32 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ January 13, 1S63. 



ing to this mode of preserving milk and butter is, that during 

 the warmest weather of summer season, when cold, sweet milk, 

 and butter of a degree of solidity equal to that of the winter 

 season, are appreciated as two of our greatest luxuries, we can 

 have them so, from the Bimple fact that at that particular time 

 the supply of cold ice water is greatest. 



Butter made and kept in this way does not become so soon 

 soft after being brought to the table, as that which haB been kept 

 in a spring of water, nor do thunderstorms appear to hasten the 

 development of lactic acid. We have noticed no perceptible 

 difference in the length of time which the milk has remained 

 sweet, in regard to clear or stormy weather. I have observed at 

 different times, by placing the thermometer within a foot of 

 the bricks in the preserving-chamber, that the temperature was 

 about 54", while it was 95° in the shade outside. The Band 

 underneath the bricks subserveB an important purpose, by re- 

 taining the water, and supplying it to the bricks by capillary 

 attraction at such time as there is not a great supply coming 

 from the ice. 



The space above the preserving-chamber should be open and 

 unobstructed to the roof, and over the ice there should be good 

 ventilation to the roof, to carry off all the vapour which may 

 arise from the milk. 



An ice-house constructed in this manner is one of the best 

 investments for a farmer, for besides securing the luxury of 

 preserving milk and butter cool, vegetables of different kinds 

 may be preserved fresh until a succeeding crop grows. I kept 

 one year's Beets good till 'the following summer ; also CabbageB. 

 These latter I laid upon the ice, which imparted to them a 

 •crispy sweetness, perfectly delightful in the very warm weather 

 of June. Vegetables may also be preserved in this manner by 

 farmers, so as to bring them fresh to the market in early summer. 

 — {Canadian Agriculturist.) 



PEESEEVING ICE IN AN ICE-HOTJSE. 



The ventilation adopted by "An Eleven-years Subscriber" I 

 think was not so much at fault as the quantity of ice put together. 

 Twenty loads of ice, when pounded, would not make a larger 

 bulk than ten loads or tons of Potatoes. Probably no ice-house 

 in the three kingdoms could keep twenty loads of ice longer 

 than he states. Pifty loadB of ice are about the smallest bulk 

 which most gardenerB would like to trust to for a season's 

 supply ; but just double that quantity, or very near it, is the 

 more usual amount, and I have put 160 loads in one heap 

 in the open air, and found it not. too much for a daily run 

 on it from the beginning of July till ice came again. It Btrikes 

 me a "return" of the quantities of ice stored by a dozen or 

 two of our leading gardeners, who have to keep up a large 

 supply, would be an excellent guide for a right understanding 

 •of this question. ' About fifty loads are the smallest quantity I 

 ever saw put together. I often put from seventy to eighty loads 

 together, sometimes 100, and on severe! occasions 150 loads, — 

 D. Beaton. 



new patent, I at ouce applied to Mr. Clarke, of Liverpool, to 

 furnish us with one of his smallest-sized boilers, with piping, 

 taps, &c. I now find it takes less fuel to heat the whole range 

 than what the retort boiler took to heat the whole vinery, and 

 with fully one-third leas attention, which latter I attribute chiefly 

 to the efficiency of a very ingeniously-contrived deflecting flue- 

 plate or hollow top, in thoroughly concentrating the heat. It is 

 truly, as Mr. Legg observes, a capital amateur's boiler, and, I 

 may add, also for where extensive ranges of glass are required to 

 be heated on the one-boiler system, as, in addition to the above 

 merits, a duplicate would not be required to assist it ; and it 

 possesses strength of material, great power, and rapid heating 

 capabilities. 



In conclusion, allow me to add that I hope Bhortly to prove 

 its further capabilites in heating an early Peach-house, 36 by 

 15 feet, by the same boiler. — W. Gardiner, Tiatingtmi Park, 

 Stratford-<m-Avon. 



BOILEES POE GAEDEN STEUCTUEES. 



Having observed in one of your Numbers of December last a 

 few remarks from Mr. Legg, of Tranmore, relative to the merits 

 of Clarke's new patent boiler as compared with those of the old 

 saddle-back boilers, allow me to offer some observations in 

 •corroboration of Mr. Legg'B statements, as I have had con- 

 siderable experience in the management of saddle and similar 

 boilers for some years, and latterly of Clarke's new patent. 

 Like Mr. Legg, I too opine that those who are in favour of 

 saddle or similar boilers are not aware of the merits of Clarke's, 

 one of which has been under my care for more than twelve 

 months past, and I have found it exceed my most sanguine 

 •expectations. 



About fifteen months ago my employer wished to have erected a 

 new vinery, and, at my suggestion, on the rafter principle, 50 feet 

 long by 15 feet 6 inches wide, to be divided into two houses — in 

 connection with an old but still good metallic vinery and suc- 

 cession Pine-houee combined, 43 feet by 17, which was heated by 

 one of Thomson's retort boilers. This was considered incapable 

 of heating effectually the three houses collectively : consequently 

 it had to be removed for one of greater power. As I was per- 

 mitted to select any kind of boiler that would meet the require- 

 ments, owing to the apparently superior construction of Clarke's 



COVEEING HOT-WATEE PIPES. 



You will oblige me much by advice how best to obtain bottom 

 heat in a pit lately completed, having one four-inch flow-pipe 

 above in front, and four four-inch return-pipes side by side 

 below, like a table or counter, 3 feet from the glass. 



I put a foot of cocoa-nut refuse over the return-pipes, yet 

 though they are so hot that I can hardly bear my hand on them 

 below, the refuse above them is as cold nearly as the garden 

 border. 



Would tan bark above the return-pipes, a foot thick, allow 

 the heat to reach pots plunged in it properly ? — J. M. 



[You could scarcely have a worse conductor of heat than the 

 refuse tan would be. For cleanliness we prefer small stones for 

 a foot, and sand to plunge in ; but coal ashes do admirably. In 

 such cases we generally use stones, and then surface with any- 

 thing most convenient. We have just half the number of pipes 

 for giving bottom heat to a Melon-pit, and the earth generally 

 becomes warm above the stones in a couple of days, and retains 

 the heat then.] 



DUNG PEEMENTING ON A YINE-BOEDEE. 



I have covered a Yine-border with fresh stable-litter laid on 

 at various times during the last two months, and find that since 

 the last layer was put on the whole of the covering has fermented 

 very much, and is now hot. At the same time a stake, pushed 

 through it into the earth of the border, is not much warmer 

 than the air at the lower portion of the stoke. Can you tell me 

 if the heat being so considerable at the top is likely to injure the 

 roots of the Vines ? The border is well drained, and has an 

 open trench in front. I am about to commence heating the 

 inside of the house. — A Reader. 



[You must judge for yourself, according to the depth of the 

 roots. It is as well that the soil should not be warmer than from 

 70° to 80° where the roots are. If the roots, however, are a foot 

 from the surface they will take no harm, though the heat on the 

 surface of the soil should be as much as 85° or 90°. If the course 

 is persevered in you must be more careful of the extra heat every 

 year, as the roots will get nearer the surface. If you find the 

 heat is too much where the roots are, reduce the covering. The 

 bottom of a long trial-stick is no guide ; regulate your proceed- 

 ings by the heat indicatod by a thermometer where you expect 

 the most of the roots to be. Many Vines have had their roots 

 burned when a Btrong heat was applied, and the roots were near 

 the surfaoe.] 



GISBPTEST COMPOUND. 

 The paragraph at page 14 of your last Number of the Journal, 

 Bpeaking of Gishurst compound, makes me venture to send you 

 the enclosed extract from a Melbourne newspaper received only 

 the day before yesterday. The writer, an influential amateur 

 horticulturist, was unknown to me until he wrote me the results 

 of dressing with Gishurst on his and his neighbours' Orange and 

 Apple trees. "The Zealand enthusiasm of the inventor" has 

 never gone so far as Mr. Carson, who, speaking as he found, and 

 unconnected with Gishurst except as a purchaser and user, has 

 for nearly three years constantly held up the virtues of Gishurst. 

 I believe it is a medical rule that medicine is best studied where 



