HOTBED. 



HoTHol'SE. 



71" 



HUTliED, name given by gardener* to a heap of freah stable Utter 

 in a tutv f fermentation, upon which a glased box U placed for tliu 

 oltivatjun of certain planU requiring heat and muUtiire in greater 

 quantity than thote agent* exist in the external air. Formerly hotbed* 

 were inure exclusively uwd for variuiu purposes in horticulture than 

 they now are. Thia U owing to the perfection to which other means 

 of producing and applying artificial beat hare now attained; but still, 

 fur the growth of cucumber* and melons, raising seed* of tender 

 annuals, and of other plant*, either culinary or ornamental, hotbed* 

 continue to be advantageously employed, as they likewise are for the 

 striking of cutting*. 



Hutbed* may be foruiod i>f various substance*, suck a* unrotten 

 dung, tan, leave*, or a mixture .!' thc-c with moisflitter ; in short, any 

 substance capable of producing and retaining fermentation, and which 

 will admit of being built up so as to support a frame with saahes. The 

 ubstance however that is most generally uied is fresh stable-dung ; 

 the preparation which it require* consists in its being thrown in a 

 heap, and also watered, if it contain much dry litter ; and as ferment- 

 ation proceeds it should be turned two or three times, and mixed 

 thoroughly in the process. 



The situation in which hotbed* ought to be formed should be dry, 

 open to the south. ..ml well sheltered in every other direction, either by 

 walls backed l>y high and clone-growing tree*, or by very close and 

 lofty hi-.lnc.-i. Such extensive shelter, though desirable, cannot always 

 be obtained ; but some mode should be employed to break the force of 

 sweeping winds. The basis on which the bed U to be formed should 

 be marked out from 4 to 6 inches each way beyond the dimensions of 

 the frame intended to be placed upon it ; and if faggots or a layer of 

 brushwood be laid as a foundation, it will admit heat completely under 

 when the bed requires the application of a tiuiny, which is a quantity 

 of fresh materials added to the outside, should a diminution of heat 

 require a new supply. The bed is then built of successive layer* of 

 the prepared materials, each layer being beaten tolerably compact 

 with the fork as it is laid on, to the height of 4 feet in front, and 

 4 feet inches at the back : the sides and ends should be quite per- 

 jiendieular. The top layer should be as free from litter as possible. 

 When thus liuisked, the frame and lights are placed upon it . 

 soon a* the violence of the fermentation has diminished, mould is put 

 in ; and when the latter has acquired a proper temperature the plant* 

 are introduced. Instead of mould, rotten ton, or leaf mould, or sand, 

 is spread over the surface of the bed, when pots containing seeds or 

 cutting* are to be plunged. 



A* soon as the heat of the bed begins to decline, a linimi of fresh 

 materials must be applied. This however may be compo-fd of eub- 

 atances that have not undergone any previous fermentation, and may 

 consiit of fresh stable-dung, merely shaken up as it is placed against 

 the aide* of the bed, or of grass mowings, or of leaves, or of a mixture 

 of such substance*. 



A bed formed of well-prepared materials, and raised to the height 

 above mentioned, will be sufficient for any purpose for which a strong 

 bottom-heat U required ; but a very mild bottom-heat is frequently all 

 that is wanted. In this case the bed is made lower and more com- 

 pactly beaten or trodden. Substance* that ferment violently are like- 

 wise excluded from its coni| 



It sometime* happen* that, notwithstanding every precaution with 

 regard to its formation, a hotbed will In-come too hot for plants or 

 m-eds that may have been placed above it. In this case the' only 

 remedy is to remove the plants until the hotbed has been remade, with 

 the addition of some material* the fermentation of which is slower and 

 less violent. Gardeners sometimes attempt to avoid the trouble of 

 doing this by piercing the sides of the hotbed with holes for the 

 egress of heat; but this is seldom an effectual remedy for the evil. 



lloTi HI'OT. (Law.) The word ha* been thus quaintly explain, d 

 t'j Littleton : " It aeemeth that this word hotchpot is in English a 

 pudding, for in a pudding is not commonly put one thing alone, but 

 one thing with other things together." The common law prescribed 

 the rule, that where a daughter to whom lands had been given in frank 

 marriage claimed a portion of the land* descending upon her together 

 with her sister* from the father in fee simple, she should not take any 

 share imlia* she mixed and blended the kinds given to her in frank 

 marriage with the descended estate, so that they might lx> equally 

 divided among all the daughters. Thr rule i- founded up >n the same 

 grounds a* the Collatio bonorum of the -ml law. r I'ig.' xxxvii. (i; 

 De Collationibus.') The statute VI and 23 Chas. II., c. 10, s. 5 (the 

 Statute of Distribution) provide*, that in making distribution of the 

 personal estate of intestates, advancement* made liy them in their 

 lives to their children shall be brought into hotchpot. 



HI >'l 'H'll SK. in horticulture, U a structure in which exotic plants 

 arc cultivated under circumstance* approximating as closely as possible 

 to those under which they naturally exist ; or it i* used for accelerating 

 the production of flower* and fruit* of either indigenous or exotic 

 plant*. Hothouses appropriated to the latter purposes are very fre- 

 quently termed f<irri'/-koutu. 



In the beginning of the 17th century that description of hothouse 

 generally termed the gm*koiuc began to be conitructed in Germany ; 

 and one in the Apothecaries' Garden at Chelsea i* mentioned by rUy 

 in 1684. These, like many others of later construction, had glass only 

 in the front, which was perpendicular ; and the mode of applying 



artificial heat exhibited little more knowledge of means lor ' 

 than the remains of flue* found in the ruins of the dwelling-bouses and 

 ^mtrh* of the Roman*. 



In 1 724, when SwiUer published hi* treatise entitled ' The Practical 

 Kruit Gardener,' the principles of manage .swore still very 



imperfectly understood ; for he observe*, | " Peaches, necta- 



rine*, and apricots don't love to be for. 'd . at least the fruit is very 

 good : there being much occasion to keep the glasses close, 

 the fruit i* always rendered flat and insipid. This is not pure specu- 

 lation, but the result of the practice that I have observed in the glass 

 house* at Brouipton Park." 



Considerable alterations, particularly in house* for grapes, were made 

 towards the end of the last century. The most uiatcri.d improi 

 was the substitution of a slanting glass roof for a p r glass 



front; but the advantages of this were much diminished by th< 

 ness of the sashes, and the large quantity of opaque matter which it 

 was thought necessary to employ in orddr to ensure the dural>. 

 such structure*. 



In the present century great advances have been made in hot' 

 building, and more particularly since 1815. The application of ! 

 steam or hot water, and the admission of a greater quantity of I. 

 glazing on metallic bar* instead of wooden sashes, are the |> 

 feature* of these improvement*. 



The principles by which t! tioii of h> 



ifovi -rued have reference to the three great agents in veget 

 muutitrc, and liyht. 



With regard to heal, the building must provide for a Mi- 

 amount to raise the internal temperature of the hou.-c. iroin that of 

 the lowest degree of external air that occurs in 

 the highest which prevails for any length of time in the 

 which the plants intended to be introduced are natives. This rule is 

 without exception as far as plants strictly tropical 

 slight relaxation may be allowed in some cases with regard to pi 

 temperate climates, such as, for instance, the vine when it i 

 intended to be forced late in the season, an rity ! the 



winter U over. With regard, however, to vineries intend 

 forcing, the extremes of temperature should always he nude the data 

 for calculating the extent of the requisite heating power. T 

 sequences of too limited a heating power will, in many instances, be 

 exhibited for several years. Vines in a forcing state have I 

 affected by the extreme cold of a single night, that the crop 1m 

 not only lost, but the vines thcniM-hc-i so much injured as not to 

 be worth preservation. This shows the necessity of always pro- 

 viding for extreme cases, since a deficiency of he.it f. .1 oid\ 

 may occasion an injury that cannot be remedied in a* 111,1: 



!_v great importance, and a due pro|mrtion of it is 

 frequently more difficult to maintain in the atmosphere of the house 

 than heat, and more so by some mode* of heating than by others. It 

 therefore follows, that as all applications of fire-heat have a tei < 

 to produce too great a degree ot dryness, that mode is the best for the 

 growth of plants which allows of the greatest quantity of vapour to 

 remain uucondensed in the atmosphere of the house. 



Some tribes of exotic plants, natives of the ton id /one, arc a . 

 for existing under a very dry atmosphere. Instead of 

 thin expanded foliage, they form thick succulent masses, wh'. 

 degree of atmospheric dryness seems to inji - of such a 



nature of course require adry itovt ; and a |>criod of extreme dryness is 

 perhaps as necessary for their future vigorous development a.- tin 

 winter U to the deciduous tree* of the north. l!ut with regard to the 

 generality of plants from tropical region-. .< \ciy ditl'ei.-m ,,tm. 

 is necessary. Within tho tropics, the dryness of the air seldom 



exceed* 10 of Daniell's hygrometer ; wh.-iv;i>. in the neighbour!. 1 



of London, between 20 and 80 are frequently indicated dur;i 

 day. In tropical countries the air is saturated with moi- 

 the night, or at least it is but very rarely otherwise in the <>] 

 But if due precautions be not taken and temperature only I c ,u' 

 to without regard to moisture, a degree of dryness will prevail at 

 in hothouses, which is double that of the tropic during tli. 

 Artificial heat having therefore this excessive >: 

 necessity becomes obvious of adopting such /!! 



as will atl'ord the Uvjt means not only of sup). 

 uing moisture; for vapour may be raised till the air of the 

 house in at the point of saturation, and yet causes may operate so as to 

 occasion a speedy condensation and a consequent dryness. 



not be admitted too freely into hothouses. Ti. 

 ,! from the circumstance of the most tran.-.|..ucnt medium 

 that can be used reflecting a great proportion ..f the sun 



ipinge obliquely on its surface. According to Bouguer's ' Table 

 of Hays reflected from Glass,' when the angle <i incidence is 85, as 

 much as 64 per cent, of the sun's ray* are reflected ; and at angles of 

 incidence of 



80, 70", 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 1 

 41, 22, 11, 6, 8, 2, 3, 8, 2 



per cent, are reflected, omitting fraction*. 



Beside* this, in wooden roof*, even although of good construction. 

 22 per cent, of the ray* of light are obstructed by the rafter*, *c. In 

 iron roof* the obstruction i reduced to 7 or 8 per cent. In the case 



