172 



Transactions of the Horticultural Society. 



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The tan (Jig. 49. a) is 

 supported by oak joists 

 resting on the side walls, 

 and on a middle wall of 

 open brickwork (b). The 

 joists are three inches deep, 

 an inch and a half thick, 

 and three inches apart ; in- 

 stead of being covered with boards or tiles, a course of 

 turf is laid over them, which is found to answer perfectly. 

 The heated air is conveyed from the chamber below into 

 the atmosphere of the plants, by means of small aper- 

 tures (c) formed in the back and front walls at four inches 

 and a half apart, and also through tubes of iron, or chimney-pots 

 (d), resting on the joists directly over the flue. Through the 

 same pipes or pots water may be poured on the covers of the 

 flues, which are formed hollow (e), so as to generate steam at 

 pleasure. Ventilation is effected by airholes communicating 

 with the pit (Jigs. 49. and 50./), and by sliding shutters in the 



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back wall (g). This pit is found to answer all the purposes 

 for which it was designed. 



Buck's Scarlet Rhubarb. — Specimens were sent on the 7th 

 of January from Elford, which had been forced in the follow- 

 ing manner : — " The roots taken up as perfect as possible, 

 having the earth which adheres to them still attached, are 

 placed in a bed of decayed tan, or in boxes or pots filled with 

 the same, in the mushroom house, which, by the aid of a 

 flue, is kept at a temperature of from 45° to 55°. Tan is 

 preferred to mould, because it receives water more freely when 

 given to the plants. After the forcing is finished, the roots 

 are kept under cover of long litter, or manure, till warm 

 weather in April, when they are divided by a sharp knife, and 

 planted in a north border, or in the open ground ; in the fol- 

 lowing autumn, the strongest are fit to be forced again in the 

 ensuing winter, and the weakest are replanted for another 

 season. It is found that peeling the stalks of this kind of 



