1 8 PROPAGATING HOUSES AND PITS. 



warm and cool compartments are desirable ; but where opera- 

 tions are to be extensive, separate warm and cool houses may 

 be erected. As a rule, it is best to heat the propagating 

 house from a separate boiler, of which the propagator or his 

 assistant takes full charge at least during the day; but in many 

 cases, and especially in private establishments, it may be heated 

 along with the other houses. It should always be borne in 

 mind, however, that the inmates of the propagating house are 

 peculiarly delicate and sensitive to any extremes of temperature, 

 and ample heating power should always be provided, to prevent 

 future accidents and disappointments. Shading materials are 

 of peculiar value to the propagator ; and apart from the usual 

 shading material i.e., stout canvas mounted on wooden rollers, 

 to be worked by a pulley outside the house particular portions 

 of the house or pit often require to be shaded with canvas or 

 mats, and low nouses partially below the ground-level are in 

 these cases very suitable. At one end of the house or pit 

 it is convenient, if not actually necessary, to have a potting or 

 propagating shed, and this should also be heated with hot- 

 water pipes, so that no injury may be received by the young 

 plants and seedlings which are brought here to be pricked out 

 or potted off. This shed should communicate directly with 

 the warmest end of the house, and should be fitted up with 

 benches, bins for soil, sand, peat, crocks, &c., shelves or com- 

 partments for pots, pans, bell-glasses, tools, and other appli- 

 ances; while a shelf or cupboard may be added to contain 

 memorandum-books, catalogues, and delicate implements. A 

 nest of drawers for seeds should be added, and the amateur 

 may also add a small library of books treating of the plants he 

 most admires. Here also hot and cold water should be obtain- 

 able. As to the fittings of the house itself, little need be said 

 except that a path down the centre at least a yard wide should 

 be left, and brick side benches about four feet wide, constructed 

 on either side, as shown in our illustrations. Cases or frames, 

 tan beds, and shelves near the glass, should also be provided. 

 One of our sections represents a very useful propagating house, 

 constructed over a cellar, an arrangement much to be recom- 

 mended wherever practicable, as the body of air thus obtained 

 below the house conduces to a more regular temperature, and 

 at the same time it is very handy for preserving or in which to 

 store bulbs, tubers, &c., throughout the winter months. A 

 cellar of this description is always secure from frost, and is 

 especially useful for storing Cannas, Solanums, and many other 

 subtropical or flower-garden plants, as also for Hippeastrums 

 and other deciduous bulbs,. Gloxinias, Gesneras, Achimenes, 



