Octobor 23, 1806. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



307 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



WINTERING BEDDING PLANTS. 



(Continued from paye 272.) 



GERANIUMS.— From the damp 

 generated in pits sunk in the 

 ground Geraniums are sub- 

 ject to decay in such struc- 

 tures, a moist atmosphere in 

 winter being almost as inju- 

 rious to them as frust. Damp is the great evil of our pits 

 in winter, although during the hot summer months a moist 

 atmosphere is very beneficial. I have little faith in the 

 wintering of Geraniums in pits as at present constructed, 

 for such are merely holes dug in the ground, with brick 

 sides to prevent the earth falling in, soil placed in contact 

 with the brickwork, and nothing at the bottom to prevent 

 damp rising. Why should we not have pits sunk in the 

 ground to whiter plants safely, without the waste of fuel 

 and labour now entailed by keeping plants only need- 

 ing protection from frost in heated structures '.' I believe 

 that there are few plants requiring the protection of a 

 greenhouse which cannot be preserved in better health 

 during the winter in dry sunk pits than in artificially 

 heated structures. Most persons know that in this country 

 frost never penetrates a foot deep into the ground, ami the 

 roots of plants covered with this depth of earth are quite 

 safe from frost. Soils absorb heat in proportion to their 

 retention of moisture, and radiate it in the same ratio, and 

 plants in dry soils are not so liable to injury from frost as 

 the same kinds of plants on heavy ground ; and a dry pit, 

 besides rendering its inmates less liable to injury from 

 frost, also prevents their foliage damping. 



Pits for the protection of plants in whiter, and for their 

 growth in summer, need not be more than .'i feet deep. A 

 dry and sheltered situation should be chosen, and the site 

 being dug out to the depth mentioned, and the bottom 

 covered with :i inches of coarse gravel, ram it firm, and 

 then place on it 1-| inch of Portland cement one part by 

 measure, mixed with water to a thin gunge with two parts 

 of coarse Ea'id or gravel. Now, as we have to guard against 

 or get rid of water from within, which will occur in water- 

 ing the plants however carefully performed, the concrete 

 must be laid on thicker at the sides, and the bottom should 

 incline from the sides to the centre, where there should lie 

 a gutter with a fall to one end, there passing through the 

 brickwork, and communicating with a drain. Before the 

 concrete has become thoroughly set. spread over it an inch- 

 thick layer of equal parts of Portland cement and tine sand j 

 made to the consistency of tliin mortar, and this will do 

 for the bottom, for water will not pass through it either 

 upwards or downwards. Build the walls upon the con- 

 crete, and they need not be carried higher than sufficient to 

 allow of the lights being moved up and down ; and in build- 

 No. 291.— Vol. XI., New Seeies. 



ing, at every 4 feet, and inches from the bottom, insert 

 an elbow four-inch glazed earthenware pipe along the back 

 and front walls, allowing tho pipe to go close to the wall 

 outside. Let the brickwork remain until thoroughly dry, 

 and then coat it outside only with equal parts of mineral 

 pitch and resin, and a quantity of coal tar equal to both, 

 boiled over a lire for a short time, and applied boiling. 

 Repeat the application, and no water will pass through. 

 The inside may be coated with boiling gas tar. This should 

 not be done until the brickwork is thoroughly dry, and 

 some time previous to putting in the plants. It is to be 

 regretted that no cheap and effectual process has been 

 adopted for glazing bricks, for it seems as if we endea- 

 vour to obtain a material having few equals as an absorbent 

 of moisture, to build with, and then give ourselves much 

 trouble to render our dwellings dry. If glazed bricks can 

 be obtained, by all means use them, employing cement 

 instead of mortar The walls need not be more than half 

 a brick m inches) thick, and instead of making an area 

 all round on the outside, fill in to the wall with brick and 

 mortar rubbish or stones ; also, if the bottom around the 

 walls on the outside be made firm and incline to a drain, 

 all the better. The drain-pipes, which have one end in the 

 pit, are to have an additional length added outside to bring 

 that end above the ground, but not more than 1 foot. The 

 joints maybe cemented. Now the surface for a yard all 

 round the pit should be raised to within 3 inches of the 

 wall plates, back, front, and ends alike, and all sloping 

 outwards, using for this purpose coarse gravel, and the 

 remaining 3 inches, or up to the wall plates, may be of 

 asphalt. "This being done, all water will run from the 

 walls. The drain-pipes will appear •"• niches above the 

 surface, and each end should be closed with a wooden 

 plug. In bringing the surrounding ground up to a level 

 with the under side of the wall plates, due allowance must 

 be made for sliding down the lights. 



The furnishing of the inside of tho pit is the next con- 

 sideration. My plan is to have in the interior bricks pro- 

 jecting If inch from the walls back and front at :3 feet dis- 

 tance, and in inches from the glass, or rather the under side 

 of the rafters ; the walls being 4i inches thick, a whole 

 brick endwise just does it. On these bricks place spars, 

 4 inches by :! inches, crosswise of the pit, their ends rest- 

 ing on the projecting bricks, and, as they slope with the 

 lights, commencing at back- I nail on each a strip of wood 

 wedge-like, so that the shelf placed on it may be leveL 

 Nine-inch deals (red deal for endurance), are then placed 

 lengthwise, and so on to the front. 



A pit may be constructed in the above manner at a cost 

 but little exceeding that of one hurriedly run up on no 

 principle whatever. The only drawback is the coating the 

 inside with gas tar, which for a time gives off exhalations 

 injurious to the plants, and on this account I have had the 

 inside coated with cement : but this does not answer nearly 

 so well as painting the bricks with an ti- corrosion paint. 

 The pipes which communicate with the external air are 

 for the purpose of supplying air, or drawing off that which 

 is damp and vitiated. On fine days the pings can be taken 

 out, and the least raising or tilting of the lights at back 



No. 943.— Vol. XXXVI., Old Series. 



