stella. I suppose it to be a sport from 

 that popular variety. Its leaves were very much cupped, with 

 a very clear, broad, white margin ; the bright crimson scarlet 

 trusses of bloom were borne well above the foliage on long 

 flower scapes. Standing a little distance from the beds, the 

 broad white margin of the leaves being so prominent, very 

 little of the green surface of the leaves was to be seen. 



I left the flower garden by a shady walk, bordered on each 

 side with rockwork, on which were growing hardy Ferns and 

 other plants adapted to shaded and moist localities. This 

 zigzag walk opens into a wide open space on the south side of 

 the enclosed kitchen garden. There is a walk, 1(30 yards long, 

 which runs the whole length of the garden, with a ribbon bor- 

 der on each side. The right-hand border was planted with 

 Cerastium tomentosum in front ; second. Cloth of Gold Pelar- 

 gonium and Purple King Verbena alternately, and Stella 

 Nosegay Pelargonium at the back. The left-hand border had 

 Cerastium tomentosum in front ; the second row was Lobelia 

 speciosa. Cloth of Gold Pelargonium, and Iresine Herbstii re- 

 peated the whole length ; the third row. Gladiolus. This border 

 was truly beautiful. Kehind the Gladioluses was a row of 

 standard and dwarf Roses alternately, and the stray Roses of 

 Gloire de Dijon, Souvenir de la Malmaison, General Jacque- 

 minot, tfcc, which overhung the Gladioluses relieved the ribbon 

 lines from that stiffness which too often prevails in this style 

 of planting. I had the gratification of seeing the Gladioluses 

 at their best, and they alone were worth my journey. 



I must pass through the kitchen garden with a hasty glance. 

 It is two acres in extent, and surrounded with well-built brick 

 walls, and these were fnrnished with useful fruit trees, fine 

 examples of training. Indeed, I have not seen any in the 

 district trained with such exactness, except at Lord Middleton's 

 at WoUaton Park, under the superintendence of Mr. Gadd. 

 Round the kitchen garden were numbers of pyramidal Apple 

 and Pear trees in excellent condition for bearing. The garden 

 appeared very fertile, and fine crops of vegetables of every 

 description were plentiful. I noticed several rows of Veitch's 

 Perfection Pea, which had been nearly destroyed by the snake 

 millipede (JuJus pulchellus), which Mr. Speed had experienced 

 some trouble in exterminating ; other rows not attacked by 

 the millipede supplied plentiful gatherings. 



Leaving the kitchen garden we entered an enclosure, in 

 which were a number of useful small span-roofed houses. 

 Some were occupied with suocessional Pines, others with early 

 and late Melons and Cucumbers, stove plants and Ferns, anp 

 one very useful house was filled with greenhouse plants pre- 

 paratory to blooming in the conservatory. There was a tem- 

 porary stage that could be readily taken away, and the house 

 filled either with tall-growing plants or with those of dwarfer 

 growth. Besides these there were numerous frames filled with 

 Cinerarias and other plants, all valuable in their respective 

 seasons of bloom. Many hardwooded plants, such as Azaleas, 

 Heaths, and Epacrises, were either placed on or plunged in 

 cinder ashes, all being in perfect health and vigour, fully prov- 

 ing the fact that Mr. Speed not only grows fine Grapes, but 

 developes superior skill in the cultivation of plants. I noticed 

 in particular in 1'2-inch pots a very fine lot of Chrysanthe- 

 mums all well grown, and every branch staked and tied-out with 

 the utmost care. — Qdiniin Reed, Gardener to W. Hollins, Esq. 



MY EXPERIENCE OF AN ARNOTT'S STO\'E. 



There can be little doubt that the amateurs and lovers of 

 gardening who are anxious to possess a glass structure of their 

 own, are each year increasing in number. There can be little 

 doubt also, that the most formidable impediment in the way of 

 carrying out their wishes is not the immediate outlay which is 

 necessitated in erecting the structure, but the yearly expense 

 which must be incurred for fuel. This, in the very nature of 

 the case, must have a powerfully deterring effect, and is the 

 Rubicon which many an amateur enthusiast hesitates to ford. 

 Now, in my remarks on this subject I can advance no new 

 theory of heating, my object being simply to take a practical 

 walk on an old, very old, and comparatively unused path, and 

 endeavour to clear it of a few briars, which, in these days of 



hot-water travelling, have been suffered to ramble compara- 

 tively undisturbed across it, making it, if not unsafe, certainly 

 unpopular. 



For long ranges of glass and houses especially devoted to 

 early forcing, the hot-water system of heating has no rival, but 

 for a solitary structure erected in the garden of an amateur for 

 the purpose of keeping bedding plants and growing a few 

 Grapes, I recommend Arnott'a stove, as calculated to answer 

 all his purposes efficiently, and more economically than any 

 other mode ho can adopt. This, I am aware, is only confirma- 

 tory of what has repeatedly been advised in the Journal, but 

 if my experience on this head can have the slightest re-assur- 

 ing effect, the purpose of my paper will be attained. 



Under my charge are two vineries heated by Arnott'a stoves. 



1 will instance one house : it is G feet high at the front, 11 feet 

 high at the back, 14 feet wide, and 18 feet long. This house 

 is heated by an Arnott's stove placed against and about the 

 centre of the back wall. The stove is 18 inches stiuare and 



2 feet G inches high. The smoke pipe is carried 18 inches 

 horizontally ; it then takes a vertical position for about .5 feet, 

 turning again horizontally into a chimney in the back wall. 

 This is better than taking it upright through the glass, as being 

 out of the way of the foliage of the Vines on the roof. More 

 than twenty-five years ago this stove cost £4, and during this 

 period a few shillings may have been incurred in repairs, but 

 these have been extremely trifling. For a number of years 

 the gas coke consumed was carefully noted, and it never 

 amounted to 15s. per stove per annum. This is an outlay 

 which I apprehend the most economical need not be frightened 

 at. Even this first outlay of £4 may be reduced, for a handy 

 bricklayer and smith would, according to the ordinary charges, 

 put up one for a less amount than the sum named. 



The mode of erecting a stove of this class I will endeavour 

 to describe. 



Procure a plate of half-inch cast iron having a groove cast in 

 it close to and all round the edge, 18 inches square ; on this 

 stand the grate, which should be about 10 inches square, and 

 standing on four iron legs about 4 inches long. (See accom- 

 panying section and elevation.) The edge of this stand-grate 

 make the foundation for building ; carry up a few firebricks all 

 round to the height of 18 inches, which will give an interior for 

 the fire of 8 inches square by 18 inches deep. Over this space 

 bend an arch of sheet iron. Enclose the whole with a shell o£ 

 sheet iron, which should fit in the groove in the foundation 

 plate; carry it up to the required height. The cavity between 

 this shell and the brickwork fill with dry sand, bringing it up to 

 and covering completely the top also. Over this place a square of 

 cast iron, cast in the same mould as the foundation plate, and 

 the stove is complete, excepting than an orifice must be left oa 

 one side and close to the top for the smoke pipe, and another 

 on the opposite side, only about G inches lower, for putting In 

 the fuel ; while, of course, at the bottom of the stove must be a 

 square into which the ash box slides, fitting closely under the 

 grate, the door of the box buttoning tightly to the side of the 

 stove, which here should be made additionally strong by rivet- 

 ting on a strap of one-quarter inch iron quite round the opening. 

 Have a ventilator to assist combustion in the centre of the ash 

 box door, and you have a E',ov"e cleanly, eilicient, and economi- 

 cal, infinitely superior to an ordinary iron stove, in being dust- 

 proof, and the bricks and sand retaining heat for hours after 

 the fire becomes low, or even after it has gone out altogether. 

 This, however, is a contingency which we do not calculate on 

 here, for by adding necessary fuel night and morning, and 

 paying due regard to the ventilator, the fire may be kept in for 

 weeks or mouths if required. It is well, however, to let it go 

 out sometimes, to take out any clinkers which will in time form 

 in the grate. This must be done by the hand ; if, therefore, 

 any one is afraid of touching a cold clinker with the fingers, he 

 must look to other modes of construction. 



Now, as to the capabilities of stoves of this kind, I confess 

 when I first saw them I had not much confidence in their 

 power ; and on expressing shght doubts of their eflicieucy, the 

 proprietor very significantly pointed to the fine crop of Grapes 

 overhead, a mode of reassuring me that admitted of no contro- 

 versy. Therefore, thinking what had been done before might 

 be done again, I cast aside all prejudice and determined to 

 try what the stove in question really would do, and, indeed, 

 what it would not do, for the negative port of a question is 

 ofttimes instructive. 



In the house above named are eight Vines trained up the 

 rafters. These eight Vines give annually about 120 bunches 

 of Grapes of a quahty which are appreciated on a nobleman's 



