HOS 



C440 ] 



HOT 



HOSA'CKIA. (Named after Dr. Hosack, 

 an American botanist. Nat. ord., Legu- 

 minous Plants [Fabacese], Linn., 17-Dia- 

 delphia k-Decandria. Allied to Ononis.) 



Hardy plants, with yellow flowers, except where 

 otherwise mentioned. Suitable for front of borders 

 and rock-works ; speeds and division of the plants 

 in spring; cuttings of perennials in summer, 

 under a hand-light. 



ANNUALS. 



H. subpinna'ta (rather-leafleted). June. Chili. 

 1836. 



Wrangelia'na (Wrangel's). June. California. 



1836. 



HEKBACEOUS PERENNIALS. 

 H. bi'color (two-coloured). . Yellow and white. 

 August. N. Amer. 1826. 



crassifo'lia (thick-leaved). June. California. 



1833. 



decu'mbens (lying-down). 4. August. N. Amer. 



1827. 



paroiflo'ra (small-flowered). . August. N. 



Amer. 1827. 



Purshia'na (Pursh's). J. July. N. Amer. 1824. 



stoloni'fera (creeping-rooted). 3. Red. June. 



N. Amer. 1830. 



HOSE IN HOSE is a form of double 

 flowers when one corolla is inserted 

 within the other, as is frequently the case 

 with the primrose. 



HO'STA. (Named after N. T. Host, a 

 German botanist. Nat. ord., Verbenas 

 [Verbenaceee]. Linn., 2-Diandria l-Mo- 

 noyynia. Allied to Lantana.) 



Stove evergreen shrubs, with blue flowers, from 

 Mexico. Cuttings in sand under a glass, in bot- 

 tom heat, in spring; peat and loam. Summer 

 temp., 60 to 80; winter, 48 to 55. 

 H, cceru'lea (sky-blue). 6. July. 1733. 



latlfo'lia (broad-leaved). 6. July. 1824. 



longifo'lia (long-leaved). 6. July. 1826. 



HOTBED is a bed of earth, or other 

 material, usually covered by a glazed 

 frame, and heated artificially, and em- 

 ployed either for forcing certain vege- 

 tables, for raising seedlings, or for strik- 

 ing cuttings. It is heated either by dung, 

 or leaves, or tan in a state of fermenta- 

 tion, or by hot water. 



Hotbed ofStaUe Dung : Preparation of 

 Dung. We will commence with the dung 

 fresh at the stable door : the first thing is 

 to throw it into a close body to " sweat." 

 Those amateurs who have plenty, and to 

 spare, will do well to shake it over loosely, 

 and reject a portion of the mere drop- 

 pings ; for these take the most purifying, 

 and, moreover, engender an over-power- 

 ful, and sometimes unmanageable heat, 

 which, in unpractised hands, is capable of 

 much mischief. The main bulk of the 

 material thus thrown together will, in a 

 week or so, become exceedingly hot, and 



must then be turned completely inside 

 out ; and, in so doing, every lock or patch 

 which adheres together must be divided. 

 Water will now be requisite, and must be 

 regularly applied as the work proceeds, 

 rendering every portion equally moist. 

 After the mass has lain for about four 

 days longer, it is well to administer a li- 

 beral amount of water on the top; this 

 will wash out at the bottom of the heap 

 much of its gross impurities. In a few 

 more days it must be again turned inside 

 out, using water if dry in any portion, 

 and after laying nearly a week it should 

 be almost fit for use ; but it is well to give 

 it even another turn. If any tree-leaves, 

 strawy materials, &c., or any simple ve- 

 getable matter is to be added to the mass, 

 it may be added at the last turning but 

 one. The heap ought now to be " sweet," 

 and such may be readily ascertained even 

 by unpractised persons; for a handful 

 drawn from the very interior, and applied 

 to the nostrils, will not only be devoid 

 of impure smell, but actually possess a 

 somewhat agreeable scent, similar to the 

 smell of mushrooms. 



Beds. All things will now be in readi- 

 ness for building the bed, and one ne- 

 cessary point is to select a spot perfectly 

 dry beneath, or rendered so. It must, 

 moreover, be thoroughly exposed to a 

 whole day's sun ; but the more it is shel- 

 tered sideways the better, as starving 

 winds, by operating too suddenly in low- 

 ering the temperature, cause a great 

 waste of material as well as labour. The 

 ground plan of the bed, or ground sur- 

 face, should be nearly level. A good 

 builder, however, will be able to rear a 

 substantial bed on an incline; and such 

 is not a bad plan, so forming the slope as 

 to have the front, or south side, several 

 inches below the back; the front being 

 with the ground level, the back raised 

 above it. By such means there will be 

 as great a depth of dung at front as back, 

 which is not the case when the base is 

 level; for then, unluckily, through the 

 incline necessary for the surface of the 

 glass, the dung at back is generally much 

 deeper than the front, at which latter 

 point most heat is wanted. Good gar- 

 deners not unfrequently use a portion of 

 weaker material at the back, such as lit- 

 tery stuff, containing little power as to 

 heat. It is well, also, to fill most of the 

 interior of the bed, after building it half 

 a yard in height, with any half-decayed 



