24 Description of a JVeio JMethod 



the heating of pits by Mr. Hay, of Edinburgh, and is fully de- 

 tailed in the Gardener''s Magazine, Vol. VIII. The improve- 

 ment on his system consists in substituting, for the loose stones, 

 a cistern of water; through this the steam-pipes are conducted, 

 near the bottom: fires are applied twice a day, and the large 

 quantity of water gives out a very equal warmth: this improve- 

 ment was made by Mr. Stothert, a civil engineer. 



In the climate of England, so mild compared with ours, heat- 

 ing stoves, green-houses, or pits, is not a subject of so much 

 importance as with us. Here, where strong fires are almost 

 constantly required for the space of six or seven months, econo- 

 my in the mode of heating is the first consideration. And that 

 which shall be the best adapted to advance this object, and, at 

 the same time, combine the most advantages, will be sought after 

 in the construction of various gardening structures. Steam will 

 therefore be found to be objectionable, as it requires a greater 

 degree of heat, and consequently more fuel, to generate it, than 

 to circulate hot water. Steam also demands more attention in 

 its management than hot water, and is here again objectionable 

 on the score of expense, where labor is as high as in this coun- 

 try. By this mode there is also the double cost of a cistern and 

 steam pipes, only the former of which there is any necessity 

 for, as will be seen in the method we are about to describe. 



In stoves, and pine pits, which latter, however, ai'e here but 

 little known, it has, till within late years, been usual to employ oak 

 bark, (which has been used for tanning,) or leaves, and hence 

 the common and oft repeated name, in English works, of bark beds, 

 bark stoves, &c. Oak bark is not procurable here, and conse- 

 quently leaves have been substituted: to the amateur American 

 gardener who is a novice in horticulture, the term bark bed is 

 scarcely understood, and we know of but few expressions which 

 have so repeatedly pirazled the ideas of young beginners. As we 

 have just stated, these have given way in many instances, though 

 by no means in all, to the modes of heating mentioned above: 

 in common forcing gardens, where neatness is not an object, they 

 are still in use. But that hot water will finally take their place, 

 there can be but little doubt. 



In the following plan, {figs. 1 and 2,) hot water alone answers 





all the purposes of warming the soil. We have given the plan 

 from that erected in Mr. Sweetser's garden; but the principle 



