24-8 Application of Terrestrial Heat to the Roots of Plants. 



Lord Eliot, for which the Society's prize was awarded." With 

 the exception of a few of the above-noticed collection of fruits, 

 the whole was produced by Mr. Brandon, my excellent and 

 much valued old foreman, in my " stove for various purposes." 



But, besides these substantial evidences of the adaptation of 

 my house for the purposes described by me in my paper of last 

 year, the following is also the fact: of the guavas, upwards 

 of thirty dishes were obtained from one tree in course of the 

 season ; and the dwarf bananas are now coming into flower, oc- 

 cupying only the surface allotted to them, namely, the niches in 

 the back wall, their leaves forming a delightful shade over the 

 head of the visiter. The last time I had the pleasure of calling 

 at my old residence, which was the 5th of March, I found, from 

 cucumber seed sown in said house on the 5th of February, 

 plants with fruit just coming into flower, exactly one month from 

 the time of sowing. As to the silly objections urged by the last 

 writer alluded to, as to the gross impropriety of growing the 

 Chinese plantain and the guava together in the same house, 

 he might as well have urged it against the growth of those 

 plants together in their native regions. All I aim at, in my 

 stove arrangement, is, (with the exception of the strawberry and 

 other hardy plants for forcing, for which I give the best of ac- 

 commodation,) the useful occupation of every superficial foot of 

 surface under the scope of my semi-curvilinear roof; and that 

 simply by fruits chiefly the productions of tropical climates : and 

 why, let me ask, should not the same fruits be produced in the 

 same house that are produced in the same climate ? As to the 

 vine, if proper wintering can be given to it, every one who 

 knows any thing about gardening knows with how much ad- 

 vantage it may be grown for the production of summer or even 

 autumn fruit in such a stove. In short, the partial shade of the 

 vine is important, if properly distributed under such a roof. 

 Any one turning to the description I have given will see how 

 the wintering of the vine is provided for; and, also, how even a 

 succession of grapes in the same house may be obtained. As 

 regards sectional divisions at all in houses used for stove pur- 

 poses, I much question their advantage. There can be none, 

 certainly, as to the effect. In no case have I seen this exempli- 

 fied with better effect, and to greater purpose, than at Mrs. 

 Sherburne's beautiful place (Hurst House) near Liverpool, 

 where the centre of an extensive range is a citrus-house, and 

 the extended wings succession pineries, vineries, and plant- 

 houses. In all such cases, as well as in that of my stoves, 

 unless order, adaptation, and suitability are the principles that 

 are followed in fixing the position of each fruit or plant intro- 

 duced, disappointment and failure must be the result, When, 

 I say, these essential requisites are properly carried out, every 



