21—1846.] 
THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 341 
earlier maturity will be induced, as heat, light, and com- 
parative dryness are the conditions which must be 
taken advantage of, being much more important than a 
protracted mild season. At the time of planting the 
matoes, a crop of Lettuce should be placed on the 
north slope, and immediately the Tomatoes are gathered 
the slope will be found equally useful planted with En- 
dive intended for use during the most severe winter 
months ; it will be more to be relied on than the late 
‘crops stored in sheds or elsewhere, by using thatched 
hurdles, or using any other means of forming a sort of 
roof to keep the Endive dry, or, in the absence of this, 
Slates, stuck into the slope horizontally over the plants, 
may be adopted with success, using straw or mats as a 
protecting material during frosty weather.—J. H., 
Amport House, May 20. 
Disease in Fir Trees.—Your correspondent “ Pinus 
Sylvestris " makes a statement respecting a disease in 
Fir trees in Hants, which, judging both from his de- 
scription and the woodcut, I have no doubt is perfectly 
correct as far as appearances go ; but I believe he has 
quite mistaken its cause. My Fir-trees have suffered 
àn the same manner ; the evil is produced by squirrels, 
and has compelled me to destroy hundreds of these 
pretty animals. They generally attack the budding 
Shoot of the current year, or perhaps rather those of 
the two immediately preceding}; sometimes scoring the 
bark all round, but ears often several inches longitud- 
inally on one side. “In the former case, no serious per- 
manent mischief is done, a new leader being formed, as 
is the case after the ravages of that pest, the little Fir 
etle; but in the latter the tree continues its growth 
for many years, a large wound growing with its growth— 
till having attained a considerable size, the first heavy 
gale of wind snaps it off at the wound.—£. D. 
, Fraudulent Seedsmen.—1 have lately seen complaints 
an your Paper, by correspondents who have forwarded 
Money to seedsmen and nurserymen, and expected to 
receive seeds or plants in return, but who, alas ! can 
Hever afterwards obtain even a reply to their numerous 
letters, Now although I perfectly agree with these 
correspondents that they are in duty bound to expose 
such fraudulent dealers, so as to put other purchasers 
on their guard, still I think there is another thing the 
latter ought to attend to, and that is, carefully to “read 
over the advertisement before ordering, and note the 
wording of it—in other words, when they see a dozen 
plants advertised for so much money per post, do not 
lét them for one moment suppose that these two words 
"nean free per post,—no such thing! And if they 
Want them free per post, I should recommend them 
‘to enclose another shilling or so, to pay for the tin case 
And postage, otherwise they may find that they will be 
charged with unpaid postage, to say nothing of the 
In ease, — Lusor. 
Hydraulic Machine.—The only further information 
Dean give relative to the hydraulic machine is, that it 
‘Continues to work in a most satisfactory manner. I 
cannot enter into any p I e hanism oj 
. the engine, as it might be an injury to the man who has 
een, as he says, “brooding over it for ten years.” 
trust, however, he will advertise the hydraulic engine, 
in order that others may benefit by his ingenuity as 
well as myself.—Hydrangea. [It will be extremely 
unwise in him not to make himself known. Can you 
Not favour our correspondents with ,his name and 
‘address 2] k 
Potato Disease. —A. gentleman a short distance from 
this place planted about two acres of diseased Potatoes, 
which were quite black, and taken from a pit in which 
many were so rotten that it sent out a strong steam on 
being opened. He is now about to supply his steward 
‘and men (who laughed at him when planting them) 
With the shoots of those Potatoes, to plant in their own 
ground, It is now well known here that it matters not 
o diseased a tuber may be, it will almost invariably 
Succeed if it has one sound eye when planted. It must 
ev Put down whole ; if a diseased Potato is cut into sets, 
b en if all the eyes are sound, nine-tenths most pro- 
ably will fail. The diseased tubers are not now worse 
[Wa when planted two months since.—Z7. H., Cork, 
periment will be in September or October. No judg- 
ent can be'formed at an earlier period. 
tugs. In additionito the observations of * H. B.” 
ith I recommend a bucket with salt. Throw into 
"Ret. my slugs and snails you pick up ; it will kill 
m almost directly ; but if you lay Cabbage-leaves as 
‘other way can you ho i i 
yo pe to kill all the very minute 
des pras the leaf against the side of the 
ket so as to d eco into the salt, I have not 
remedy for getting rid of woodlice; 
xu find where they hide themselves hot water will 
‘Re it em instantly ; but how can you clear box-edgings, 
hs from them—46. [Toads are their best antagonists. ] 
EIS à F.J.H." employs earthen jars, filled with a strong 
"Y ution of salt and water, which he finds to kill the 
uad almost unm Tues correspondent 
Strong urine, in lavge flower-pot vi 
same ee 7 g pot pans, with the 
P A for Smoky Chimneys.—Since my article on 
um vanite Heating appeared in your paper I have re- 
ed a number of communications on the subject ; 
Some wishi lan of my pit, others desiri 
be formed”, for a plan of my pit, others desiring to 
ting the general app of this 
PU of heating, &e, ” All these inquiries I have been 
time led to leave unanswered, every moment of my 
i being fully occupied with my own business. The 
*m which I have now the pleasure of presenting | 
© should be glad to hear what the issue of this ex- mi 
to the publie is an effectual cure of smoky chimneys ; 
that is to say, I have discovered a plan to prevent the 
descent and assist the ascent of smoke in chimneys ; if 
theory and the experiments I have tried are worth 
anything the cure is inevitable. The plan is as follows : 
Place an iron chamber at the back of your grate ; let 
the front of the chamber be the back of your grate; in 
this let thereybe a slide ; from the top of the chamber 
carry an iron pipe half the length of your chimney ; 
from the bottom ofthe chamber, let a pipe be taken 
through the wall, with a little rise if possible, to com- 
municate with the external air. The sketch given 
below will be sufficient to show the plan. Let a be the 
chimney, 5 the pipe in the chimney, c the chamber, d 
the slide, and e the pipe passing through the wall to 
convey air; the vacant space round 
the chamber may be considered the 
other part of the grate. Before a 
fire is made in the grate, draw your 
slide, and put a quantity of shavings 
into the chamber ; light them ; close 
your slide, and proceed to make the 
fire in the grate. In considering this 
plan the first question suggested to 
the mind is, what are the causes which 
tend to obstruct or impede the ascent 
of smoke in chimneys? The causes 
are clearly these: the air in the 
chimney 1s more dense than that of 
the room, and this, with the pressure of still colder 
air at the top, assisted by strong currents, pre- 
vents its ascent. The next question is, how does the 
plan I have given remove these impediments? The 
answer to this will be founded on the experiments I 
have made ; first, the burning of the shavings in the 
chamber generates heat, the air expands, not in the 
direction of the cold air-pipe, the resistance is there too 
great; it takes the more direct and easy passage 
through the pipe in the chimney; on its way it gives 
warmth to the iron ; a fire is kindled in the grate, the 
chimney being warmed, its air attenuated, and a partial 
vacuum created above the pipe, the smoke ascends, 
joins the current from the pipe, and this united force |}, 
overcomes the resistance at the top of the chimney ; as 
the fire burns brighter the chamber becomes hotter, and 
the draught increases. It would, therefore, be well to 
have a valve on the cold air pipe, that the draught 
might be partly or wholly shut off if desirable. In the 
building of houses cold air flues can be made in the 
walls. Ag h or any other adjoining ap: t, 
may be warmed, if the hot air could be spared from the 
chitaney by turning the ascending pipe into it. I hope 
soon to give yourreaders a plan ofa portable heating 
apparatus upon the same principle, and also a new 
mode of fumigating greenhouses, &e.—Isaac Davies, 
Larkfield Nursery, Wavertree, near Liverpool. May 20. 
Aération.—I1 am glad to see that you have taken up 
the subject of a&ration, for it is evident that the means 
generally adopted for the admission of fresh air in 
forcing and plant struetures are miserably inadequate 
to the purpose. What. happens in a clear frosty day, 
for instance, say in March? Why, the gardener has 
no other alternative than to have his plants either 
frosted or roasted; he must either admit cold frosty 
air which, in spite of the sunshine, is very injurious to 
tender shoots, or else he must allow the temperature to 
rise to a scorching height. Again, perhaps a cloud 
passes over the sun, and down goes the mercury, per- 
haps to freezing ; the consequences are, that the plants 
come away weakly, and some of the more tender shoots 
die off altogether, and nobody knows the reason why all 
this happens. Now, I imagine that the simplest and 
most efficient mode of obviating these drawbacks will 
afford exercise for the ingenuity of your “ long-headed" 
correspondents. In the meantime what do you think 
of the following :— Let us suppose that we have a house 
supplied withahot water apparatus,and that we procurean 
iron tank 6 or 8 inches deep, the broader the better, air 
tight, excepting in two places for the insertion of pipes (as 
in the accompanying figure), and a place for supplying 
water, keep- 
it full 
minus l or 
2 inches. A 
is the tank, 
B the cold 
airpipeopen- 
ing outside 7 
M^ 
Societies. 
ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY. 
Tur First EXHIBITION FOR THE SEASON was held on 
Wednesday last, in their Gardens, Inner Circle, Re- 
gent’s-park, The weather was very unpropitious, heavy 
showers continuing to fall at intervals during the whole 
day. The exhibition itself, although much inferior to 
that at Chiswick, contained a large number of well grown 
plants. It was inspected by H.R.H. Prince Albert at 
an early hour, and after the gates were opened at 2 
o'clock the weather did not deter above a thousand visi- 
tors from entering the gardens. As a large amount of 
the plants shown was, however, present at Chiswick, we 
shall not re.deseribe them, but will confine our remarks 
to what was not produced on that occasion, commencing 
with collections of 30 Srove and GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 
Here the exhibitors were Messrs. Fraser, of Lea-bridge- 
road, and Mr. Barnes, gr. to G. W. Norman, Esq., of 
Bromley. The Gold Medal, as first prize, was awarded 
to the Messrs. Frasers’ group. The plants in this fine 
collection were, however, fully described at p. 321, 
with the exception of a well grown Bossizea disticha 
plumosa, producing multitudes of dull yellow and 
brown flowers; a ‘very fine’ Gardenia radicans, 
covering the pot with healthy foliage, and ornamented 
with upwards of 50 of its sweet-smelling blossoms, to- 
gether with Azalea indica ledifolia, 6 feet in height and 
4 feet in diameter, and a Chorozema spectabile in good 
condition —Mr. Barnes ibuted an lingly 
healthy Gompholobium tenellum, hardly advanced 
enough in bloom, a good Oncidium luridum guttatum, 
Dillwynia splendens, with; bright orange and red blos- 
soms, a good Boronia serrulata, and Rondeletia spe- 
ciosa, hardly sufficiently advanced in bloom, measuring 
2} feet in height and nearly as much in diameter. In 
the same group were also Cyrtoceras reflexum, a plant 
nearly related to Hoya, and a large Ixora grandiflora. 
Collections of 20 SrovE and GREENHOUSE PLANTS 
were numerous. Mr. Hunt again produced a fine group 
and another from Messrs. Lucombe, Pince, & Co., con- 
tained the comparatively new Epacris miniata, producing 
rosy pink tubes, passing into white at the ends, Azalea 
leucomegiste, 4 ft. in height, and as much in diameter, 
a good Ixora coccinea, Erica intermedia, 4 feet in height 
and nearly as much in diameter; Cattleya Forbesii, 
with 11 flowering spikes ; and a large Gompholobium 
barbigerum, covered with large yellow flowers. In the 
same group was also a lovely Azalea variegata, 2} feet 
in height and 2 feet in diameter, quite a mass of bloom ; 
the handsome stove climber Dipladenia crassinoda, 
with two fully expanded rosy pink flowers, measuring 
2 inches across ; alovely Eview Westphalingia, 2 feet in 
height and about 2j in diameter, literally a mass ‘of 
bloom; a pyramidal Eriostemon buxifolium, 4 feet in 
height; the charming Saccolabium guttatum, and a 
rather thin plant of Acrophyllum venosum. Asso- 
ciated with these were Epacris grandiflora, Cattleya 
Mossice, having two spikes; a small Gompholobium 
Tend i, Erica Sprengelii, and an immense Erica 
ventricosa incarnata, 5 feet across and 4 feet in height. 
—Mr. Catleugh, of Chelsea, sent Sollya heterophylla, 
trained in the form of a regular pyramid, nearly 
7 feet in height, a neat Pimelea spectabilis, together 
with Epiphyllum Jenkinsoni, good plants of Aphelexis 
spectabilis, Hardenbergia monophylla, and Cytisus ca- 
nariensis.—Mr. Pamplin, of Walthamstow, sent a group, 
the chief features of which were a large white Azalea 
in full bloom, and a large and good Cytisus racemosus. 
—In a group from Mr. Pawley, of Bromley, we re- 
marked a large Burchellia capensis, two plants of Tro- 
peeolum grandiflorum, Coleonema pulchrum, 6 feet in 
height ; and a good Pimelea spectabilis, 2} feet in height, 
and nearly as much in diameter.—Of Coutecrions oF 10 
Pants, a considerable number were produced. The 
group from Mr. Green, gr. to Sir E. Antrobus, Bart., 
was the best. It contained Pimelea Hendersoni, 2 feet 
in width and 18 inches in height ; Aphelexis humilis, 
2} feet in height and 3 feet in diameter, literally a mass 
of bloom, ‘the branches depending over the pot; Bo- 
ronia serrulata, in robust health ; a neat little Gom- 
pholobium splendens, and a large Ixora coccinea.— 
The next group in point of merit was from Mr. Ayres, 
gr. to J. Cook, Esq., of Blackheath ; in it we remarked 
Leschenaultia formosa, 23 ft. in diameter, and 18 ins. in 
height ; Polygala oppositifolia, 23 ft. in height, and 3 ft. 
in diameter, quite a mass of blossom ; Aphelexis splen- 
dens, very fine ; and A. spectabilis grandiflora, the best 
of the genus, together with a charming Azalea lateritia, 
and an di healthy Crowea saligna.—Mr. May, 
an iron grating ; D is the pipe for conducting the warmed 
and moistened air into the house, there to be distributed 
by a perforated zine pipe running the whole length of 
the house, and kept as low down as possible, provided 
that we keep it above the level of the mouth of the pipe 
C outside. Now, besides supplying plenty of fresh air, 
would it not render available a very considerable 
amount of heat which is continually wasted ? and goes 
for nothing but for keeping up a choking heat in the 
shed, sometimes warmer, indeed, than in the hothouse 
itself. I hope that this, or some other more efficacious 
plan, will be adopted, and I think then we will have 
taken a step in the right direction. — W. Martin, [This 
proposition deserves attention ; although the introduc- 
tion of air at the back wall, without providing a counter 
current, is objectionable, It is a good hint.] 
gr. to E. Goodheart, Esq., of Bromley, sent Hovea 
Celsi, a rather bare plant, but finely in bloom; a well- 
flowered Azalea lateritia, trained to a face; a large Erica 
hybrida in $ne bloom ; Aphelexis purpurea grandiflora, 
Oncidium altissimum, and Polygala acuminata.—An- 
other collection came from Mr. Kyle, gr. to R..Barclay, 
Esq., Leyton. It contained a small Clerodendron 
splendens, with two trusses of red blossoms ; a neat'bush 
of Pimelea linifolia ; Stephanotis floribunda, well grown, 
but scarce of bloom ; Tropzolum tricolorum, trained 
over a balloon-shaped trellis, and a good Podolobium 
trilobatum.—Other groups were from Mr. Slowe, gr. 
to W. R. Baker, Esq.; Mr. Taylor, gr. to J. Costar, 
Esq. ; and Mr. Cockburn, gr. to the Earl of Mansfield, 
Kenwood. In thefirst weremarkeda pyramidal Mahernia 
incisa, nearly 5ft. high; a large Kennedya longiracemosa 
rained over a wire trellis, quite a mass of lilac flowers. 
and a large Epacris grandiflora. In the second were 
some good plants, especially a very fine Leschenaultia 
formosa ; a good plant of Achimenes longiflora ; an 
Acacia cordifolia, and Boronia serrulata. Mr. Cock- 
