i.-.O 



JOUBNAL OF HOilTICDLTOaE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ December 9, lBfi9. 



year a large breadth of the Prince of Wales Ly the Bide of a 

 qaarter of an acre of Myatt's, and the produce c( the former 

 was more than as ranch again that of the latter, aUhon(;h the 

 KToand was treated alike in both cases. — E. Fea.-^ey, EaUiill, 

 Covmtrtj. 



GRAPES ■\VITHOITT FIRE HEAT. 



Ik April, 180^^, a^aiast a wall facing south by east, I erected 

 a lean-to Vino house after Paxton's principle, upon 4-feet brick 

 piers. The house measures inside 21 feet by 11, and is 

 covered with llfeet glass sashes. The whole border (10 feet 

 wide outside and II feet within) was first covered with 1 foot 

 thicli of brickbats, broken stones, and hard mortar, and after- 

 wards up to the piers, and sloping inwards and outwards, with 

 common garden soil. At the end of April and beginning of 

 May I planted eight Tines inside, nearly on the surface, and 

 covered the roots of each with a small quantity cf powdery, 

 dry manure. The kind? were White Frontignac, two Black 

 Hambnrgbs, Grizzly [Red] Frontignan, Lady Downe's, Buck- 

 land Sweetwater, Foster's White Seedling," and Trentham 

 Black. 



In 1866 I only had a bnnch from each ; in 1867 about ten 

 bunches from each ; and in 1868 I had an average of twenty 

 from each, the greatest weight being 2; lbs. This year I 

 have picked 203 bunches, and only bad tp.o red Grapes on the 

 Black Hamburgh and two on Lady Downe's. I encourage as 

 much leaf as possible, thin early, and my ventilators at each 

 end at the top have not been closed since March. I use the 

 syringe freely, except when the Vines are in bloom, and give 

 abundance of air whenever practicable. 



The Grizzly Frontignan this year was excellent, with berries 

 larger than usual, and very little shanked. The White Fron- 

 tignan and Bnckland Sweetwater ripen first, beginning about 

 August 20th. Many bunches of the Backland Sweetwater 

 were upwards of 1 foot long, but, being a light Grape, none 

 weighed more than 1 lb. I gathered the Lady Downe'3 yester- 

 day (November 301h), to keep for Christmas, "also two bunches 

 of Foster's W'hite Seedling, v. Inch hangs well. 



Being within two miles of the sea, I cover the outside 

 border 6 inches deep with peawced early in October, rake it off 

 in April, and then fork thinly in a coat of rotten manure. The 

 inside border also has a slight manure-dressing — W. K , Any- 

 mcring, Arundel. 



FLUE-HEATING. 



I AH glad that (he very able writer of "Doings of the Last 

 Week," in referring to boilers and hot-water heating, did not 

 omit the still useful mode of doing so by the " old flue," which 

 as a heating agent has been often unduly disparaged, con- 

 sidering the long and good service it has done in bygone years, 

 and still continues to perform in many places ; indeed it is a 

 problem now amongst many well versed in the matter whether 

 heating by this means has not been too suddenly abandoned. 

 Certainly, at the present day, the hot-water apparatus manu- 

 facturer's calling has many professors, while a really good 

 flue-constructor is cot easily found, so that when an econo- 

 mical gardener or amateur wishes to convey the smoke from 

 his furnace in a horizontal direction he has much of the duty 

 of giving directions, if not of performing the actual work, thrown 

 on his own shoulders. And however cheaply glass structures 

 may be erected, it is very unpleasant to one who has just had 

 a house put up to be told that he must expend neirly as much 

 as it has cost him to have it heated. This is no unusual case, 

 as the hot-water apparatus, however economically erected, con- 

 stitutes an expensive item in the heating cf small or single 

 houses. Where there are a cumber of houses, the cost is pro- 

 portionably much cheaper. Still, many of the most ardent vo- 

 taries of gardening can only afford one house ; and to keep the 

 frost out is a matter of importance, as, unless this be done, it is 

 next to useleFF. I was, therefore, much pleased with "E. F.'s" 

 description of a cheap flue, and I do not thick he will quarrel 

 with me for describing a somewhat similar mode of heating 

 adopted here many years ago, which has answered exceedingly 

 well, and which, I think, is suited to all similar places where 

 only a moderate warmth is wanted. Where oal.-i are cheap 

 I am not sure whether it will not compete in utility and eco- 

 nomy with the most BkilfuUy-constructed hot-water apparatus, 

 if applied to forcing houses aud the like. 



About twelve years ago two plant houses were put up here for 

 ordinary greenhouse plants, and it being thought at the time 

 that some future alterations might occasion their removal, an 



expensive hot-water heating apparatus was not thought de- 

 sirable if it could be avoided ; recourse was therefore had to a 

 flue, but instead of the square brick flue described by " B. F.," 

 socket pipes were put in on the straight lines, and ordinary 

 brickwork at the turnings. The pipes were 12 inches in dia- 

 meter inside, and HO inches in length. A slight foundation 

 was put in at the joints only, the pipes in other respects being 

 clear of the ground. This pipe flue has been in u°c ever since, 

 and seems likely to last as long as can fairly be wished ; it has 

 been once or twice cleaned out by taking off the covers of the 

 brickwork corners, which are more convenient tban bent pipes 

 would have been there. The pipes being only about li inch 

 thick, heat quickly, and answer every purpose required. I 

 ought also to state that they are made of cement, part of them 

 being of Bomon and part of Portland cement. The latter kind, 

 I em told by a skilful maker at Maidstone, will endure almost 

 as much heat as firebrick ; certainly they answer their pur- 

 pose very well in my case, and I would strongly recommend 

 them to all who require a house heated cheaply. The price 

 of the Eomau cement pipes at the time they were purchased 

 I believe was Is. 1<I. per foot run, and that of the Portland 

 cement pipes Is. Cif. The setting is a very simple affair, the 

 j lints fitting into each other, find requiring but a small quan- 

 tity of cement to make them smoke-tight, and the appearance 

 is good. As cylindrical pipes for draining purposes have 

 superseded the horseshoe-shaped tiles of earlier make, as well 

 as the brick and stone draiu, so I expect the pipe flue will in 

 like manner predominate over the square one where flue- 

 heating is adopted. — J. Eoesox. 



WATER KENDERED CHALYBEATE. 



This is mentioned in the nnmber of October 21, page 321, 

 and I write to state that seme years ago I substituted an iron 

 for a wood (oak) pump. The iron, however, had not been down 

 long before it affected the water, and I replaced the pump again 

 with an oak one. Wood pumps will only last a certain time, 

 and the " trees " often prove, or become, defective from other 

 causes than actual decay ; they are also cumbersome to lift and 

 repair. I have now for some years, whenever a new pump has 

 been required at a farm house, put down a lead one, and I 

 have used several. There has never been any complaint. abont 

 them ; they cost less than wood, and are practically imperish- 

 able. I am aware that some people cc-nsider lead deleterious 

 to the water, and there is no doubt some water does appreciably 

 act upon lead, but this is rather the exception than the rule ; 

 and it must be borne in mind that water from a lead cistern, 

 where there is a large surface of lead exposed to a email and 

 stagnant body of water, is not the same thing as the surface 

 which a 3-inch pipe would expose to water constantly renewing. 

 My present residence is now, and has been for many years, 

 supplied with water conveyed by a lead pipe, and being from a 

 reservoir considerably above the house, the pipe i3 always full, 

 and the water stationary when the taps are not used. The 

 water is remarkably pure and good. Old lead, too, when done 

 with, is cf considerable relative value to the original cost. — V. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S MEETING. 



The second meeting of this Society was held on Kovember liJtb, 

 tbe President, Mr. H. W. Bjitos, being in the chair. Amongst the 

 donations to tbe library annoncced by tbe Scrretary. W39 the fifth 

 volnnie of Gemmin;;or and Harold's Cata!o!:rne of Coleoptcra, and tbe 

 third volnmc of the Royal Society'a great Bibliojjraphical Infler. 



Mr. F. Smith eihibited on the part of Mr. Edwin Brown, of Barton- 

 opon-Treut. a very tine species of Locnst, recently captured in the 

 neigbbonrbood of that town, and which was found to be identical with 

 an unnamed species in tbe British Mnsenm, from Northern Bengal. 

 He also eibibited a series of specimens illustrating tbe economy of 

 Rbipiphoras paradoiua, a cnrioasBceile nbicb re.sides as a parasite in 

 tbe nests of the common Wasji. lu a paper in (he last nnmber of the 

 '"Annals of >7atural History," Mr. -A.. Murray !iad endeavoured to 

 prove that this Beetle only took up its abode in the Wasp's nest as a 

 retreat, and not with tbe view of feeding upon the Wasp-grubs or pupie ; 

 but tbe late Mr. Stone bad worked out the entire history of the para- 

 site, and had found its larra with tbe bead romplotely immersed in 

 the body of tbe Wasp larva, which was sucked dry within the space of 

 forty eight hours, the parasite growing as rapidly. .Specimens in this 

 position were eibibited by Mi. Smith. The late Rev. F. W. Hope 

 had also made an obsen-ation, which showed the parasitic connection 

 of the insect with tbe Wasp, to the effect that amongst the Rhipiphori 

 certain specimens were found of a gigantic size, and these had been 

 reared in the enlarged cells, and had fed on the much larger gmbs of 

 the qneen Wasps. Professor Westwood also cited the observations of 



