166 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTICULTDBS AMD COTTAGE aAKDEMEB. 



r Fofccurr 3<> UK. 



cbiofly of Foftif^li chalk stone. There was a drnin from tlic 

 bottuiu that prevcutcd anything like stagnant water ; but the 

 rains trickling through ami clown the lull so moistened tbo 

 chalk that the ico, amouutini; to twcuty-five or thirty loads, w x'U 

 packed, was all gone by July. The place altogetlier was email. 

 The circumstances of the benevolent gentleman did not war- 

 rant a large outlay ; but it took very httle labour to widen the 

 place to take out more chalk, and as there was a lot of old 

 Btnds, imd tarred boards from an old bani, tit only for firewood, 

 with these tbo sides and top were covered, 1 foot from tlie 

 chalk. Any boles were daubed-up with tliick clay, mortar, and 

 chopped straw, and, the door being left open, when all was 

 tolerably dry a thin coating of hot tar was given to the old 

 boards, and all was quite dry before winter. For several years 

 the hou.se was capable of keeping ice >mtil Jauumy and i'et- 

 rnary. \Vc afterwards learned that when the boards would stand 

 no longer the ice did not keep so well, tbouKb packed round 

 with straw. The straw became damp, and then the ice melted, 

 leaving only a cone in the centre. It was fo\ind that tbo toji 

 of the house, fonued of tlie natural chalk, with a covering of 

 earth and rough herbage ou the surface, seldom showed signs 

 of damp inside, whilst the side walls of chalk always became 

 moist in the spring. It was suggested to run up inside a 

 double- sparred fence of old hurdles, Ac, with a space of 

 8 inches between the two sides of this fence, and this space 

 was stuffed iirmly with dry fein and straw, the inner fence 

 being fully a foot from the wall. Hove, again, the ice kept 

 fairly when thus isolated from the dam]) wall. It would be 

 well if any person disposed to trj- a hole in a chalk hiU were 

 first to make sure whether the chalk would remain dry in 

 winter and spring. 



The other fact came under our notice on our last visit to 

 Trentham, when staj-ing for the night at the admirable hotel 

 at Stoke station. On going round the grounds of the hotel in 

 the morning, admiring the fine sheet of water, and noticing a 

 pioturesiiue mound in the garden, the housekeeper informed 

 us that it was their ice-house, that it had been made at a great 

 expense, that due care had been taken to keei' it dry, to ventilate 

 it, &c., but that the ice could not be kept m it for any length 

 of time in summer, and that a large sum was spent every year 

 in obtaining ice from Liverpool and other places. Wo were 

 vei7 anxious to examine the house, but the time-table of the 

 trains could not be trifled with, and as yet we have no more 

 light on the subject, than just the idea that from the proximity 

 of the tine piece of water, damp might have been the chief 

 cause of the failure, and that a double-walled house, all above 

 ground, with at least a foot between the walls, either left open 

 or packed with dry sawdust, and a thick-thatched roof reaching 

 nearly to the gi-ound would have been more likely to have 

 answered. As the subject is of some importance, it would be 

 well if some of our gardening friends in the vicinity would 

 ascertain if the ice-house at the hotel is still so far a failure, 

 and if so try and trace the cause, as if we knew the cause of 

 failm-e, or the remedy fonnd efifectual in such circumstances, 

 it would be useful for futm-e guidance. 



Prepared an earth-pit for receiving as soon as possible some 

 fermenting material for early Potatoes, &c. Gave air in sun- 

 shine, and when mild, to Potatoes in pots becoming ready for 

 nse, and to successions in frames. Did the same with young 

 Eadishes, Carrots, &e., protecting them at night with a' little 

 rough hay saved from the shrubby parts of the pleasure gi-ound. 

 Gave abundance of air to Peas uuder protection, as our gi-ound 

 is not lit to receive them out of doors, and we do not yet choose 

 to tmu out any of the dwarf Tom Thmnb into the orchard- 

 houses, where they did so well last year, because we are keeping 

 these houses open night and duy, when it is safe to do so, from 

 the absence of wind, in order tliat the frosts may nip the trees 

 a httle, and keep them back. As yet we have only noticed a 

 few buds of Peaches begiiming to show colour, and we want 

 none to open in these unheated houses for some time yet. Put 

 some unused iron rails on the top of pots in the front of the 

 Peach-house, covered them over with moss, and on these set a 

 row of 1-2-inch pots, furnished with nice stubby plants of the 

 Tom Thumb Pea, and when, some time hence, they are removed 

 to the orchard-bouse to perfect the fruit, the same improvised 

 shelf will come in for Strawberries or Kidney Beans, though 

 w-o generally keep the latter out of our houses. Sowed more 

 Kidney Beans in tive-inch pots, to be ultimately planted out or 

 transferred to larger pots. Had to shut up a cat in the 

 Mushroom-house, for, after pretty well clearing it of snails and 

 slugs, a colony of mice found the small sweet Mushrooms more 

 palatable than any bait we could give them. 



Kidney Beans, C'uciuubers, Xc., rejoicLnl in the Banehine that 

 attended the frosty mornings. Cucumbors needed a little 

 shading iu the brightest hours of the clearest days, the sudden 

 transitiou from cloudy foggy weather to clear suusbiuo affect- 

 ing jilauts very much in proportion to the high tcmi)erature in 

 which they are growing. Hence the importance of keeping the 

 tcmperatDre as low as to be safe in dull weather, as heat with- 

 out bright light leads more to mere expansion than addition 

 of substance ; and the tliimier and more delicate the foUage, the 

 less can it stand at once a sudden demand of evaporation in 

 sunshine, and the roots cannot at once meet that sudden de- 

 mand. A shglit shade, or even a syringing overhead, is generally 

 better in such circumstances than any root-deluging, as either 

 will prevent an excess of evaporation until the reciprocal 

 balance between roots ajid leaves is restored. i"or all tender 

 plants iu heat a sUght shade is more important in these sudden 

 changes from dull weather to bright, than at any other time. 



tScorchinii. — In the middle of a line Cucumber leaf ou a plant 

 growing in a pit, wo noticed yesterday a piece about the size of 

 a two-shiUing-piece as thoroughly scorched as if a hot cinder 

 had been laid on it, and it was some time liefore we could find 

 out the cause. At last we found a blister on the glass, near the 

 front of the sash, and a long way from the scoixhed leaf, 60 

 that from its position the one could have no iutluence on the 

 other in the midtUe of summer, but ou holding a pole in a 

 line with the bUster on the glass and the scorched piece of the 

 leaf, we found the line to be identical iu position with the rays 

 from the suu a short time after noon. Tbo blister being 

 daubed with a httle paint, will act no longer as a concentrating 

 lens. JIuch of the cheap plate glass is well studded with these 

 scars, and hence scorching and burning are often attributed to 

 the WTong cause. 



Went ou with other forcing much the same as last week. 



rr.CIT GAItDEK. 



Vine-borders. — ^We intended to have fresh-bordered a part at 

 least of a vinery, but foimd we could not obtain the necessary 

 material iu time, and, therefore, must defer it. Meanwhile 

 scraped off the black exhausted soil from the surface. Gave 

 a surfacing of nice fibry manure, and covered with Utter 

 to keep out the cold, placing the warmest next U»e new Boil, 

 and using a depth of about 15 inches altogether. We gene- 

 rally do this in the autumn, or at least much earlier ; but as 

 we do not mean to force much, the covering will do in the 

 meantime. The buds are beginning to show from having been 

 forced earlier previously. In the present case we could not 

 help om-selves as to material, having had nothing outhe border 

 but a httle stubble to keep frost out, and that is now laid on 

 the surface of the litter again. 



With Vine roots w hoUy out of doors we prefer covering the 

 border, so as to secure a temperate heat in it before we begin 

 to excite the tops in early forcing, and more especially if the 

 roots are near the surface. We do not conclude, however, though 

 we have had scores of hotbeds and frames or Vine-borders, that 

 there can be no danger from such hotbeds if not looked after. 

 We Icuow that heat from such beds goes down slowly, but it 

 does go down — so much so that, perhaps, three times in the 

 course of our Uves we knew of roots of Vines being burned, 

 and rendered useless, from a huge bed of fermenting material 

 on the border. When much of this heating is done it is a good 

 pkan to have trial-sticks and thermometers at different depths 

 in the border. In early forcing we have several times resorted 

 to a mode which we first saw practised by Mr. Pauiel Jndd. 

 Iron pipes were laid longitudinally along the border some 2 or 

 3 inches from the surface, with ends open outside the border, 

 the openings being stuffed with a ball of moss or a plug. In 

 this piping a thermometer was placed, fixed fimily to a long 

 slender pole. On puUiug out the pole so as to see the thermo- 

 meter, you could always see the degree cf heat at that depth 

 from the surface. If that stood at from 70' to 73° there would 

 be no danger, as from 8 to 12 inches deeper the heat would be 

 reduced 5° or so. Where such attention cannot be giv en it is 

 much safer even for early forcing, when practicable, to cover 

 the borders early in the autimin with about lo inches of dry 

 litter or fern, and so as to throw off a good deal of the wet. 

 If covers or canvas can be used for the latter purpose so 

 much the better. This will secure a temperate heat in the 

 border, with no danger of overheating. To secure such an ad- 

 vantage, however, from mere dry litter, the covering must be 

 applied before the ground is cooled, so as to retain a portion ol 

 the summer heat — that is to say, put the covering on the border 

 from the middle to the cud of Sei>tember. 



StraicberrU-s. — In simny days drew a brush and a dry hand 



