144 MISCELLANY OF NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



second chamber cannot he dispensed with, let you apply it to the greenhouse, 

 stove, pit, or frame; the absence of a second chamber must prove fatal, or at 

 least be very inconvenient ; hence it is that we hear of scorched leaves, wet 

 blankets, boilers, &c. Witli a second chamber none of these will be either 

 heard of or required. The second chamber can be easily made in any house ; 

 in the Orchid house or stove it may be the stage, and if a greater top-heat is re- 

 quired, draw your slide, and immediately you have a stream of warm air charged 

 with moistuie to any extent required. This I can prove by experiments in my 

 own pit. I have gone into the cold compartment when the thermometer has 

 stood at 65 3 in the propagating part ; having previously opened the door of my 

 air-chamber about a quarter of an inch, and drawn the slide, the vapour gently 

 flowing through has filled the place in a few minutes, at the same time gradually 

 raising the thermometer until it has reached CO*. As respects the heat gene- 

 rally in the propagating compartment, I certainly never heard of any construc- 

 tion that would retain heat so long with so small a portion of fire. I got 10 cwt. 

 of coke, which cost 3s. Ad. (?) ; this I have been burning these three weeks, and 

 I expect it will last three weeks longer. I have kept up a high temperature con- 

 stantly. I hava frequently left the pit at 65° at nine o'clock at night, and found 

 it at 58- in the morning. On one occasion I left it at 60 D , and found it in the 

 morning at 59°. I have often left the fire for twelve or fourteen hours, and have 

 found the heat very little diminished. Now for the expense of the apparatus. 

 The whole of the iron work, including the plate and also the stone slab, cost 

 41. 6s. ; and even this expense might be considerably reduced by purchasing a 

 ready-made stove. The hot-air chamber and flues were built by one man in 

 about a da)' and a-half. The flues I had built merely to prevent the escape of 

 heat, and to save fuel. As for repairs, I do not expect any will be required for 

 ten or fifteen years, except that the flues may want cleaning in three or four 

 years. — Isaac Davies, Larhfield Nursery, Wavertree, near Liverpool. 



Destruction op Rats, Mice, &c. — Some gardeners are in the habit of 

 employing arsenic for poisoning peas, beans, grain, meat, &c. which they put 

 in places frequented by rats and mice. This practice is exceedingly dangerous 

 for other animals, and likewise for children. It is a much more simple and far 

 less dangerous plan to rasp or crumble some bread, and mix it with equal quan- 

 tities of powdered quick-lime and sugar, and lay small parcels of this mixture 

 in the way of rats or mice. These, being very fond of sugar, eat the powder, 

 and the liquids of the stomach coming in contact with the quick-lime, produce 

 an effect analogous to that produced by water on this substance ; it becomes 

 quenched. The violent inflammation which results causes death ; and this may 

 be accelerated by placing a vessel full of water within the reach of tte animals. 

 — Revue Horticole. 



Garden Structures for Amateurs. — For a person who wishes to " try to 

 cultivate many things," but who has " little money to spare for such purposes," 

 a low brick pit, either heated by a hot-water pipe or not, would be most suitable; 

 without a pipe he might keep many greenhouse plants in winter, and grow them 

 in summer ; with a pipe and proper attention he might grow most things as well 

 as they could be grown in a greenhouse. This pit may be partially sunk if the 

 ground is dry ; and it may or may not be large enough to comprehend a narrow 

 path at the back inside, under a roofing of boards or slate, which would greatly 

 facilitate all operations of culture. The pipe should pass along the front and 

 return behind ; the glass roof should be at a very low angle ; a stage inside, of 

 any kind, or a bed of sand, gravel, or coal-ashes may be provided for the plants ; 

 the pipes should flow through a small tank, which would then serve as a reser 

 voir of tepid water for the plants ; the pathway of course may be lowered much 

 more than the rest of the pit to get head-room. Such a pit may be from six to 

 nine feet wide, and should be heated by a row of three-inch pipe passed round 

 it, attached to the smallest sized boiler. — Gardeners' Journal. 



