300 



JOUKNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



( AprU IG, 1874. 



no means least, apparatus — it is that described by Mr. Kobson, 

 iu your issue of the 2ud inst., as " a boiler heated from a fire 

 which also acts as a sort of limekiln;" and he adds, " I shall be 

 much surprised if a year or two do not consign it to neglect, if 

 not oblivion." I can assure Mr. Eobson if he saw the appa- 

 ratus working he would not speak so lightly of it, and I often 

 wonder that any practical man could have any doubts about 

 it. The very fact of a good saddle boUer being on the top of a 

 red-hot limekiln ought to convince even the prejudiced of its 

 heating powers ; and for the benefit of such of your readers as 

 have not seen it, or have had no opportunity of judging of its 

 merits, I will state some facta which I consider prove it superior 

 to all other apparatuses yet invented. 



Our apparatus, being on a small scale, requires attsntion — 

 i.e., drawing and charging twice in the twenty-four hours, but 

 only twice — once in the morning and once in the evening, and 

 this occupies about an hour each time, and is done by an or- 

 dinary labouring man. Thus, in the first instance it is superior 

 to any other system — namely, effecting a saving of time and 

 labour, and affording an absolute certainty of a steady heat, for 

 when it is charged in the morning the gardener need never 

 look at it through the day, and when charged in the evening 

 he may rest quietly on his bed, and have no fears about the 

 heat of his houses. In the next place it is superior to any 

 other system in point of economy, for other systems are a 

 heavy tax, but this is no expense. I imagine some will ask, 

 " Does anyone mean to say that a large range of houses can 

 be heated free of expense?" Yes, it is an accomplished fact, 

 and in some cases there may be a considerable profit besides. 

 In a locality where culm is cheap and limestone at hand, the 

 Ume that is burned will pay for culm and labour, and show 

 a considerable balance in favour of the system. Of course, 

 where culm is dear and limestone to be brought a long dis- 

 tance, the result in point of economy will be in proportion. 



The following statement will show the result of our expe- 

 rience since the apparatus was erected. 



From Dec. ISth, 1873, to April 10th, 1874. 



£ s. rf. 

 Quantity of lime burned 360 barrels, valued at 28. per barrel. . 36 



£ s. 



Culm used to bum lime, 18 tons at 12s. Gd 11 5 



Carriage of culm 11 .5 



A man's time, including a borae to di-aw limestone, I „ -,<, og q q 



about 9s. per week [ 



Balance in favour of apparatus £5 17 



Our new range, which is heated by Mr. Cowan's system, 

 consists of a conservatory, three vineries, and a Peach house — 

 in all 100 feet long, and was erected by Messrs. Boyd, of Paisley ; 

 and the whole, including the heating apparatus, is much ad- 

 mired by all who have seen it. — Thomas Clarke, Gardener to 

 Lord Clanmorris, Creg-clare, Ireland. 



GLEICHENIAS. 



■ I p.EjoioE to find from " Expeeto Ceede's " letter in our 

 Journal of the 0th inst., that I am personally known to him, 

 and I assure him that he wUl receive a hearty welcome at my 

 house whenever he may honour rue with a visit. He will, I 

 hope, see not only the Gleichenias to admire, but a really fine 

 collection of Ferns, British and exotic. I am just now remov- 

 ing them all from my late to my present residence, and I hope 

 in a little while, with your kind permission and indulgence, to 

 write for some of the readers of " our Journal " interested in 

 the culture of my favourites, a description of my new ferneries, 

 their style, proportions, mode of shading, heating, and form 

 of construction generally, with an account also of their con- 

 tents, which wUl, I trust, be of some little interest to all, and 

 of use to some of your readers. 



I think that a considerable difference exists between my 

 compost for these grand plants and that recommended by our 

 friend your correspondent. I use no peat whatever; good, 

 strong, fibrous loam (not light and sandy) and a little leaf 

 mould. It is the peat that I dislike, as I do not think it good 

 for them. I am afraid my views on a cool fernery and a warm 

 greenhouse differ rather from those of " Exi^erto Crede." I 

 call a warm greenhouse a kind of stove, or approaching it at 

 any rate. Take Gleichenia flabellata for an example. I grew 

 it last year with my British Ferns — no heat at all beyond 

 what a flow-and-return 2-inch pipe could give on the north 

 side of the house on a damp or very cold day, and there it 

 flourished amazingly, defying those vUlaiuous thrips which 

 are the great enemy of all Ferns, and expanding its fine glossy 



fronds in all their beauty. I shall do the same this year. 

 That treatment I call decidedly cold. My large specimen of 

 rupestris is now growing in the same house with my plants of 

 Adiantum farleyense, DavalUa Mooreana, Gymnogramma3,&c. 

 This is true stove heat, and some of my other Gleichenias, 

 microphylla, dioarpa, hecistophylla, and spelunca: are in an- 

 other house several degrees cooler. This I call a warm green- 

 house. A cold and a cool fernery are with me identical, and I 

 always so speak of them. 



I should Uke " Experto Ckede " to come here about a week 

 before the Manchester Show if he could manage it, and to 

 stay with me till he is tired. Possibly I may meet him at the 

 sale of Mr. Micholls' plants the end of this month. — T. M. 

 Shuttlewoeth, F.E.H.S., Howich House, Pres(on. 



NOTES FBOM MY GABDEN, 1873.— No. 7. 



BOSES. 



I HAVE already mentioned, in speaking of the soil of my 

 garden, that while it is suitable for most of the things that I 

 grow, it is not so suitable as I could wish for Boses ; and 

 indeed, were it not for that admirable stock the Manetti, I 

 should not be able to grow them at all. The Briar would not 

 live long or do well in the light rich soil which I can appro- 

 priate to my Eose garden, and I am therefore one of those who 

 " go in " for Manetti eon (unore. The " howl," too, to which 

 I have given utterance more than once on the subject of orange 

 fungus will show that I have met with discomfiture in my 

 attempts to grow them ; but this I have shared in common 

 with many whose soil is of a very different character to mine, 

 and I can therefore hardly attribute the invasion of the enemy 

 to that cause. 



I am not able, owing to a limited space, to grow more than 

 six hundred Roses, and these are planted in beds 80 feet long 

 and 4 feet wide. Besides, I have a bed of 20 feet square, and 

 a border of about 80 feet, with a double line of plants. From 

 these some are weeded each year, and some are added to them 

 as new varieties establish their claims to recognition ; and this 

 cannot be, except in rare instances, until the second year, for a 

 Rose must be a very good one indeed that can, after the in- 

 cessant propagation to which it is subjected, be suificiently 

 good to make its mark on its first introduction, and it is utterly 

 useless to trust to the descriptions given by the introducers. 

 Of course I manage to grow all the most favourite kinds, and 

 in our more southerly climate the Tea Koses do tolerably well 

 in the open ground. I have, however, a few against the low 

 wall of my greenhouse outside, and against my house have 

 Cloth of Gold, Ei-ve d'Or, Mari'chal Niel, and Solfaterre. The 

 first of these gave me some splendid blooms, and it gives pro- 

 mise of a good show this year. The plant is young, but is 

 making rapid progress budded on the Manetti ; it is, however, 

 a mere baby in comparison with one on a friend's house in my 

 parish, of which I hope to say something when it is in bloom. 

 Mine has received no particular treatment, and its blooming 

 freely is one of those freaks which characterise it. The growth 

 of Euve d'Or has been something marvellous. It has iu the 

 course of three years completely clothed the side of the house 

 where it is, and its growth is entirely different from other 

 Noisettes. Instead of long dangling branches, it throws out 

 all over it a multitude of shoocs, and most of these carry 

 buds. I cannot understand the complaints that have been 

 made by some Eose-growers as to its not blooming freely, for I 

 had a very large number. MarCchal Niel is only just planted. 

 One I had was so injured by excessive high winds that I had 

 to discard it and place a younger plant instead. Solfaterre 

 has been planted at the front of the house facing west, and bids 

 fair to cover it well. 



The light soil of my garden, rich though it is, requires some 

 addition in the way of clayey loam. It is a difficult matter to 

 manage here. I have this year added some, but it is, I fear, 

 of too light a nature to do much good. The uivasion of orange 

 fungus occurred just after the Roses had bloomed. The spots 

 soon made their appearance ; the whole plant became infected, 

 and then the foliage dropped off ; and nothing could possibly 

 present a more desolate appearance than the beds did at a 

 time when they ought to have looked luxuriantly green. I 

 found in my going about last year that iu different parts of 

 the country the same complaints were made ; for by Mr. Camm 

 in the far south, Mr. Fish in East AngUa, and by growers in 

 the north the ravages of orange fungus were mourned over. 

 In order to try and stop its ravages I this winter have given 

 my bushes a good coating of lime, and have this spring tried 



