November 20, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



391 



years ago we used stoves with prepared fuel without any 

 outlet, we always found that in proportion to tho heat of the 

 stove and tho tenderness of the foliage, tho gasos that escaped 

 were inimical to tho well-being of plants. Sinco the favour- 

 able account of tho stoves of Mr. Hays, at page 350, we 

 havo had several letters asking our opinion, and if we could 

 thoroughly recommend them ; and we can only say wo know 

 nothing except what is thero stated, but wo believe there is 

 much in the prepared peat charcoal fuel, and in the basin of 

 that fuel through which the products of combustion must pass ; 

 and the verdict given by Mr. Rivers is of great importance, as 

 no man has had more experience of stoves and their right and 

 economical management. Mr. Rivers, however, would confer 

 one more in addition to tho many favours for which we are 

 indebted to him if he would state the resiilt of a pretty brisk 

 heat from such a chimneyless stove in a house where the 

 plants had rather tender leaves. We feel more anxious on 

 this subject, because if the safety of such stoves in all circum- 

 stances is thoroughly demonstrated, they will in general be 

 more suitable for heating small houses than gas ; and we feel 

 anxious all the more, because we have noticed that the heat 

 from chimneyless stoves, and even from open braziers of burn- 

 ing charcoal, will not hurt deciduous plants just opening their 

 blossoms, or even evergreen plants in a state of comparative 

 rest, when such heat will injure them when tho growth is more 

 tender and more vigorous. Until more assured on this subject 

 — and wo feel confident that Mr. Rivers will farther assist with 

 his usual courtesy — we would be inclined at present, if we had 

 such a stove among tender plants, to follow what seems to have 

 been the mode adopted by Professor Pepper — have a close top 

 to the stove, and a gas-pipe half an inch in diameter to let out 

 the products of combustion. That would he a tritie in com- 

 parison with the various-sized funnels or chimnies used for 

 common stoves, and which if much in use come to be expen- 

 sive, as if merely of plate iron, which is generally used on 

 account of lightness, they soon rust and burn out. 



Nailing and Shreds. — Out of doors proceeded on fine days 

 with pruning and nailing, and making preparations for so 

 doing. The spur system of pruning does something to lessen 

 nailing, and much to keep a good new wall from being riddled 

 with nail-holes, each of which becomes a capital nestling place 

 for insects and their eggs. One of the most economical 

 modes of keeping a good wall sound and free of nail-holes, is 

 to stud the wall all over with nails, say for Peaches, &c, at 

 the distance of 5 iuches by 8J inches — that is, missing one 

 course of bricks, and driving the nails in the joints of the next 

 course at from 3{ to 4 inches apart. Of course the shoots 

 are tied to the nails, which remain fixtures. If the nails are 

 well heated in an old shovel or an old kettle over a fire, and 

 are then placed in oil and allowed to dry before using, it will 

 be a long time before they rust much, and especially if coloured 

 as the wall is coloured every year. For trees trained horizon- 

 tally the nails may be farther apart. 



Tying trees is altogether neater than using shreds, and 

 affords much less harbour for insects. When shreds are used, 

 they should not be larger than can be helped, so as to give 

 room to the shoot to grow, and no more should be used than is I 

 actually required, as there is no great taste displayed in ex- 

 hibiting on garden walls patches of all colours. When old 

 shreds are good enough to be used again, they should be boiled 

 in soap water previously, and then be spread out to dry before 

 using. For branches that remain permanently in their place, 

 trees look much neater when tied with cord, rope yarn, or 

 willows, and only the small points adorned with the cloth 

 shreds. 



When it is necessary to pull nails from the walls, it is al- 

 ways advisable to loosen them, and the mortar around them, 

 with a tap from the hammer, as that will bring them out clean, 

 without a portion of the wall with them. In olden times 

 the cleaning and pointing of old iron nails, used to be a com- 

 fortable job in wet and snowy days, when seated on a stool, 

 with an iron plate before us, on which to heat the points ; 

 but that is now almost a thing of the past, Bince east-metal 

 nails have come into use. When once these have lost their 

 points they are of no more value, and hence the greater neces- 

 sity in their case of giving the heads a tap before drawing them 

 out of a wall. If the good shreds are removed from them, and 

 treated as above, all these old nails, with the bad shreds or part 

 of shreds clinging to them, will be most easily and thoroughly 

 cleaned, and made fit for use, by putting them into an old iron 

 vessel over a fire, and heating them enough to burn up all the 

 shreds, and remove all encrustations from the points, stirring | 



them now and then with a poker to expedite the procoss. The 

 burning of the old shreds with them acts a little in the way of 

 a substitute for sprinkling oil on them when cleaned, and before 

 they become cold. 



Planting. — Transplanted some Hollies and other evergreens. 

 No better weather could have been found for such work when it 

 was fair enough overhead ; and we hear of many alterations 

 in shrubberies, and a good deal doing in forming new plan- 

 tations to come in for timber and cover, thus attempting to 

 combine profit with pleasure. Where game is very plentiful it 

 is of no use expecting to rear a nice vigorous plantation unless 

 it is protected from their depredations — that is, from all four- 

 footed game. If the ground had previously been ploughed, the 

 young plantation might be made tempting to pheasants, &c, 

 which would do tho trees no harm, by a thin sowing of Barley 

 or Buckwheat between the trees. A young gentleman hit on 

 a plan of saving young Oaks, which hares and rabbits like so 

 much to nibble, and, though taking a little labour, it has proved 

 very effectual. A small handful of Wheat straw, placed with 

 one end resting on and covering the ground a little at the base 

 of the stem of a young tree, is tied round the stem with a few- 

 straws as a baud, in at least three places. Enough of air reaches 

 the stem, the straw seems to stand a long time, and we have 

 not noticed a single case in which a young tree thus protected 

 has been interfered with. In mai-.ing new plantations, how- 

 ever, where four-footed game is abundant, it will be the cheapest 

 plan in the end to surround the place with wire netting, gal- 

 vanised, and from 2.J to 3 feet in height. When the trees are 

 established and growing freely the netting may be moved to a 

 fresh place, for though in severe weather such depredators will 

 gnaw and bark any trees at all juicy, they will never go to an 

 old plantation, if they can gain access to a fresh-planted one. 

 As a general rule they do most mischief the first season, and 

 often more for mischief and amusement than f jr any real benefit 

 they derive from it. We have passed row after row of Larch 

 and Hazel, with every twig almost nipped off close to the stem, 

 and the twigs lying on the ground otherwise untouched, as if 

 the work had been done for the mere pleasure of having some- 

 thing to do. In the case of young Spruce, not more than 12 or 

 18 inches above ground, we have found rows with scarcely a 

 central leader left, and yet little or none of it eaten. So anxious 

 are these enemies of the planter to nibble at these leading 

 shoots of the Spruce, that many planters will only plant it 

 when it is about 3 feet in height, and then if they do nibble a 

 few of the side shoots, they will do but little harm. 



As to the modes of preparing for planting, these should be 

 regulated according to circumstances. When a vigorous growth 

 and quick return are required from a deep and fertile soil, 

 then the trenching of that soil from 15 to 18 inches deep will 

 be labour well spent. When the soil is fertile but thin, and 

 has been used at all for agricultural purposes, then the plough- 

 ing that land, and allowing it to be somewhat pulverised and 

 dry before planting, will permit of a greater amount of the good 

 soil being placed immediately round the roots of each tree, so 

 as to give it a good start at first. If the soil is thin and stony 

 in a moorland waste, but deep enough for holes to be made, 

 then these may be made at regular distances with advantage, 

 the surrounding surface knocked into the hole, and the best 

 soil used to go about the roots. If the soil is too thin and 

 stony, or has a tenacious, adhesive bottom, the only plan is to 

 resort to slit-planting, without holes, and though growth will 

 proceed slowly at first, it is amazing how trees will ultimately 

 establish themselves in such otherwise almost useless ground. 

 Though the best and quickest returns will always accrue from 

 the best land, yet relatively considered, the greatest gain is ob- 

 tained from planting the worst land, as the land was of little 

 value before, and would not have been worth cultivating for 

 corn crops. This would be found to be the fact, though little 

 credit should be given to the improved appearance of the land- 

 scape, the warmth and shelter afforded to a district, and the 

 great improvement to such poor laud by the annual shedding 

 of the leaves from the trees. 



We have often had an opportunity of noticing that tho mode 

 of doing such work is of importance. A number of years since 

 a large piece of hilly ground was trenched ; but as the good 

 soil was thin the trenching only brought up clay and chalk. 

 A neighbouring piece was rough-ploughed, and there the trees 

 were planted as alluded to above. The first part has never 

 made a plantation to this day, and never will until it be trenched 

 back again, and therefore the labour and the expense of trench- 

 ing were worse than thrown away. The ploughed part, on 

 which the roots at once indulged in the best surfaco soil, has 



