510 



Improvements in the Kitchen-Garden 



the soil below. The whole length of this path is on one 

 level, and when the doors of the five divisions of these houses 

 are open, the view from one end through them surpasses any 

 thing of the kind we have hitherto seen. All the houses are 

 heated by fire-flues, built of brick and covered with tiles, each 

 tile containing a hollow panel in its upper surface, for the 

 purpose of holding water for evaporation. The direction of 

 these flues in the area of the houses, and in the back wall, 

 will be seen in the plans and sections in p. 514.; and though 

 their success is very perfect, we consider it unnecessary to 

 enter into the details of their construction, believing that in 

 erecting similar ranges of forcing-houses in future, the mode 

 of heating by hot water (as at the Duke of Bedford's, but on 

 Weekes's principle, p. 54<4<.) will be substituted. The mode 

 of heating by hot water had not been sufficiently brought into 

 notice, when Mr. Forrest formed the plan of this range, to 

 justify its adoption. The low pits behind the range are covered 

 at nights during the forcing season by wooden shutters; but 

 no covering of straw mats, or of any other material, is applied 

 at any time, for the purpose of retaining the heat, to the roofs 

 of the forcing-range. The pine-pits in the range and the 

 forcing-pits may be shaded in the daytime by letting down 

 rolls of canvass, which cover the roof from end to end. 'l"he 



construction of these shades, invented by Mr. Forrest, deserves 

 particular attention, not only because they are applicable to 

 hot-houses, pits, and hot-beds of every description, but be- 

 cause they may be rendered available in the covering of fruit- 



