December 2, 1869. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTOEE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



435 



ammonia must have been lost. We pass by Mr. Pearson's 

 observation that fresh gaano is richer in ammonia than old 

 Rnano, because the latter has been move exposed to the rains, 

 although Ihat is not correct, the gua.no latitudes being cha- 

 racterised by a singular absence of rain, but the ammonia would 

 be diminished, as he rightly observes, by fermeatation. He 

 is not correc'. in saying that carbonic acid would be little loss, 

 because experiment shows it is beueficiiil »ben apfiUed to the 

 roots of jilants, and he is equally incorrect in stating it is 

 impossible to occur in the absence of fermentation — an old 

 stick in the process of decaying emits carbonic acid, and decay 

 commences in a straw as soon as it is dead and damp. 



The letter from the clever chemist which Mr. Pearson appends, 

 needs little comment. The two iirst paragraphs in it are re- 

 plied to in what we have already suiJ. We never stated, nor 

 thought, that the uric acid of urine would be dissipated by its 

 exposure to the sun and air, but urine rapidly decomposes, 

 and what becomes even in the freshest stable litter of the free 

 ammonia so rapidly developed from the urine of the horee 

 that it has to be fixed by gypsum or other agent in order to 

 render a stable's atmosphere healthy ? With the last sentence 

 in the letter, " In my opinion it ^muck] is best to be ploughed 

 in as soon as convenient," we fully concur, adding only, we 

 wonld not put it on until it is convenient to plough it in. 



How much stable manure loses 'oy long exposure to the sun 

 and air will never be known decidedly until a fresh specimen 

 be analysed, and a similar specimen be analysed after a long 

 exposure to the sun and wind. We should like this to be done, 

 and whichever opinion the result sustains we are quite sure 

 Mr. Pearson would rejoice as much as we should ; for the 

 object we all have in view is the establishment of truth. — Eds] 



KEEPING THE POLLEN OF AUCUBA 

 JAPONICA. 

 In answer to "M.," in the .lournal of the 25th nit., I re- 

 member that at a meeting of the Linneau Society nearly two 

 years ago, it was stated that in order to fertilise the female 

 flowers of Aucuba jipouica, cultivators are compelled, from the 

 fact of the male pUnt flovvering earlier, to preserve the pollen 

 in paper, and that pollen so kept, even for twelve or eighteen 

 months, is as eiiicacioQS as that recently obtained. — B. Dayoon 

 Jaokso:;. 



CHEAP PLANT HOUSE. 



I HAVE just finished erecting a small greeDhouse, and as the 

 construction involves tso or three novelties perhaps you may 

 be able to find a corner for this letter, in order to encourage 

 those amateurs who, like myself, have limited means and large 

 desires with respect to horticulture, and who are not afraid of 

 a little hard work in Flora's service. I may preface ray account 

 by saying all the work has been done by myself, with the 

 single exception of grooving the rafters — bricklaying, carpentry, 

 glazing, and everything, and I am by vocation none of these 

 trades, and prior to building my house never before laid a 

 hundred bricks in mortar in my life. I have acted on the 

 principle cf a fixed roof and sides, and ventilation by means of 

 the four openings in front and the two openings at the back of 

 the roof. The frame of the house serves also the purpose of 

 Bash-bars for the glass, so that the wood is economised ; and 

 instead of rabbets, and putty, and all that paraphernalia, the 

 rafters are simply grooved about one- eighth of an inch wide and 

 a rjuarter of an inch deep, and the glass slid into the grooves — 

 not lapped, but simply placed edge to edge, or one sheet butted 

 up against another, as recommended by Mr. C^nnell, of Wool- 

 wich. As there is naturally a little space left in the groove 

 after the glass is in, I have packed or caulked this from the 

 inside of the house with single strands, in most instances, of 

 tarred string and ratline, and placed caps of wood the whole 

 length of the rafters on the outside. The rafters are dovetailed 

 into the front plate. 



Now, as to the roof being watertight, I fancy I hear some of 

 your readers questioning the fact, but I can assure tliem it is 

 perfectly impervious to any ordinary rain. I do not know what 

 it will be in tornadoes and hurricanes, but my experience up 

 to the present time certainly is that it is perfectly successful. 

 There is more light in the house, it is free from the dirt and 

 grit which always accumulate under laps, and, what is of equal 

 if not greater importance, a broken square can be taken out 

 and replaced in half the time a glazier would take — indeed 

 withoQt calling in the aid of any glazier at all, provided some 



sheets of the right size are at hand. All that is necessary U 

 to take out the strand of ratline from underneath, and draw the 

 peg or screw in the front plate which prevents the glass sliding 

 down, and the lower panes can then be pushed np in the place 

 of the broken one and a new sheet put in at the bottom, the 

 ratline replaced, and the work is done. 



I come now to one of the principal recommendations— its 

 portability. In my position I may have to remove at a short 

 notice, and in that case all ihat is nccessaiy to be done would 

 be to take out the squares and pack them in the case in which 

 I received them, and the framewoik of the house will take to 

 pieces like a bedstead. Of course the front brickwoik wonld 

 have to be sacrificed, but then old or new bricks are not dillicult 

 to obtain anywhere. 



I heat the house by means of a flue. The stokehole is to the 

 right of the door; it takes up but little room, and is ready of 

 access. Instead of the ordinary furnace door and frame 1 have 

 a plate of iron that slides backwards and forwards. I may say 

 the flue draws admirably, and I have little difficulty in creating 

 any amount of heat. The whole cost of the house, ieckor.ing 

 materials only, the work being done by myself, is under £i 

 (about £3 10s.), and the dimensions are — outside measurement, 

 1.3 feet long, 7 feet 2 inches wide, 7 feet high at back, and 

 5 det high in front. I used about ihreo hundred old bricks 

 for the wall, pointed them down, and washed them over with 

 red ochre on the outside, and they look almost as good as new. 

 The size of the glass was 18 inches by 12. I have made pro- 

 vision for the frame containing the glass in the dour to swing, 

 if necessary, so as to increase ventilation. I need hardly say 

 this has made an ornamental and substantial house, and weil 

 repays the labour and trouble expended on its erection. I 

 would strongly, as an amateur, advise those who, like myself, 

 are enthusiastic lovers of flowers, to procure a house like this, 

 and larger, of course, if their means will permit. It meets the 

 objection often urged, that in case of removal the house wonld 

 be seriously damaged, if not destroyed ; it provides for the 

 ready repair of a broken square ; it gives the maximum amount 

 of light— a great desideratum ; and if a person only possesses 

 a moderate amount of mechanical knowledge I fear no failure, 



! provided he do not let a few difficulties dishearten him. 



j I am anxious to have a few climbers, would you kindly re- 

 commend me about three with showy flowers and foliage ? — 



A YoKKSniKE AlIiTEDR. 



[We can easily believe all yon say about the little the glass 

 house has cost you, but then it is not everyone who can tura 

 his hand to carpentering, and bricklaying on his own account. 

 On the principle of the division of labour, it is anything but 

 always the cheapest way of doing things, if the time and labour 

 have to be counted. We know of some cases where mechanics 

 and small tradesmen have had their little places put up, and 

 they found it better to employ a mechanic to work in his over- 

 time, whilst they too worked at their own trade, and thus made 

 the money to pay their neighbours. In many cases that could 

 not be done, and your example then would be worth following. 

 The capping of your sash-bar rafters will be a security against 

 wet, otherwise caps might have been dispensed with, as they 

 will shade considerably. There will be no danger of wet find- 

 ing its way in between the squares, if at all well out, but if the 

 squares are at all tight in the grooves there will be datger 

 from expansion. The mode of replacing a broken square is a 

 very good one, as the removing and recaulking will take leeg 

 time than moving and fixing a square in the usual way. Wa 

 have objected to grooving when putty was used, as it was so 

 difficult to get it and the bits of glass out. Your plan disposes 

 of such objections. Your air will be quite suflicient, except in 

 very hot days, and then you can open the swing in the door, or 

 the door iteelf. The portability of your house would have 

 been better secured, if your front had been of wood, and in so 

 many moveable pieces. We are glad you have used a flue, rb 

 such a house unheated loses more than half its value. 



For climbers we would recommend Mandevilla suaveolens, 

 Tacsonia moUiesim?!, and Passiflora racemosa canulea.] 



BOILERS. 



I NOTicK in your columns many allusions to the co.st of heat- 

 ing by hot water, when employed in small structures; bnt I 

 believe that this results from a peculiar fact — that very few 

 people, comparatively, are acquainted with the npiight boiler* 

 sometimes in use, and where in use, I fancy, deservedly 

 esteemed. I had a small one by Stevenson, with an orna- 



