1 
15.—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE, 
237 
DO ORT sober: pian was generally Geer 
‘that it would probably lead to some more easy 2204° © 
procedure, so that, perhaps, the hotbed might be dis- 
pensed with, and then small farmers might be able to 
adopt it. Should the plan be ever, generally adopted 
it would undoubtedly be the means of effecting a great 
Saving in the culture of Potatoes. 
In conclusion, I must bear my testimony, that 
this procedure is preferable in every point of view to 
the plan of planting the Potatoes whole, or in cut sets. 
1. They are much superior to plants obtained from 
planted tubers, for transplantation does not injure them, 
but rather increases their produce ; they do not produce 
new tubers easily in the hotbed, and should they do so, 
it does not interfere with the success of transplantation. 
2. They suffer far less from the influence of injurious 
ditions of the atmosph 
3. They find more space jn the soil for the production 
of tubers, even if they are planted somewhat thicker 
than Potatoes are ordinarily planted, because every 
plant stands alone, whilst many stems grow together 
when produced from a single tuber. 
4. They ripen their tubers simultaneously, because 
later shoots cannot appear, and on this account they 
Produce, on an average, 2 greater number of large and 
middle.sized tubers than smaller ones. 
5. The produce, entirely independent of the saving of 
Seed, is greater, because the tubers are originally 
thicker planted than can with profit be done in the 
ordinary way. Something, however, depends on adapt- 
ing the treatment to the particular kind of Potato as 
well as the soil, An individual plant cannot naturally 
Produce so many tubers as an entire stem, which con- 
sists of six individual plants, though they be poor and 
contracted, but still six individual plants occupying the 
Space of three stems, every one with six plants, will 
give a much larger and better produce. — Ohle, 
Gorlits, Jan. 1846. 
Weexty Prices or Poratozs per ton, in Covent 
Garden Market, in 1845, and 1846. 
EUG | 1846. 
March ...... 8| 50s. to 90s. | March ...... 7| 70s. to 1705, 
15/50 90 || 14 70 . 170 
22| 60 100 || 21| 70 . 180 
29| 60 100 | 28| 76 180 
April ...... 5| 60 90 |April...... 4| 70 180 
B 12.460. :390:]E cre 74-5 de dO. 23:180 
Š Also at the waterside, Southwark. 
Mareh...... 10 | 55s. to80s.||March .. ... 9] 60s. to 1405 
7| 55 80 16 60 140 
55 80 23 60 — 140 
55 > 80 30| 60 — 140 
55 80 ||Apr 6| 60 140 
Efome Correspondence 
Texan Beehive.—l have read the article headed 
* Immense Natural Beehive,” extracted from the Teras 
Telegraph, a paper published at Houston. I remained 
ustin in June 1843, in company with 
Messrs. Upshur aud Teulon, two gentlemen who had 
resided there for a considerable time, and both much 
attached to science and literature. From these gentle- 
men I obtained much information relative to Austin 
and its vicinity, but never heard them mention anything 
about the said beehive. The description of that part of 
the country is partly correct. In August 1843 I was at 
San Antonio, and heard that from a fissure in a moun- 
tain not far from San Antonio some two or three small 
Waggon-loads of honey and bees’-wax had been collected. 
have traversed much of the first range of Texan hills 
and mountains, and have not seen any deposits of honey 
°Y wax in the fissures or caverns in the rocks. Such, 
OWever, may exist ; but many an old tree have I assisted 
to eut down for wild honey. Some few persons employ 
themselves in the collecting ofhoney and wax forsale. Wax 
tetches a high price in Mexico, where so much is used 
M the churches, Speaking of strange things in Texas, 
May mention that on the San Antonio river there are 
Many ruined “ Missions.” The churches of said missions 
Are still in pretty good repair, In nearly all these 
Tuins small bats build their nests; but in that of La 
‘“oncepcion, a few miles below San Antonio, there is a 
Countless number of bat's-nests, and in 1843 and 1844 
I observed a layer of bat's-dung covering the whole of 
the bottom of the chureh in some places a foot to a foot 
®nda half thick, and the stench arising therefrom in- 
tolerable. Were manure necessary for the lands on the 
an Antonio, this bat guano might be of some service. 
The bats in the town of San Antonio are rather annoying, 
W houses having glazed windows.— W. B. 
Melons.—Having now lived 14 years in the far north 
of Treland, and with an employer who gives me no 
A : MSS I 
b n m; 
ave not had an opportunity of seeing the Beechwood 
elon ; but, from seeing it so much praised in the 
Chronicle, Y last year sent to Edinburgh for some seed, 
and planted a large frame of it by itself, with the view 
2 *eep the seed free from mixture. To my great dis- 
gPPointment, however, I had four distinct varieties of 
Sen Melons, viz., the Bedford Green-flesh, a large 
11 pet fleshed Rock, a large oblong-shaped Melon (of 
whee Weight), and a large oblong deeply-ribbed sort, 
‘ch inclined to grow unshapely, weighing about 10 lbs. 
P may I ask which of the last-mentioned Melons, or 
Va? of them, was the true Beechwood ?—J. D T. 
of the, Sorry to hear that you have been cheated. None 
L ese answer to the Beechwood Melon. 
"pinus littoralis.—In the account of .this plant in 
| 
that “ this species is abundant on the sea-shore from 
Cape Mendocino to Puget’s Sound, where it binds toge- 
ther the loose sand with its tough branching roots.” 
Can any of your readers inform me whether the experi- 
ment has been tried in England of employing this plant 
for binding the loose sand on the coast? As it could be 
rapidly propagated to any extent, it would probably be 
found superior to other plants at present employed for 
the purpose.—. C. 
Polmaise Heating.—As many important facts have 
already been laid before the public respecting Mr. 
Murray's mode of heating, and also principles applied 
to the system by Mr. Meeke, I will only endeavour to 
draw a few parallels between the workings of Nature 
and that of the Polmaise system. Natural Philosophy 
teaches us that “the effects of the direct influence of 
the sun are greatly modified by the transportation of 
the temperature of one region juto another, in conse- 
quence of that disturbance in the equilibrium of the 
atmosphere, which the action of those rays necessarily 
roduces. The columns of air that are lighter are dis- 
placed by those that are heavier, and have a general 
tendency in the air to move from the poles towards the 
equator, The superior current restores the air carried 
from the higher latitudes to the lower with such a de- 
gree of equality that the average weight of the atmo- 
sphere, as measured by the barometer, is nearly the same 
in all climates. This restoration is, however, subject 
to great local and temporary irregularities, from the 
different degrees of resistance that the air meets with 
in passing over the surface, and the different capacities 
of that surface for receiving and communieating heat.” 
Now this efficacious and simple means for distributing 
heat over the earth’s surface is imitated on a small 
scale inthe Polmaise heating, the warm air ascending 
and flying to the right and left, diffusing itself over the 
whole house, the lower currents move on to supply 
the place of that which has been displaced, and by this 
easy way the heat is modified with the greatest free- 
dom to any temperature that may be required for gar- 
dening purposes. Is there anything unnatural in all 
this? Again, vapour also that rises from water uniting 
itself to the air, ascends into the higher regious of the 
atmosphere ; we are also informed that if large portions 
of the atmosphere at different temperatures, and satu- 
rated, or nearly saturated, with humidity, be driven 
against one another by contrary winds, the consequence 
must be a precipitation of humidity, or the formation of 
clouds. Now, as far as we have observed, the simple and 
ingenious plan of giving moisture to thehousehas nothing 
opposed in it to Dr. Hutton's theory of the formation of 
clouds in the manner in which the air is supplied with 
moist Moisture can be given in sufficient quantity 
to satisfy the wants of plants in any situation in which 
they may be placed, from the dry to the moist stove. 
Many other natural laws could be pointed out in this 
way of heating hothouses, that have been discovered by 
such men as Newton, Dalton, Leslie, Pictet, Mariotte, 
&c., but with all its simplicity and suecessful working, it 
appears to meet with keen opposition from quarters’ 
from which weoughttoexpeet better things. I set out one 
morning in March amidst frost and snow and saw the 
Vinery at work, and I only wish that those who 
talk about a white heat being necessary to keep up the 
temperature, had seen it. Instead of a white heat I saw 
a low smouldering fire and a narrow-mouthed furnace, 
and the supplying of it with fuel, might be compared to 
the feeding of an infant with a teaspoon instead of a 
muckle Sam with a horn shovel. Itis somewhat strange 
that almost every useful invention bas to undergo an 
ordeal, and some of them a fiery one, before they will 
be secured to benefit the world ; take asan example the 
discoveries of Galileo. Kepler thought that if the dis- 
coveries of Galileo were true, his “ Mysterium Cosmo- 
graphicum” would be overturned; and there was a Mr. 
Horky who declared positively that he had examined 
the heavens with Galileo's own glass, and that no such 
thing as a satellite about Jupiter existed; nor does it ap- 
pear that the descendants of Horky ave all dead ; but 
the reply that the philosopher gave to the astrologers 
might be given to them; he told them that it was a 
more | ble and prais rthy enterprise, with their 
own watchings, toil, and study, to discover something 
admirable and new, than to pass a listless and lazy ex- 
istence, labouring only to darken the toilsome inven- 
tions of their neighbours, in order to excuse their own 
cowardice and inaptitude for reasoning, while they cry 
out that nothing can be added to the discoveries already 
made, There are no golden reasons influencing me 
either to write against the system or for it ; but having 
examined it from time to time, and having seen what it 
has done with so much ease and simplicity, I consider 
that it would be dcing an injustice to gardening to re- 
main silent, I may state, before concluding, that the 
furnace has been used for four years and required no 
repairs, and to all appearance will require none for 
many years to come ; I was also informed that the fire 
when made up at 6 o'eloek in the evening, will remain 
good for 10 or 12 hours, so that the gardener can go to 
bed when he pleases, and never dream of the mercury 
in the tube being congealed, or even at the freezing 
point.—P. Mackenzie, West Plean, Stirling. 
Pansy Dealers—The undersigned would thank the 
Editor of the Gardeners’ Chronicle to inform him what 
he can do under the following circumstances :—In 
February, 1845, he sent a Post-office order to the 
amount of l4 to a celebrated grower of Pansies, near 
London, after thelatter had transmitted his list, for which 
no plants have been received, nor any answer to several 
TPencnanta LE 
| the © Botanical Register” (vol. xiv., p. 1198), it is stated | letters on the subject. — 4 Subscriber, Guernsey, 
i fo on as 
March 31. 
DOT o eee aut aur ATA, J 
Weather Ru I have to state for “ G.W s” in- 
formation (p. 205) that Ihave watched the weather 
by Dr. Kircher’s rules for several years past, and have 
found them to be correct. This year it blew hard, with 
squalls accompanied by rain from the S. an . on the 
21st, 22d, 23d, and 24th March, consequently if Dr. 
Kircher's rules hold good this year, the coming summer 
will be wet.— M. E. 
A.—— In addition to the above I 
W.; 22, S.W.; 
28, very high, S.E. 
E., very high, 
5 Lo SSOW.22, W.S.W., very high. 
46, 4, 20, , E.; 21, E., very high; 22, N.W. 
- B. H., Abergele, April Ath. 
Polmaise Heating.—I rejoice to see that hortieul- 
turists are beginning to veceive one grand principle 
which I am convinced is as essential to the well-being of 
plants as to the support of animal life.—I allude to the 
admission of a constant supply of fresh air from without 
into the atmosphere of the house. 1t is the judicious 
adaptation of this principle which has proved so bene- 
ficial at Polmaise, and I trust that your advocacy of the 
system, backed by the remarks of Mr. Meeke and others, 
will eventually persuade gardeners that plants are not 
fairly used when shut up in confined houses ; for as we 
know that they assimilate carbon from the air, of what 
use can it be to continue them surrounded by an at- 
mosphere from which the carbon has been already ex- 
hausted ? Thus, we often see plants in houses warmed 
by hot-water or flues, drooping and sickly, when the 
weather will not allow of airing the house. A striking 
instance of the comparative salubrity of the two methods 
has come under my notice, in the case of two Orange- 
trees, which for two seasons in a hot-water forcing house 
scarcely put forth a blossom, but on being removed to 
a house heated by one of Hogard's stoves, where fresh 
warm air was constantly pouring in, throve vigorously, 
and have since their residence there continued to exhibit 
a fine bloom. I have great expectation, from the tone 
of your leading correspondents, that this question will 
resolve itself into a scientific inquiry into the general ` 
prineiples upon which heating should be founded. e 
shall then be in a position to judge correct!y of the 
various i ionswhieh are daily p ded, and know 
how to reject those which, in spite of specious appear- 
ances, being radieally opposed to the laws of nature, are 
certain to end in failure and disappointment.— L. Clifton. 
ln answer to my question of whether the heat 
ean be distributed before it is colleeted, Mr. Meeke 
says, '* I reply that it is collected in the coals, evolved in 
the combustion, and our object then is distribution." 
Itappearsto me that it would be more correct to say, 
that it is stored up, ina latent state, in the coals, is 
brought into action by and evolved during the process 
of combustion, is collected by the apparatus, whatever 
it may be, in which the coal is consumed, and conveyed 
through the channels communicating with, and by their 
intervention distributed to, the area to be heated. The 
real question of the time requisite for the distribution 
of heat to the area to be warmed, is, whether in prac- 
tice the hot water is inefficient, and the Polmaise only 
efficient ; a mere theoretical difference of a few moments 
is of no advantage. With regard to the waste of heat 
from the boiler, what I said was, that it might, toa great 
extent—not that it mightall be avoided ; that it was 
not in every case a necessary consequence of the use of 
hot water. For instance, I have in a greenhouse a 
boiler, the fire-box of which is contained within the 
water case ; as this is not inclosed it supplies heat to 
the area of the house, in the proportion which its sur- 
face bears to that of the pipes. When I find that five 
or six moderate-sized detached houses or pits are sup- 
plied with the requisite amount of bottom and atmo- 
spheric heat for carrying on the ordinary operations 
of Pine and early Grape growing, during our ujual 
winters, and this from one not immoderate-sized fur- 
nace, on the Polmaise plan, and costing not more than 
a quarter (which I think it professes) of the outlay 
necessary for a hot-water apparatus upon the same 
scale, I shall begin to think some 75 per cent. of the 
many hundred pounds whieh have been so laid out 
might have been saved ; until then I incline to the 
opinion, that froma given quantity of fuel a greater 
amount of caloric, by means of a well arranged hot- 
water apparatus, may be collected, conveyed, and dis- 
tributed to different detached houses at the same time, 
than by the Polmaise plan, and this in spite of the 
sacrifice which is then unavoidable.— 7. K. 
Brewing. — In last week’s Paper an anonymous 
correspondent professes to give a method of brewing 
* pale ale” of a quality l to that of the Messrs. 
pa quality equal 
ass. After stating the proportions of each of the in- 
gredients (the quantity of Hops, by the bye, seems un- 
reasonably large), he directs the “Camomile flowers to be 
strewed—query, stewed ?—in a jar and strained.” “Put 
the Camomile flowers and Hops in at the same time.” 
Into what are they to be put, or where? And again, 
“Boil the malt and water,” &e. Is it possible your 
correspondent can be in earnest in directing the malt to 
be thus treated ? when every housewife knows that to 
even pour boiling water on the malt would cause it to 
become solidified or creed, and the brewing spoiled. If 
your correspondent would be kind enough to exp'ain or 
reconcile these, to me, apparent incongruities, ] should 
feel much obliged; for to follow his directions as the 
now stand would appear to be a waste of money only. 
—A Subscriber, Nottingham. 
Potato Disease—In November last I tied a sound 
