HOT 



310 



HOT 



which goes round the pit. There are 

 cavities in the wall to permit the steam 

 from below to pass to the top of the 

 pit. The aperture to these can be 

 closed at pleasure, thus insuring a per- 

 fect command over the moisture of the 

 atmosphere. There is a chamber which 

 formerly contained a flue belonging to 

 the house that occupied the place of 

 the one I am now describing. This 

 chamber has been left with the view of 

 its being useful for filling with hot dung 

 either for the purpose of assisting to 

 maintain the heat of the house, or for 

 destroying insects. The tanks and 



pipes cannot both be worked at the 

 same time, but they are fitted with 

 stop-cocks, so that either can be work- 

 ed at pleasure, and a few hours in the 

 middle of the day, when the pipes are 

 not wanted, is found amply sufficient to 

 keep up the bottom-heat, as the mass 

 of material when once heated retains 

 its heat for a considerable time." — 

 Gard. Chron. 



Melon and Cucumber Pit. — For this, 

 Mr. Glendinning, the scientific nursery- 

 man, of Turnham Green, has given the 

 following plans and description. 



Fig. 87. 



JEleueUion of [he 

 J,ine A A 



Explanation of the Plan. — a, Bur- 

 bidge and Healy's boiler ; b b, iron 

 troughs; cc, pipes; d d, iron troughs 

 as at 6 6 in plan ; e e, pipes as at c c in 

 plan ; //, copper tubes fastened to the 

 troughs to admit steam when required ; 

 g, wire trellis ; h h h, convenient places 



Fig. 88. 



for the growth of sea kale, rhubarb or 

 asparagus, or keeping tubers of any kind 

 during the winter. 



" This pit is intended for melons in 

 summer, and to preserve pelargoniums 

 or other plants in winter. As the ob- 

 ject in constructing it is more for the 

 purpose of experiment than the perma- 

 nent culture of melons, I have designed 

 it so that pines may be substituted with- 

 out any alteration whatever; indeed 

 any kind of plant which such a structure 

 is capable of receiving, and at the same 

 time requiring protection, and in a 

 warm temperature, may be very advan- 

 tageously introduced, the hot-water ap- 

 paratus being so contrived as to com- 

 mand both bottom and surface-heat, 



