June IS, 187-4. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOSTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENER. 



487 



in working ; in attention almost costless, not requiring even 

 oil. If I want to see economy, simplicity, and efficiency com- 

 bimed I look at the water ram. It is a " confined labourer " 

 more than worthy of its hire. Get one and respect it. — 

 J. Wrigut. 



WiLTsniKE. — We have had frost here three mornings in 

 sucoessiou. On Saturday morning, the ISth, the Potatoes in 

 the neighbourhood were damaged considerably. We are also 

 getting dried-up very fast, having had no rain worth speaking 

 of since April 7th. — ^'W. T., LomjUat, Wilts. 



A, Block, 

 «, Cork. 



c, Glass. 



D, Water-groove. 



A NEW MODE OF GLAZING. 



As I understand the writer of the article in the Journal of 

 April yth, 1874, p. 287, the mode is thus — 

 But it so, why not substi- 

 tute a strip of wood the 

 •entire length of the bar 

 for the "blocks?" It 

 would be firmer, less work, 

 and the glass could be 

 wedged at any part ; or a 

 groove might be cut out 

 of the solid bar with a 

 *' plough." I am not sur- 

 prised that the water- 

 groove is unsatisfactory 

 — the weak " link " in 

 the " chain ! " In my time I have had a good deal to contend 

 with as regards the insinuating propensity of water through 

 •cracks in walls, gutters, etc., and nothing I have ever tried has 

 been erjual to old nail bag. Putty and cement are not " fit to 

 black its shoes" — they crack; but the strand out of an old 

 nail bag saturated with white lead can be caulked-in, and 

 there it will stick, and does not crack. 



Now, why not substitute this, or something of the nature, for 

 the cork ? It would be elastic and watertight ; and, put in with 

 a flat-pointed stick, the glass could be made as tight as wished, 

 and there would be no ins and outs for du't to lodge ; or the 

 glass might be bedded on the strands, or flat felt made on 

 jiurpose, and the cork wedges used. 



This mode would certainly not admit of removing the glass 

 and replacing it twice a-year ; but I doubt much whether this 

 " facility " would prove practically worth anything. — V. 



[I for one am much obliged to " V." for the suggestion of a 

 packing material instead of either putty or cork, but how far 

 the fibrous substance of which nail bags are made will answer 

 on the score of durability I hardly know, as I expect the nail 

 bags of the present day are different from those of yore, which 

 were made of hemp, for a great deal of sacking and other pack- 

 ing cloth is now made from jute, and probably nail bags are 

 also manufactured, in part at least, of the same fibre, which is 

 inferior to hemp in durability. When used in conjunction 

 with white lead it may be durable enough, and the idea is both 

 ingenious and practical. I cannot, however, agree with sub- 

 stitutiag a continuous slip of wood for the blocks and wedges, 

 for the slip cannot possibly be made to fit so tightly to the 

 permanent portion of the bar but that the wet will find its way 

 in ; and as it has to be taken off each time any repairs are 

 wanted, the unuaiUng and nailing again would soon destroy 

 the small piece of timber there is to work upon, so that I find 

 it would not work satisfactorily. The groove cut in the bar by 

 plougbing-out a place to receive the glass is an old affair. I 

 have the remains of some frames by me that were made in that 

 way before 184i), whoa I first became aotjuainted with them ; 

 but as all the glass had to ba put in at the bottom, and a little 

 putty was still used, it was a very difficult matter to push a 

 square up to the top when it became fixed lower down, so that 

 it was ottf n found necessary to chip away a part of the timber 

 that substituted the putty to enter a square, and this being fre- 

 quently repeated, the original condition was much departed 

 from. A groove wide enough to receive the cork wedges might 

 do better, but then there is the difficulty about wet driving in 

 at the edges, which is, as your correspondent justly observes, 

 the week point in the mode alluded to in April; and to remedy 

 which I asked the assistance of others whose pursuits enabled 

 them to ofl'er suggestions. To " V." I am much indebted, 

 and hope something will result from the caulking material he 

 recommends. The great difficulty seems to be the liability of 

 60 many things to shrink under the hot sun they must endure ; 

 and although they may swell and become watertight when rain 



falls, they will not always become so immediately the first drops 

 fall, as we know the best-made canvas tent lets water through 

 for a time, although afterwards, when the material is thoroughly 

 wetted, it does not do so, and in this easel find the complaints 

 of drip inside will be very great for a time. 



As "V.'s" experience has brought him in contact with 

 other matters, might I ask if he knows of any simple mode of 

 preventing damp striking through brick walls only 9 inches 

 thick, and that have been plastered on the bricks inside ? JIany 

 years ago I applied a wash outside that was recommended in 

 the Builder, but it did no good, and a coatiug with oil has been 

 since tried without benefit. Paint is objected to, and plaster 

 would alter the design of the building, and for reasons needless 

 to explain battening inside cannot be done. If " V." can 

 suggest a remedy, he will confer a benefit on many now 

 puzzled to rectify an error too often made in the building 

 trade. Further information on glazicg without putty will also 

 be acceptable, as I am certain the mode recommended is 

 capable of vast improvement. — J. Eobsox.j 



CAUSE OF FEUIT CRACKING. 



TocK notice of the explanation given by an English gardener 

 to account for the cracking of certain fruits and vegetables, 

 should have received attention before this, but a press of 

 labour prevented it. The means devised by you to prove the 

 presumed law do not, in my humble opinion, go far enough — 

 i t'., they constitute only half an experiment. Perhaps my 

 explanation of the phenomenon may be more clearly compre- 

 hended by the general reader if I briefly state the law of en- 

 dosmose and exosmose. 



Two fluids, separated by a partition or diaphragm, which 

 one liquid wets (adheres to) more readily than the other, are 

 thrown into currents. The liquid wetting the partition more 

 easily, flows through the more rapidly, and consequently sends 

 the greater quantity through the partition, and is called the 

 endosmotic current, from two Greek words, signifying impul- 

 sion or flowing inward. The liquid wetting the partition less 

 easily sends the less quantity through the partition, and is 

 called the exosmotic current, from two Greek words signifying 

 expulsion or flowing outward. 



Now, chemists have learned by a series of experiments upon 

 various partitions, which liquids, compared with each other, 

 are endosmotic and which are exosmotic. Pure water is en- 

 dosmotic compared with all the juices of fruits and vegetables, 

 either pure or diluted with more or less water. " A Tomato 

 placed into a saucer of water for twenty-four hours" is not 

 the manner in which to perform the experiment. Nature's 

 plan for cracking fruits and vegetables is entirely different. 

 Those of us who have closely watched the cracking of fruits 

 and vegetables upon healthy parent stalks, have observed this 

 phenomenon after a " spell of wet weather," as noticed by the 

 English gardener. 



By some means, which I do not profess to understand 

 thoroughly, the juices become diluted, and extended to the 

 full capacity of the fruit or vegetable, which accounts for the 

 " watery " taste so often complained of when fruits and vege- 

 tables ripen in very rainy weather. 



Now, if the rain continue, or if it continue cloudy for any 

 length of time, by means of which the skin of the fruit or 

 vegetable becomes covered with moisture, endosmotic action 

 sets in, the skin is distended beyond its capacity, and it cracks. 

 I have performed the experiment time and again, by keeping 

 the ground surrounding the plant saturated for several days, 

 until the fruit or vegetable becomes distended, as I think, by 

 capillary attraction ; then apply water to the outside, and the 

 fruit will invariably crack. You perceive that I fulfil all the 

 conditions of nature by saturating soil and air. 



I have discovered that fruits with entire skins are most 

 easily cracked — viz.. Tomatoes, Grapes, Plums, Currants, &c. 

 Those with a hairy covering or furze, like the Gooseberry and 

 Peach, with those having an opening like the calyx of the Crab 

 Apple, Apple, and Pear, appear to be provided with a valvular 

 arrangement existing in the hair, furze, or calyx, b3' which the 

 excessive moisture escapes. The silicious nature of the skin 

 of a mature Apple entirely prevents the cracking by the means 

 that I have briefly attempted to explain, as water does not 

 wet it. I have frequently enlarged Gooseberries by suspend- 

 ing them over water, and Apples, by washing with water 

 slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid, without any evidence 

 of cracking. 



Almost all observers have seen Plums and Grapes that have 



