Domestic Notices : — England. 269 



which I kept moist, and, after having soaked their roots for twenty-four hours 

 in water, I potted them. Three of them began growing finely, but the other 

 three not at all, partly from the injury done by the wire, and partly froi)! the 

 roots having been mutilated. It occurred to me, that, if by any means I could 

 excite the top, the excitement at the root would follow of course, so I placed 

 the thriving and the others side by side, and inarched them together ; the 

 result was, that the buds began to swell, and at last they began with vigour to 

 push. I then cut back the shoots of the scion, and also all buds, leaving a few 

 good leaves, and finally I cut the connexion altogether. All of them now get 

 on charmingly. The part of the scion attached to each is a memorial whereby 

 to distinguish them. — G. M. Elliot. Ripley Castle Gardens, Feb. 29. 1840. 



Pocock's Patent Flexible Asphalle Roofing. — A novel manufacture is offered 

 to the attention of the public, called Flexible Asphalte Roofing. It is in- 

 tended to supersede the use of slates, tiles, zinc, thatch, &c., in the covering 

 and lining of farm-buildings, sheds, cottages, and other erections ; and, from its 

 durability, lightness, and economy, it is expected to be brought into very 

 general use. The weight of this manufacture being only 60 lb. to the square 

 of 100 ft., the walls and timbers to support it are required to be but half the 

 usual substance ; it is also a non-conductor of heat, impervious to damp, and 

 will bear a heat of 220° without injury. Several architects and railway 

 engineers have, we understand, already adopted the asphalte roofing for 

 sheds and other buildings ; and we are informed that the roofs of the Slough 

 Station, on the Great Western Railway, will be covered with this material. 

 {Mech. Mag., No. 865. March 7. 1840.) This roofing might, probably, an- 

 swer for the flooring of borders for fruit trees to prevent the roots from pene- 

 trating to the subsail. We should be glad to hear of its being tried ; and, 

 where this is done, we would suggest that a coating of gravel or brick rubbish, 

 of 5 or 6 inches in thickness, should be laid immediately over the asphalte, to 

 serve as drainage. Vertical plates of this material might be arranged as a 

 conservative or fruit-tree wall, and it would form excellent linings to basins 

 or ponds in flower-gardens. — Cond. 



Ornamental Pottery for architectural gardens and terraces has lately been 

 much improved, and among the recent candidates for public patronage are 

 Singer and Co., of the Vauxhall Pottery, on whose premises may be seen a 

 great variety of articles that will interest the landscape-gardener, and thei 

 garden architect.— Cond, 



Art. II. Domestic Notices. 



ENGLAND. 



Gardening in the Neighbourhood of Liverpool appeal's to be in a prosperous 

 state ; one nurseryman there being at present engaged in planting the 

 grounds of no fewer than eight villas. In these the pineries are all heated by 

 hot water, even the bottom heat being communicated by that medium. In 

 some cases a flooring of boards is laid over the pipes, and covered with rotten 

 tan, sand, or ashes, in which the pots are plunged ; and in others a stage of 

 boards closely joined together is formed, and circular openings cut in each 

 shelf of the stage the exact size of the pots intended to be used; and these 

 pots are suspended by their rims in the openings, so that the bottom and sides 

 of the pots come in immediate contact with the hot air below. Both these 

 modes, we are informed, answer admirably. — W. H. Liverpool, March 23. 1840. 



'Rhododendron arboreum hybridum, in the Albion Nursery, Stoke Newing- 

 ton, Mr. Milne's, is 10 ft. high, symmetrical and graceful in form, and covered 

 with above a hundred heads of bright crimson flowers. I would go twenty 

 miles, to see such a plant. — B. B. Billington. Stoke Newington, April 13. 1840. 



Gardener's Benevolent Association. — We noticed the foundation of this in- 

 stitution in our previous volume (p. 196.), and we are glad to find that it is 



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