300 PORTABLE GREENHOUSES. [CHAP. XT. 



basin, which is surmounted by the plate c. Li 

 the foot, a, is placed a tin or earthenware lamp, 

 d. Three or four inches above the wick is 

 placed a short iron cistern, e, supported by three 

 feet, which rest on the bottom of the basin, b ; 

 it is three inches deep, seven inches in diameter, 

 and is fed by a pipe and funnel, f, into which 

 water is poured until it can be seen at the 

 bottom of the funnel, which shows that the 

 cistern is full. The plate c is formed of com- 

 mon red earthenware, and consists of two cir- 

 cular trenches, g g and h h, four inches broad, 

 and as much deep. These trenches are filled 

 with sand, and in the trench g are placed, in 

 two rows, eighty-six very small pots. In the 

 trench h are forty more pots ; so that in the 

 two nearly 130 cuttings may be struck at one 

 time. In the foot, a, is a door, fastened by a 

 button, to admit of taking out the lamp, and of 

 replacing it when needful. The lamp is supplied 

 with the air necessary for combustion by eight 

 holes bored at i ; by eight still smaller ones at 

 k ; and by eight or ten in the plate at I. There 

 is a metal plate pierced with holes at m, through 

 which the greater part of the heat rises; so 

 that the trough h h, is much hotter than the 

 trough g g, which is warmed principally by the 

 hollow spaces at n n. The difference of heat 

 between the two troughs is so great, that it is 

 said hothouse plants may be struck in the 

 trough h, and greenhouse ones in g. The frame 

 is covered with the hand-glass, p ; which, of 

 course, may be removed at pleasure. 



The cuttings that are struck in the small pots 

 are taken from the ends of the shoots, with 



