COLD PIT. 



COLEUS. 



it will be conducted more readily from top 

 to bottom. 



Cold Pit. 



The forcing pit must not be confounded 

 with the common cold pit, which is as 

 different from it as a conservatory or cold 

 house is from a greenhouse or a hothouse 

 because one class of buildings is heated b] 

 artificial means and the other is not heated 

 at all. A very good cold pit may be formec 

 by building containing walls of turf or of earth 

 well beaten together, so that the back wal 

 is higher than the front wall, and the sides 

 sloping from back to front like the sides of a 

 pit or frame, so that lights may be placed 



SECTION OF COMMON COLD PIT. 



over it on frames covered with any protect- 

 ing material. A cold pit of this kind, well 

 and firmly built, will last a long time, and 

 is most useful in the winter for sheltering 

 vegetables liable to injury from frost, and 

 half-hardy plants, which will do well with 

 this minimum of protection. If the bottom 

 of the pit be sunk below the ground level 

 it will be all the warmer, and the contain- 

 ing walls above the surface of the ground 

 need not be made so high. A cold pit of 

 greater strength and permanence may be 

 made in the same manner by making an 

 excavation in the earth about 2 ft. deep, 



and surrounding it with containing walls 

 about i ft. above the level in front and 2 ft. 

 behind, which must be finished at top with 

 a wooden kerb, and bars from back to front, 

 if long enough to require them, to support 

 the lights. 



Speaking of the cold pit, Loudon says : 

 " The cold pit with earthen sides is in part 

 sunk in the earth, and in part raised above 

 it by walls of loam or turf. On these walls 

 glass frames are sometimes placed ; and at 

 other times only mats or canvas frames. 

 Such pits are used by nurserymen and 

 market gardeners, and answer perfectly 

 for the preservation of half-hardy plants. 

 A pit of this kind is shown in the annexed 

 illustration. It is a sunk wall excavation 

 3^ ft. wide, and 3 ft. deep at back, and I ft. 

 9 in. in front. It is covered with movable 

 thatched frames, which are tilted at pleasure 

 by a notched prop. It is used as a kind of 

 storehouse for all culinary vegetables in leaf 

 which are liable to be destroyed by frost, 

 such as cauliflower, broccoli, endive, lettuce, 

 &c. These, before the winter sets in, are 

 taken up from the open ground with balls 

 of earth, and embedded on a bottom layer 

 of rich soil, filling up the vacancies between 

 and among the stems with old bark or 

 decayed leaves. Air is given on all 

 occasions when it can be done with safety, 

 and in severe frosts additional coverings 

 of litter are put on." In the accompanying 

 llustration A shows a bank of earth thrown 

 up against the back containing wall in order 

 o increase the warmth of the pit, the 

 ordinary ground level being preserved in 

 ront ; B is the thatched frame in section, 

 upported, when raised to admit air, by the 

 ictched stick c ; D is the mould in which 

 he plants are set ; and E the leaves or bark 

 hat should be thrown in between and 

 mong the stems of the plant*. 



Co'leTIS (nat. ord. Lattiatas). 



The name of a genus of pretty green 



