. forcing-house such a power would seldom be required 
“be pointed out ; but what we have now said is, we 
268 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Aprin 25, 
over the moisture of the atmosphere; though in a 
to be put into practice.” 
He also mentions a successful plan, contrived by 
Mr. Lear's gardener, at Streatham. 
“This plan consists in passing a zine pipe, thickly 
perforated with small holes, from end to end of the 
Vinery, and exactly beneath the range of hot-water 
pipes which heat the structure. In the outer wall, 
ieating with this perf d pipe by means of 
a kind of broad funnel, a register valve is fixed by which 
the admission of air can be regulated with the utmost 
nicety, or the supply be shut off altogether ; this valve is 
fixed a little below the level of the perforated pipe. 
"The ction of this contrivance was evident enough from 
theZmotion communicated to the foliage of the Vines ; 
and its effee s were apparent in the unusually healthy 
and vigorous appearance they bore, until their period of 
ripening, In this case, sufficient moisture was kept up 
by syringing the walls and pipes, wetting the pathway, 
and by the use of evaporating troughs placed on the 
metal pipes, and kept constantly filled with water.” 
Another instance of a good arrangement for 
aération will be found at p. 772 of our volume for 
1843, where the following cut is given-of a capital 
Pine pit in the garden of the Hon. R. Crive, at 
Hewell. 
Here the effect is obtained by the drain A D! 
opening into a vault containing open hot water| 
tanks, and escaping, loaded with moisture, into the | 
body of the house at E. | 
Many other contrivances of a similar kind might 
trust, sufficient for the present. We will only add 
that the Polmaise plan owes much of its excellence | 
to the perfeet way in which it accomplishes such 
purposes. 
| 
must be some other means more within the range 
of common sense.” 
We quite agree with him, and invite our prac- 
tical and scientific friends to discuss the’ matter. 
A CORRESPONDENT says, * What is best to do | For ourselves we are by no means disposed to 
with the border under a wall of a quarter of a mile | undervalue the importance of the top spit of a 
long, which has been made for 300 years, and which 
is quite exhausted? Fresh trees canker and die 
as fast as they are put in. As to the notable 
receipt of shaving the surrounding fields of their 
topsoil, it is too absurd to be practised. There 
rich loamy pasture, if people can afford to plunder 
their estates of the best soil which they contain. 
But as tothe necessity ofthe practice, that is another 
thing, on which it is full time that attention should 
be fixed. 
* FANCY TRAINING. 
PrnHars some of the following modes of training 
may afford the readers of the Gardeners’ Chronicle as 
much quiet amusement as they have to W. P. L. 
No. 1.—PEAR. 
Trained against a gable end or ehimney-back. If 
this pattern be drawn out to double this length and the 
i 
^ 
9 inehes apart ; whole breadth of the tree on the wall, 
only 3 feet. 
No. 2.—PEAR. 
Total width 6 feet, on an 8 feet wall. 
No. 3.—PEAR. 
ot fi = 
breadth, it will look well, not having too many 
pem of branches. Branches laid in not g 
No. 4.—PEAR, 
Tbis method has a good appearance—one of the best 
It is trained with 3 ascend- - 
ing stems,whichare stopped £ NP 
atthe top and then brought z 
down in six branches. 
There will be found space 
enough for light and air 
for maturity of the fruit 
on the three ascending 
branches, which should be 
aimed at, in the culture, 
as well as .on the descend- 
ing shoots, 
The descending branches. 
are neatest when trained: 
on alight wire (of about the 
strength of a bell wire), 
which will last sufficiently 
long till the shoots reach 
the ground, when their ex- 
tremities may be there fas- 
tened as the wires were. 
Light stakes may an- 
swer the purpose Ei well, I | 
but they do not look so 
neat; and if they have E 
to be bought will pro- hc eet 
bably cost as much as the yreight, Tfeet; diameter of the: 
wire. hoop (at the top), 2 feet 6 in. 
Observe in fixing this, and the other poles (where 
such are represented), to dig a hole 3.feet deep, and 
ram the earth round the pole 18 or 20 inches from the 
bottom, very hard and fast, as the pole will have to-be 
pp by that altogeth "The earth for the upper 
18 in. in depth in the hole should be cast in lightly, as it 
is in this that the tree will have to be planted. Except 
this is minded, and a labourer is set to the work, he is 
sure tofix the pole as he would a gate-post—ramming 
the soil equally hard up to the very surface. 
Only one branch is represented on this plan, to ob- 
viate confusion, except where it divides at first from 
the lower part of the stem. 
The same method may be adopted by running four 
branches straight up the pole, stopping them frequently 
in their progress for spurs. 
THE AMATEUR GARDENER. 
TREATMENT OF PLANTS INTENDED FOR BEDDING Ovr,— 
At this season of the year, there is a danger which 
the amateur should guard against, because it is one to 
which gardeners are very prone, and if fallen into will be 
productive of much loss and disappointment: I mean 
the p itting to the fl beds the more 
tender plants which have been carefully preserved 
during the winter, and on which the beauty. of the 
summer season is so dependent. During the months of 
April and May, the skies are often so propitious, that 
we cannot but believe the winter is quite departed. 
With sultry nights and brilliant days we banish every 
thought of frosts and bleak winds ; all hands are set to 
work to turn out our Pelargoniums e£ hoc genus omne, 
and we flatter ourselves that we shall have a long and 
prosperous summer. But we soon find we have com- 
mitted the folly of the birds who anticipated the pair- 
ing time ; north and east winds return, and night frosts 
re-assert their iron rule, and a few hours blast the la- 
bours of a whole winter. 
Having a crowded frame, and tempted by the balmy 
gales and soft showers which prevailed about the middle 
of April, and persuading myself that vegetation never 
would be so forward if cold weather had not quite re- 
tired, I was foolish enough to act in the manner I have 
just described. I turned out 40 or 50 plants into the 
places I had destined for them, and immediately re- 
pented of it. The recent frosts have nipped them, and 
although death has not been the result, they are sadly 
robbed of their beauty, and I have lost much time by 
the experiment. I hope I shall profit by this lesson, 
and act up to the resolution I now advise others to 
make—never to turn out tender, or even half-hardy 
plants, until the middle or end of May. Resist every 
temptation to break this resolve, and I am certain you 
will be saved much disappointment and loss. 
But the important question arises—Whiat is to be 
done with those plants in pots which are intended for 
ornamenting the beds in summer, but which grow too 
rapidly for their present confined quarters? This 
matter must now receive the immediate and careful 
attention of the gardener, since many productions may 
become permanently stunted by being left too long in 
small pots. Now, it should be remembered that vege- 
table growth may be retarded without inflicting any in- 
jury on plants subjected to the treatment. The pots 
should be removed from a sunny spot to the shade of a 
north wall, where they will continue in statu quo for 
many weeks. They should be defended from much 
rain, and receive protection enough to avert frost, and 
no more. By these means the growth of roots will be 
checked, and there will be a marked difference between 
plants so treated, and those subjected to warmth in a 
glazed frame. This retardation of growth will be of 
service many ways, and will result in the production of 
finer plants at a future period; but I mention it now 
only as a means of preventing those plants being pot- 
bound and injured, on which so much of the beauty of 
the season is to depend. 
If your stock of plants is small, and you have plenty 
—— 
of frame-room, you may repot them as it becomes 
