STRUCTURES ADAPTED TO PARTICULAR PURPOSES. 45 



upon the foregoing. This pit has a double roof, and is furnished 

 with the dung-beds, a, a, on each side of the house. The fer- 

 menting material is supplied by means of linings along both 

 sides of the pit, and communicates the heat to the beds through 

 the arches in the side walls. This pit has a narrow path in 

 the centre, which admits of the internal operations being carried 

 on with more facility. We have only seen this pit in use by 

 the inventor, and, so far as we know, it is quite original. Mr. 

 Saunders informs us that it answers the purposes of early forc- 

 ing better than any other construction he has tried, and works 

 admirably, in the severest weather, without the aid of fire. We 

 have the fact of its perfect adaptability fully verified by its pro- 

 ductions, and are so fully satisfied with its superiority as a 

 dung-pit, that we are about erecting one ourself. It ought to be 

 borne in mind* regarding this pit, that unless there be abundant 

 supplies of fermenting manure always at hand when required, 

 it would be useless to attempt forcing with it in winter ; but this 

 fact also applies to all forcing pits heated solely by fermenting 

 materials. 



Fig. 9 is the end section of a curvilinear-roofed cold-pit, for 

 protecting plants not sufficiently hardy to stand the winter with- 

 out protection, yet hardy enough to endure a considerable degree 

 of cold, and even a slight frost, if kept in a dry state. Of this 

 class we might name verbenas, roses, pansies, &c. Indeed, 

 there are many summer flowers, used by the amateur, for the 

 decoration of his parterre and flower-garden, which he might 

 save, during the winter, in such a pit. The pit here given we 

 consider the best, for any purpose to which the cold-pit can 

 be applied. We have found them practically superior to all 

 other pits we have yet used ; and as iron is now coming into 

 general use, for the construction of horticultural buildings, we 

 believe that these pits will be found, not only the most convenient, 

 but also the cheapest that can be erected, a, shows the bed in 

 which the plants are placed we generally put in about a foot 

 deep of tan, or saw-dust, for plunging the pots in ; b, b, shows 

 the sashes, elevated for the admission of air, supported by iron 

 rods, c, c, which are made to enter a staple, by being bent, or 

 hooked, at the end. 



