500 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
{Jury 22, 
were not in the roof, but in the end where the wind 
drove the hail-stones from the south-west. At Chats- 
worth, not one square in the great conservatory, or in 
any of the houses glazed with the sheet-glass, was 
injured. This is a most decided proof (if any were 
wanting) of the strength and superiority of this 
material for Horticultural buildings, skylights, &c. ; 
and when we consider the great size of its squares, its 
clearness, and comparative cheapness, we may assert 
that the day is not far distant when it will be univer- 
sally adopted in all Horticultural buildings, or wher- 
ever glass is required to be exposed to storms.” 
SPRENGEL ON VEGETABLE MANURES. 
(Continued from page 478.) 
6. Cotton grass. (Eriophorum vaginatum and E. poly- 
stachyon.)—This plant is largely used as litter in the 
boggy moors of North Germany, where it is called 
*«Luck.” At the first setting in of frost it is cut, and at 
once carted away. It is generally mixed with Reindeer 
moss, Sph and the d Heath. The moss 
of peaty bogs is one of the worst of litters, for 1,000lbs. 
contain only 7-101b. potash and soda, 2-101b. of lime and 
magnesia, 1-10lb. sulphuric acid, traces of phosphoric 
acid, and 3-10lb. of chlorine. The value which Cotton 
grass has as litter is equally trifling, it being nearly as 
deficient in potash, soda, lime, &c. 100,000 parts in an 
air-dried state contain of mineral substances :— 
1,028 parts of silica 
254 lime 
110. 4, += magnesia 
3  ,, potash and soda—(the green plant con- 
tains, however, 416 parts of potash 
and soda). 
36 =, _~— alumina 
118 ,, oxide of iron and manganese 
43 ,, sulphuric acid 
2 3» phosphoric acid 
4 »» chlorine 
1,603 parts of mineral substances. 
” Cotton grass litter is the better the more Reindeer moss 
(Lichen rangiferinus) it includes, because the latter 
contains much nitrogen; at least it may be presumed so 
from its nutritious qualities. 
Manure obtained from Cotton grass will decompose 
sooner than that obtained from straw ; its effects therefore 
are not of long duration. Generally speaking, it is not 
much valued by farmers, the correctness of whose opinion 
we do not, however, decide upon. 
7. Common Broom (Spartium scoparium).—Wherever 
Broom grows abundantly it is worth while to gather it for 
litter; it must, however, be cut and dried when young, 
else it will be too woody. It is chiefly valuable for the 
great quantity of nitrogen it contains, which may amount 
to 12—15 Ibs. in 1000 Ibs. of the dry plant. 
100,000 parts of green-gathered air-dried Broom contain 
of mineral substances :— 
120 parts of silica 
296 lime 
” 
52° =,, ~~ magnesia 
242 = 4, ~potash 
12... 55. .soda 
160 ,, alumina 
70 4, oxide of iron 
8 ,, oxide of manganese 
15,4, _— sulphuric acid 
152 ,,__ phosphoric acid 
18 ,, chlorine 
1,145 parts of mineral substances. 
Common Broom contains much tannin and wax, for 
which reason the manure obtained from it must not be 
carried on the fields without due preparation. It must be 
thoroughly rotted in order to render the woody parts tender. 
8. Foresé-litter—Under this name are comprehended 
weeds growing in forests, cut off with iron implements, 
decayed leaves, the leaves of Firs, Pines, &c., small 
branches, &c. ‘The weeds contained in Forest-litter con- 
sist of various plants, especially mosses ; but as the latter 
do not constitute valuable manure, the importance of 
Forest-litter is chiefly owing to its phenogamic plants, 
leaves, &c. It is somewhat better if, instead of mosses, 
an abundance of lichens is contained in it, and better still 
if it ,éludes fungi, which are always rich in nitrogen. 
T’; . value of many plants found copiously in forests, such 
as Heath, Blackberries, Wortleberries, Ferns, and 
common Broom, has just been spoken of, and as we also 
know what value litter composed of different sorts of 
leaves possesses, we possess a certain scale for determining 
the value of Forest-litter, ‘so far as the different plants 
contained in it are concerned. 
If Forest-litter contain many of the plants just quoted, 
or much} iv is always best to heat it in large heaps 
before. sed i the! 8 s. If, on the contrary, it 
chie; Si mosses-and lichens, it may be employed 
as t.onee because in\that case a rather too quick 
de on is.tobe apprehended. 100Ibs. of the dry 
m aeoree ~plb. potash and soda, xhlb. lime, 
pb! huric acid, and a trace of phosphoric acid and 
chl G.I bs« of the dry moss Polytrichum contain 
‘or soda, some. ‘traces of sulphuric acid, phos- 
\ net d chlorine, and ,%Ib. of lime and magnesia, 
ary ré a material of the very worst description, 
ags (itis seudacorus, J. germanica, and Acorus 
calamus).— Flags abound in most powerful manuring 
Substances, and should therefore be carefully collected. 
fe however, decay so speedily that the manure thus 
obtained cannot be buried too quickly, 
10. Refuse of the Flax and Hemp-dressers.—Expe- 
rience has shown that the above substances have little value 
as litter, and that the manure thus produced has no nourish- 
ing properties. Flax and hemp refuse afford the surest proof 
that the goodness of litter chiefly depends on certain chemi- 
cal constituents. Neither contain potash or soda, verylittle 
lime and magnesia, and merely a trace of sulphuric and 
phosphoric acids and chlorine, which are exactly the sub- 
stances of which soil is in most cases deficient. Flax and 
hemp refuse possesses indeed as much, and even more car- 
bon than pea and bean-straw ; still it yields a much worse 
manure, which is to be attributed to the want of nitrogen. 
It yields humic acid very slowly ; and the decomposition 
is very difficult, on account of the woody fibre,jof which 
it is almost entirely composed. If it is ever to be used 
as litter it must be packed wet in large heaps, and heated 
for a considerable time. 
(To be continued.) 
HEATING APPARATUS. 
I wave for the last five years heated two Pine-pits, 
each fifty feet long, belonging to C. Turner, Esq., M.P., 
by means of an apparatus of my own inyention, which has 
hitherto worked well, and only requires ‘a small quantity 
of the refuse of coal to keep up the proper heat. As the 
apparatus is very simple, and can be easily applied to any 
pit, and that at a small cost, I have been induced to sub- 
mit to you the inclosed drawings, which I hope will fully 
explain the nature of my plan of heating. The boilers are 
quite exposed in the inside of the houses, and have merely 
as much brick-building in front as is required for conveys 
ing the smoke-flue into the wall. 
Unside of House 
AS 
Fire Place == 
Ash Pit Ash Pit 
Section online BC. Section on line CD, 
= 
|| 
Elevation of Furnace. 
The fire is put into the furnace at B; from thence the 
heat passes up through the under part of the boiler by the 
aperture shown in plan B, as indicated by the arrows, and 
continues on between the upper and under part of the 
boiler till it reaches the flue, whence it proceeds onward 
in a horizontal direction along the wall of the house, until 
it escapes in a vertical flue at the end of the house. The 
hot-water-pipes are four inches in diameter. They drop 
down at the extreme ends of the house, and return at the 
lower level in the same direction to the boilers. ‘There is 
no building over the water-boiler in the inside of the 
house. The apertures marked J and K at each side of 
furnace-door are for the admission of cold air. The two 
bricks over the furnace-door take out for the purpose of 
cleaning.—Peter Watson, Gardener, Stoke Rochford, 
Colsterworth, Lincolnshire. 
ON THE CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 
My treatment of Pelargoniums having proved suc- 
cessful, it has induced me to send you the method which 
I have pursued for many years, by which I obtain a 
succession of fine blooming plants throughout the year. 
Tn August, cuttings are taken from the old plants, choosing 
such as have the young wood tolerably matured. These 
are taken off abgut six inches long, and close beneath'a 
joint, each cutting being put into a small 60ssi#ed pot, 
filled with 2 compost, consisting ‘of etual parts of vege- 
table mould, good loant, well-retted cow-dung (at least a 
year old), and one eighth part of white sand. Previously 
to filling the pots, the compost is well mixed together 
(but net sifted). The cuttings are inserted by making a 
hole in the centre of the soil, and after placing them in, 
the hole is filled up with white sand; the soil is then 
pressed close to each cutting, and after being watered, the 
pots arel plunged in a hot-bed frame. No air is admitted 
for several days, but they are shaded when required, 
As soon as the cuttings push, air is given freely. In 
four or five weeks, these duttings are shifted into large 
pots, the same kind of compost being used a3 before. ‘The 
plants are then placed in a cool frame, oP removed into 
the greenhouse, where they Will ¢eme into bloom early in 
March following, 
About the end of 5 another ion of 
cuttings is put in, and treated as the others were; but 
when the plants are about ten inches high, the ends of the 
sheets are pinched off. This causes them to throw out a 
humber of lateral branches, and makes the plants bushy. 
These flower early in May, In January, a third stock of 
cuttings is put in, which are also stopped at ten inches 
high. The plants are kept in a ‘cool and airy situation, 
from the 1st of May to July, and are then taken into the 
houses to bloom, whigh they will do until the end of Sep- 
tember. These plants are removed towards the end of 
April inté pots eight inches wide by nine in depth. In 
Mareh 4 fourth lot of cuttings is putin ; these, after being 
stepped, will throw out shoots, which, when they have got 
six inches long, are also stopped. These plants are kept 
in a cool, airy situation, from the end of May to Sep- 
tember, and are then taken into the houses, and will 
bloom until December or later. 
The plants are frequently syringed with a mixture of 
soap-suds and tobacco-water, which keeps them perfectly 
free from insects of any kind. I also water them often at 
the roots, with strong manure-water and soap-suds. 
Plants treated in this manner always appear healthy and 
vigorous, and the blossoms are much finer than those 
produced upon old plants, that have been cut down and 
treated in the usual manner. All my spare old plants are 
finally turned out into the open borders, and flower ad- 
mirably ; and being so dwarf and bushy, they are very 
kuitable for the purpose.—A Young Gardener, Raheen, 
near Limerick. 
THE ANTIQUITIES OF GARDENING. 
No. I.—Extracts from Sir Thomas Hanmer’s Manuscript on 
Gardening. (Continued.) 
“ Of Beare’s Eares, or Auriculars—tThe seed is ripe 
in June, and best sowed in October. The best way is 
this :—Take good black mold, mix it with rotten cow 
dung, fill pans or boxes with it within a foot or less of the 
brimms; then sift thereon a little sand mixed with salt, to 
keepe wormes away 3 then sift on that Willow earth, above 
an inch thick, or otherwise soe much of the finest light old 
rotten dung, on which scatter your seed pretty thick, and 
passe through a very fine sieve soe much of the same 
flower of dung as will but just hide the seed.’’ 
“Of watering Flowers. — River and pond waters 
which are constantly exposed to the sun and influence of 
the heavens are best for watering all things. That drawn 
out of deepe wells or brought farr underground in pipes is 
too cold for tender seedes and roots untill it hath stood 
some time in the open warme ayre. 
“Of Tulipes.—The Tulip is the queen of bulbous 
plants, whose flower is beautiful in its figure, but most 
rich and admirable in its colours and wonderfull variety of 
markings. It is also a hardy plant, and constant enough, 
if well ordered. Wee had it first out of Turkey, about 
fifty years since, where it grows wild in some parts, parti- 
cularly about Jerusalem as they write, and is thought te 
be that flower translated ill a Lilly, which was said to be 
more gloriously arrayed than Solomon, Bat 
« There are little shaking things standing up like ee 
heads of spears within the flowers of Tulips, which t! 
Latins call Stamina, and the French Estamyns, and we’ 
Chives ; and if these bee yellow, the flowers are sel 
valuable, being inconstant commonly, and having ae 
colours faint and confused; but if they bee of a inat 
purple, it is almost a certain sign of a good kind, 2h “8 
such single colours as have purple stamynes are only nat 
chosen to gather good seed from, or to keep in hop 
striping well. if 
OTe best propertyes of earth for Tulipes are aoe 
and dryness, yet there must be some ealtness in 
third part of sand, and two parts of Willow eae ae 
spoken of, make an excellent composition for rake ake 
because Willow earth is not to be had everyw iat out of 
instead thereof two parts of fine rich old dry si resn 
the fields, or such that is made of leaves and spriemamed 
found about old wood piles, with a little very | 
cow-dung and add to them a third poart of san Aa flowers 
“ Spanish Jasmyn or Gessam,ynr that we hardly 
later than the common sort. It is so wrade jn Paris, where 
| have seen a5 
please, made before them, to keep 0: ’ 
them well with mosse, and a penthouse pa 
off the snow and great winds, leaving places os lye thus 
some aire in faire wynter weather ; letting ree »moving 
till the great frosts of wynter are past, and then F stocks 
all the covers and pruning them low, and nailing the. aly 
up against the walls, where they bore flowgrg ADRAM) 
in summer. , 
