270 THE WALTONIAN CASE. 



Those that require the greatest amount of neat must be 

 placed towards the centre, immediately over the lamp. 



Watering must be regularly attended to, and the \vater 

 must be of the same temperature as the air in the case. It 

 is well to water them with a fine-rosed watering-pot, as 

 thus the plants and sand are both moistened ; any super- 

 fluous moisture may be removed by ventilation. 



It is really surprising what an amount of work may be 

 done by a Waltonian case. In it plants, seeds, and cut- 

 tings may be so started that they may safely be hardened 

 off for the green-house or the window. 



It has many advantages over a common hot-bed. In the 

 first place we are certain of heat, and can regulate the 

 temperature from any point up to nearly ninety degrees, 

 the ordinary temperature being from seventy to eighty 

 degrees. 



It requires an experienced hand to make up a hot-bed 

 with dung, that shall give a steady heat for any length of 

 time ; and with the most experienced the accidents of damp- 

 ing off, burning upland failure of heat, are not uncommon; 

 but here we have simply to fill the boiler, light the lamp, 

 and then keep the case as close and damp as we please, or 

 give light and air, as circumstances require. There is no 



