GENERAL PRACTICE. SITUATION AND SHELTER. 65 



information will be of service to many gardeners and amateurs who have little beyond 

 hard water for syringing purposes. 



Ammonia Vapour. Ammonia is contained in very small quantities in the air, in rain, 

 and in river water. Bain water near towns contains four times more ammonia than 

 does country rain water, but the atmosphere contains, besides the aqueous vapour, 

 sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid gas in towns, which are injurious to 

 vegetation. Rain in towns contains in parts per million, "ammonia 4-25, nitric acid 

 0-22, chlorine 8*46, and sulphuric acid 34-27 " (Fream). From time immemorial heat 

 generated from fermenting materials has been employed in forcing, and that heat has 

 been proved most invigorating to vegetation. The ammonia-charged atmosphere, 

 therefore, came to be felt as a loss when fermenting materials were supplanted to a 

 great extent by heat from flues and hot-water pipes, and it was considered that ammonia 

 vapour might be employed with advantage. This has proved to be the case. Benefit 

 accrues to vegetation by keeping the evaporation troughs on hot-water pipes charged 

 with a solution of guano water, one pound of guano being dissolved in 20 gallons of water, 

 and when strained it is suitable for damping the floors and other surfaces of vineries 

 and fruit houses at closing time or in the evening of hot or clear days. The drainings 

 of stables diluted with six times the quantity of water may be sprinkled over floors and 

 borders in fruit houses two or three times a week, and the mixture is better given after 

 than before the customary damping or syringing. A three-gallon watering-pot full of the 

 guano solution or diluted urine is sufficient for a square rod of surface. When trees or 

 plants are in flower it is best omitted, and is not necessary after the ripening of the fruit 

 commences. It is desirable to admit a little air to the structure in which it is used, as 

 a close ammoniated atmosphere might prove injurious to foliage or fruit. Sprinkling 

 fresh horse manure on borders in fruit houses serves the same purpose, a peck per 

 square rod being sufficient to apply at once. 



SITUATION AND SHELTER. 



This is often more a matter of necessity than choice in a majority of the suburban 

 gardens in which fruits are grown for home use. Therefore it only remains in addition 

 to what has been advanced under "Soil " to point out a few desiderata to keep in view in 

 selecting a site. Town and suburban gardens are generally long and narrow, as the 

 value of land is mostly proportionate to the extent of frontage. It is well so ; a few 

 square poles, perhaps to the north of the house, offer no suitable site for fruit trees, but 

 VOL. I. K 



