THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



FRAMES, GARDEN. Frames are portable garden 

 structures among the most useful for various purposes at 

 all seasons, particularly in spring and early summer, when 

 large quantities of different subjects have to be prepared 

 for transplanting outside. They may also 

 be effectively employed in forcing opera- 

 tions, where pits are limited, by being placed 

 on a hotbed of fermenting material, and 

 covered with mats and dry litter, according 

 to the state of the weather, or the amount 

 of heat required inside. Cucumbers and 

 Melons, and a large proportion of green- 

 house winter-flowering plants in pots, as 

 well as those for more immediate use, may 

 be successfully cultivated in Frames during 

 the summer. In winter, the latter may be 

 utilised for storing plants that merely require 

 protection from frost, by placing a quantity 

 of dry litter round the woodwork, and cover- 

 ing the glass with mats, &c. Frames are 

 made of different sizes, none being so gene- 

 rally useful as those having two sashes, 

 each measuring about 6ft. long by 4ft. wide 

 (see Fig. 30, for which, and for Fig. 31, we 

 are indebted to Messrs. Boulton and Paul, 

 of Norwich), or others large enough to take 

 three sashes of similar dimensions. The 

 frames of these sashes should be 2in. thick, 

 and each fitted with an iron handle for opening, and a 

 cross bar of iron for strengthening them. The Frame or 

 box itself is usually made of deal timber, 1-Jin. or IJin. 

 thick, a height of 18in. being allowed at the back, and 

 13iin. at the front, or other heights may be adopted in 

 a similar proportion. The corners should be dovetailed, 



Frames, Garden continued. 



sashes being made of wood, and glazed in the ordinary 

 way, or without putty. One of the most popular and best- 

 constructed of this description is that made by Messrs. 



FIG. 30. TWO-LIGHT FRAME. 



and further strengthened by pieces of wood fitted inside. 

 Frames may be purchased ready for use, but they are 

 expensive, and seldom so strong as those which can be 

 made at home, somewhat like that above described. A 

 new Three-quarter Span-roof Frame, made by Messrs. 

 Boulton and Paul, of Norwich, is represented in Fig. 31. 

 When made in this shape, it has the advantage of giving 

 more height inside than with the ordinary sashes. The 

 sashes here shown are hung to the ridge in such a way that 



FIG. 31. THREE-QUARTER SPAN-ROOF FRAME. 



the front ones may be turned right over on the others at 

 the back, and the reverse. An iron prop accompanies 

 each Frame, to hold the lights wide open for attending to 

 the plants, and each light is provided with a fastening 

 that serves the double purpose of securing it against 

 wind, and raising it for ventilation. Like the ordinary 

 Frames, these are made in various sizes. Other sorts may 

 be procured with iron standards and framework, the 



FIG. 32. ^PAN-ROOF FRAME. 



Foster and Pearson, Nottingham (see Fig. 32). A some- 

 what novel, but effective, mode of ventilation is adopted. 

 The sashes are held open at any angle required, by 

 dropping a stout hook, attached to each, into a contriv- 

 ance cast in the iron rafters, something like part of a 

 cog-wheel. This holds them safely in any position in 

 which they are placed. The sashes may easily be re- 

 moved and replaced if desired ; and the ridge is made to 

 lift up and down its whole length by a lever, as a means 

 of ventilation in wet weather. Where expense in pur- 

 chasing is no object, Frames like this are very useful 

 and durable. They are best suited to remain where 

 placed permanently. For sectional representations of 

 simple and chambered Frames, see Cucumber. 

 FRANCISCEA. See Brunfelsia. 

 FRANCOA (named in honour of F. Franco, M.D., of 

 Valentia, a promoter of botany in the sixteenth century). 

 OBD. Saxifragece. A Chilian genus, all the species of which 

 are described below. They are very handsome hardy or 

 half-hardy perennials, beset with simple hairs or glands. 

 Flowers terminal, copious, in spicate racemes. Leaves 

 lyrate, nearly like those of the Turnip, reticnlately 

 veined. Seeds should be sown, about February or March, 

 in a well-drained pan of sandy peat, covered over with a 

 pane of glass, and in a heat of about 50deg. The glass 

 covering may be removed when the seedlings have made a 

 little growth. So soon as the plants are large enough 

 to handle, they should be transferred to other pans, at a 

 distance of about 2in. apart. About April or May, they 

 may be potted off into 4in. pots, and placed in a cool 

 greenhouse or frame. Increased also by divisions. 

 F. appcndiculata (appendaged).* fl., petals pale red, marked 



each by a deeper spot near the base ; scape nearly simple ; 



racemes compact. July. I. petiolate, lyrate. h. 2ft. 1830. 



(B. M. 3178; misnamed F. sonchifolia in L. B. C. 1864.) 

 F. ramosa (branched).* fl. white, loosely arranged ; rachis and 



sepals glabrous ; inflorescence much branched. July, August. 



I. shortly stalked, usually decurrent. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1831. Plant 



caulescent. (B. M. 3824.) 

 F. sonchifolia (Sowthistle-leaved).* fl. loosely arranged ; petals 



pink, often with a darker blotch near the base. July. I. with 



short petioles, usually decurrent below the auricles to the 



extreme base. h. 2ft. 1830. (B. M. 3309 ; S. B. F. G. vol. 5, 169.) 



FRANCOE2C. A tribe of Saxifragece, 



FRANGIPANI-PLANT. 



color. 



Sec Plumiera tri- 



FRANGULA. Included under Rhamnus. 



