14.—1846.] THE 
GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
221 
the course pursued by the advocates of Polmaise. I 
deny that I have exaggerated the defects of the hot- 
water system, and I appeal to the returns of last week ; 
as to what is claimed for the new system, it is a 
fair trial ; and, to insure this, I have pointed out what 
advantages it has displayed, but more especially what 
we may expect from it, considering the principles on 
which it is based ; and I reassert, that the hot-water 
system is unnatural, unphilosophical, and p ivel 
inefficient and expensive. I would not wish to induce 
any person to pull down their hot-water apparatus, but 
T would induce them to pause before erecting another, 
and I have given them facts and reasons for doing so. 
Your correspondent sees no nearer approach to Nature 
in one system than in the other ; I ean only reply that 
I find no iron pipes full of water passing up into the 
atmosphere, but I do find the earth’s atmosphere pass- 
ing in successive currents over the hottest portion of the 
earth’s surface, that surface having been heated by the 
direct process of radiation, Aerial currents passing over 
a body heated by radiation seems to me to be the prin- 
ciple of atmospheric heating, both in nature and Pol- 
maise. Your correspondent says, that atmospheric 
moisture is equally well provided for in the one system 
as the other ; considering the element employed in the 
hot-water system, it would be strange if otherwise. 
Your ipondent cannot und d the diffusion of 
‘the heat ; but if he will refiect on the manner in which 
heat is diffused through a liquid, and then consider 
with what infinitely greater rapidity itis diffused through 
a gas ; if he will only fancy the circulating liquid of the 
one system turned into the circulating gas of the other, 
he will be at no loss to comprehend the diffusion of the 
heat, and when he will tell me how often every particle 
of water passes through the boiler, I will also tell him 
how often every particle of air will pass through the cham- 
ber. He speaks of the advantage arising from the slow 
transmission of caloric ; this I have already answered. 
He next inquires, if one fire will do more work in the 
One system than in the other? in fact, whether the 
System can be adapted to heat two houses with one fire? 
There seems to me no impediment, and I look upon the 
Working economy of Polmaise as fully proved. But 
then the expense of my own plan is stated as equal to 
hot water. It would set the matter at rest if some of 
your correspondents would state the actual sum paid 
for heating a stove-house with hot water: no names 
heed be mentioned. Having replied to your corre- 
Spondents, I must also state that I agree with them in 
Considering that the thing now wanting is, not discus- 
Sion, but actual experiment, with.a view to extend the 
application of the principles. One object I had in 
view is completed, namely, the examination of the 
System by the light of nature and science. It is for 
your readers to judge how far they think such exa- 
mination should lead them to fulfil another object—its 
actual trial. During the summer I propose to erect a 
Stove-house, heated according to my own plans, at page 
115, with this exception, that I shall supply the fire 
with air from without. The results of this experiment, 
whether fayourable or otherwise, I will faithfully re- 
port in your columns ; but I trust that its capabilities 
for different purposes will be tested by others far better 
able to judge. To ascertain what it is really capable 
of, we require the skill of the first horticulturists. 
Surely, when we think of the money, time, and energy, 
they often expend on the introduction of a single plant, 
a System of heating which has done so much, and pro- 
mises to.do more, will not be suffered by them to go 
Unexamined. We have got cheap glass; we are to 
have cheap timber, Let us not be content till we have 
à cheap mode.of heating. Had I not so important an 
9bject as this in view, I should apologise for the large 
Share of the Chronicle I have so long oceupied. Many 
Sf your readers, perhaps, loathe both Polmaise and Po- 
tatoes, and it is not my present intention to notice any 
further communications on the subject, unless they re- 
late to those points of science on which I first defended 
the System, . Its practical difficulties, experiment will 
Solve. p, B. Meeke, Holmsdale House. 
< 
CULTURE OF THE JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, 
Awoxasr the whole of our esculents there is not 
?nother.that will yield a more certain and abundant 
Merease than the Jerusalem Artichoke, being liable to 
NO disease, thriving with impunity in almost any soil, 
And braving with considerable productiveness the worst 
Possible situations. It is an astonishing tuber. The 
tosts of this country have no effect upon it. It does 
ue even require litter to protect it in any way, while 
f Statoes may be destroyed to any extent by one night’s 
eri Its ‘nutritive properties are greater than those 
it the Potato, which we all so much admire, and which 
* 1s to be lamented is likely to perish without any effi- 
4 ea remedy being discovered to prevent the calamity. 
s St us therefore meet the evil in the best possible way, 
vith the most palatable substitutes. 
J Previous to the general-cultivation of the Potato, the 
i, usalem Artichoke, as an article of food, was ex- 
it iSively planted. in small gardens, With the French 
si in much higher repute than with us, even amongst 
middle:and lower classes. About a century anda 
cult ago; great attention and care were employed in its 
NE tivation in France, as De la Quintyne informs us, and 
d doubt mueh of the success attending these early 
rts may be attributed to the well manuring of the 
rond, to which no small degree of attention was paid, 
tw 5 og H 
freely the sets in the rows, thus admitting sun and air 
dently fully understood at that period ; let us not over- 
look them now, but apply them in conjunction with our 
more extended experience and knowledge in the art of 
cultivation which has been effected in more recent 
times. Rely upon it, this root will liberally reward us 
for all the care we may bestow upon its culture. In 
many instances the Artichoke bed in this country is 
assigned to some obscure and sunless corner of the 
kitchen garden, and one planting often suffices for a 
ion; like the H dish bed, it is dug amongst, 
and the roots cut and scattered about year after year, 
until plants spring up in all directions as thickly as a 
bed of rushes. The tubers themselves, as may be ex- 
pected, are small and worthless, because they are grown 
in land as hard as a footpath, which is letely ex- 
from the top ; by these means a. constant current has 
been obtained of warmed air. The tank is separated 
from the house by sliding sashes, and is now in full ope- 
ration with Strawberries, cuttings, &c. Having observed 
in all cases the great difference between the luxuriance 
of plants, Vines, &¢., when grown over tan-pits in large 
establishments, and the inferior vegetation where this 
material is not used ; and wishing to obtain the known 
effect of the gas from decomposing vegetable matter, I 
formed a chamber under the stage, with openings to 
allow this gas to escape, and on this point I would be 
thankful for some information. In giving up the use of 
dung or tan, do we not. lose an important agent of 
vigorous growth ? and how far is it necessary, with the 
new 
hausted of every particle of nourishment. In addition 
to the remarks already made relative to the cultivation 
of this Artiehoke, I beg to give the mode I have 
successfully pursued in growing it. 
Any soil capable of producing the Potato is suitable 
for the Jerusalem Artichoke, always bearing in mind 
that, where the former thrives and produces best, the 
latter will sueceed in like manner. Light, friable, 
loamy soil will always yield the best flavoured tubers. 
The soil should be deeply dug or subsoil ploughed, and a 
good dressing of farm-yard manure applied. It is quite 
useless to plant on poor, barren land, if a good crop is 
to be expected. They should be planted in rows, alter- 
nately 2 feet and 4 feet apart, and at least 18 inches 
apart in the row. The rows should extend north and 
south, thus allowing the sun to shine freely upon the 
soil; for, unless sufficient room is afforded for this in 
planting, their great 1 i f foliage will pletel 
exclude it ; when planted in lines east and west, the soil 
is totally excluded from the rays of the sun, the want of 
which is clearly a matter of great importance. 
ome recommend the tubers to be cut into sets, I 
prefer planting them whole, using those of middling 
Size only ; doubtless, if the demand be great, then 
divide them by all means, but if no scarcity need be ap- 
prehended, then use whole tubers. I have always 
found the latter more dueti ti diatel 
nota day should be lost, as our short seasons scarcely 
admit of sufficient time for the complete maturition of 
the tubers. Ani ig pond d: 
eutting off the stems at 3 feet from the ground. I 
should, in this case, allow Nature to run her course; 
and with all plants having tuberous roots this course is 
preferable; if we wish to make the most of the tubers, 
they should both be allowed to ripen tagether—the one 
for food, the other for fuel. During the summer, the 
Soil should be well worked over with the hoe, keeping 
it open and free from weeds. The crop will be fit for 
use about the same time that our late Potatoes come 
in ; they do not require to be dug up as the Potato and 
protected, but may remain in the ground to be taken 
up as required for use ; although, should frost set in, it 
will be advisable to have a supply housed in sand, where 
they can be easily come at.— Helianthus tuberosus. 
Hiome Correspondence. 
Greenhouse for Amateurs,—Last autumn cheap glass 
induced me to pull down and remodel my greenhouse. 
I wished under one roof to winter plants, to force, and 
to grow Grapes, and I proposed to ventilate with warm 
air; for this I built a house adapted to my amateur fan 
cies, according to the i à 
p iei. 
Reference to. Plan.—a, hot-water tank ; b, flue; c, boiler; e, 
tubes to convey external air over flue ; f, tubes to convey heated 
air to tank and greenhouse; g, chamber for Mushrooms, or 
fermenting material; h, apertures from chamber to allow es- 
cape of carbonic acid gas to plants, Vines, &c. Hot-water 
pipes are fixed over the openings at f, to be used if required, 
The tank is heated by one of Stephenson's boilers, the 
flue of which passes under the tank in an arched 
chamber ;. pipes convey air to the bottom of this cham- 
ber, and: openings are made into the house and tank 
for heating, to attempt an approxi- 
mation (consistent with the health of the cultivator) 
to results that we witness in tropical and other cli- 
mates, where decaying vegetable matter abounds ?— 
M., Deptford. 
Brewing —I do not know whether the following is 
the recipe for Bass’s pale ale or not, but it is quite as 
good. To make 100 gallons, use 9 bushels of malt, or 
10, if strength is desired ; 23 to 27 lbs. Kentish Hops, 
according to the required degree of bitterness; 3 lbs. 
of Camomile flowers, strewed in a jar and strained. 
Put the Camomile flowers and the hops in at the same 
time. Boil,the malt and water till the liquor begins to 
fine itself ; and that is the time to add the hops and 
flowers.—Anon. 
Arbutus Andrachne.—It may be interesting to know 
that this tree has been thickly covered with flowers for 
these six weeks past, and promises to continue to bloom 
for the same time to come. Although the flowers, in 
dividually, are not very attractive in colour (greenis 
white), yet the abundance of large panicles of bloom, 
united with a handsome foliage, renders the tree an 
interesting object. At Redleaf, a fine specimen was 
destroyed in the severe winter of 1837-8 ; others, how- 
ever, escaped. I well recollect a fine tree, which met 
with an accident a year or two ago, that caused it to 
present the character of a large branch rather than a 
tree. It measured 28 feet in height; girthed 3 ft. 6 in. 
at 3ft. from the ground ; and 2 ft. 6 in. at 10 ft. from 
the ground where the first branch started, which mea- 
sured lft. 9in. in girth at its base. The cinnamon 
coloured trunk, with its characteristic fragments of 
bark, which it sheds annually, forms a striking con- 
trast with the foliage—C. E. W., near Gloucester. 
[Arbutus Andrachne is far hardier and handsomer 
than A. Unedo ; but it seldom produces fruit in this 
country.] aee 
Hedge Budding.—1 observe that “N. A. P. B." seems 
to doubt the eustom, said to prevail in France, of bud- 
ding Roses in hedges and removing them thence to the 
garden as for sale, when the bud has taken. "There 
may be little probability, as “N. A. P. B." states, that 
in the immediate neighbourhood of Paris, such a prac- 
tice is followed, on account of the difficulty of preserving 
the fresh budded stems from depredators. Any one 
accustomed to the suburbs of French towns, however, 
must have remarked the retirement of such places, so 
different from similar places in England jj so that, 
though your correspondent seems to have seen no 
hedges in France, there may be plenty of Briars, and 
opportunity enough for pursuing experiments in flori- 
culture unmolested. I know not what the general 
practice of Rose budders may be, but I have already 
been successful in budding im the hedge. I find a 
double advantage in this method of propagation. First, 
Isave time; second, I get for my new bud a more 
vigorous growth, which it requires in order to overcome 
the difficulties of its new situation. A proof of these 
advantages I offer in the fact, that I removed in last 
February, into my garden from my hedges, 20 wild 
Rose stems, on which the buds of last season’s French 
Roses, are in full vigour. According to the general 
practice, indeed the only one recommended by the 
author of the “Tree Rose,” nearly two years must 
elapse between the first selection of the stock and the 
effectual growth of the new plant. My plants have 
passed only four months and a half between their natural 
and their complete artificial condition. Nor have I had 
more failures than in general occur to the budders on 
the approved plan ; and I find no difficulty in trying 
the same stock a second year in case of a failure, 
as I have but to cut off a few inches in autumn 
and trust to the formation of a new shoot next 
spring. I have thought this year of carrying on 
the same process with a difference. I mean to bud 
during August and September as usual, having headed 
back some of my straightest wild Roses, in order to 
have plenty of fine young shoots of this year’s growth 
for budding on ; but, instead of taking them up next 
February, | shall let them stay till February, 1848, and 
then, if spared, remove them. The advantage of al- 
lowing this length of rest is, that I shall have the 
full growth of the wild stem in its native locality, and 
shall transplant the budded Rose when it has acquired 
growth and vigour to stand the removal. The only 
chances against me are these, the interruption of mis- 
chievous or dishonest persons, and the chance of de- 
struction by cattle. The first I can avoid, by budding 
in one of my fields which is retired from any thorough- 
fare. The second I can scarcely fear, as few cattle 
like to interfere with even the tenderest leaves of a 
briar. Like my native Thistle, each of my budded 
Roses may say, “ Nemo me impune lacessit." I have 
to ack ledge my great obligati to the author of 
* The Tree Rose.” The remarks of the author respect- 
ing the time of day for budding I have found very use- 
