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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND OOTTA&E GARDENER. 



[ March 3, 1883. 



lard and soot, and rub the trunks of the trees ; but on consulta- 

 tion with a neighbour, who advised lard and sulphur, I concluded 

 to mix. all three together ; so I mixed equal quantities of lard, 

 sulphur, and soot, and applied it, and it proved effectual. On 

 the trees that were partly barked, it stopped the rabbits from 

 injuring any more, and the trees have completely recovered, and 

 the wounds are healed over. The mixture dried on to the trees, 

 and has protected them since. 



The same winter my neighbour had a young orchard of sixty 

 trees completely destroyed, and laBt winter another of my 

 neighbours had about thirty trees destroyed by them, although 

 he rubbed them with lard and soot; the rabbits eat grease, 

 soot, bark, and all. They ran round in my orchard, and ate all 

 the twigs they could reach, and barked one tree that was not 

 coated with the above mixture ; but they never touched a tree 

 that had been rubbed within two years with the lard, sulphur, 

 and soot, because the remains of it were still there. — (Lower 

 Canada Agriculturist.) 



FEATHEEED HELPS IN A GAEDEN. 



I SEE by a communication from " H.," that he wants " prac- 

 tical enlightenment " on the use of fowls in a garden, and you 

 also state that you will be glad to receive information. I shall 

 be extremely happy to give you my experience, for the subject is 

 mooted at a moment when some vent is required for the 

 emotions which the bare thought of fowls creates in me. The 

 facta are simply these : — I live in a retired neighbourhood, and 

 my particular hobby is gardening. I have a neighbour two 

 doors off whose particular hobby is love of fowls. These two 

 otherwise-commendable tastes come into violent collision twice 

 or thrice a-day. The peculiar characteristic of my neighbour's 

 fowh is, that they have an irresistible and unconquerable pro- 

 pensity for coming into my garden in preference to staying in 

 their own. The result is, that I am driven wild every day ; and as 

 my wife and family participate in my alarms, the consequences, 

 as you will perceive, are rather serious to well-disposed and 

 peaceable people. I will not delay informing you aa to how 

 these lamentable events are caused ; and, first, I will speak, as 

 impartially as human nature can do under the circumstances, of 

 the good which fowls do. 



The least objectionable of all fowls, excepting small birds, of 

 course, are the hens, and from this category 1 beg to observe 

 that I rigidly exclude the cocks. Both of them are very fond of 

 slugs, snails, et hoc genus omne, and in pursuit of these pests, do 

 a trifling amount of good. The ducks are equally destructive to 

 insects, and are even more persevering in the search of them ; 

 but put ducks, cocks, and hens together they will be no more a 

 help to you than aquarter of an hour of personal labour would be. 



Mow, we come to the opposite side of the balance sheet. My 

 pen fails to paint the agonies which their destructive habits 

 have occasioned me. The cocks and hens knew perfectly well 

 that they were trespassing, and were liable to be prosecuted ; 

 but, notwithstanding this they would come into my garden 

 several times every day, and the vigour, robustness, and rapidity 

 with which they Bent my Sweet Williams, Pinks, Carnations, 

 &c, flying into the air whilst in search of prey, was absolutely 

 sickening to witness. I had a heap of rubbish in an odd corner 

 once, but they have made it " small by degrees, and beautifully 

 less," at the expense of the neatness, order, and cleanliness of 

 my garden walk. This was with scratching. 



The ducks do not scratch, but they are still more destructive 

 when they go among softwooded plants. I had a nice bed of 

 Nasturtiums last year, but the ducks had waddled into it four or 

 five times, in search of snails, and the glory soon departed from 

 that feature of the garden. The effect of ducks in a Nasturtium- 

 bed is indescribable. They stagger about like drunken men, 

 and I fancy they like it so well that they must roll in it over 

 and over. Then my Prince of Orange Calceolarias were ship- 

 wrecked and knocked to pieceB, and the simple fact is this, that 

 I must give up gardening, or my neighbour must give up the 

 fowls. From all this it results that cocks, hens, and ducks do 

 far more harm than good. — R. Welch, Bristol. 



HEATING GAEDEN STEUCTUEES. 

 I have read with much interest Mr. Robson's papers on 

 ventilating and heating horticultural buildings, and feel assured 

 that many will thank him for giving his experience. I believe it 



is a subject that ought to be thoroughly examined, and I would 

 be glad to have the experience of others who have had to deal 

 with particular methods of heating. I, for one, will add what 

 little information I can. I have had nothing to do with Pol- 

 maise and several other modes of heating mentioned by the 

 writer, and, therefore, wished, as very likely others in a similar 

 position to myself have done, that he had said a little more relative 

 to them ; for although fallen into disuse on account of real or 

 supposed defects, they are not without interest to such as desire 

 to know all that has] been done, as well as what may be done, in 

 a matter of so much importance to horticulture. 



I once had the management of a small greenhouse, heated by 

 means of a common brick furnace, from whioh a flue passed 

 under the pathway three-quarters of the length of the house. 

 This was covered with square bricks. The flue then rose above 

 the floor, and was continued back to the furnace, built of brick 

 on edge ; here it ascended inside the house, and passed to the 

 chimney. I Bimply mention this because I think that if the 

 first portion of the flue pass under the floor it may be slower in 

 its effects, but the heat is never lost, and is given-off slowly 

 and in a condition that is never likely to injure the plants ; for 

 although I have seen several flues partly carried under the floor I 

 never knew a case of overheating where this was the plan adopted, 

 and, more than this, it allows of two or more laps of flue being 

 placed above the floor. The further from the fire the thinner 

 may be the material of which the flue is constructed, so that 

 pipes may used with safety. 



I am inclined to the opinion that where fire heat is necessary 

 only to keep out frost, as in the greenhouse, there can be no 

 reasonable objection to the flue system. That system haB been 

 objected to on account of an escape of smoke happening occa- 

 sionally ; but this must be owing to carelessness in the con- 

 struction, or, what I have known to be the case, from neglecting 

 to make a suitable provision for clearing-out the soot. When a 

 flue is built bricks should be left out at suitable distances, to be 

 inserted after the other part is finished : these can then be taken 

 out without disturbing the adjoining brickwork. Where this 

 provision is neglected a leaky flue is no uncommon occurrence ; for 

 where bricks are well put together it is almost an impossibility 

 to take out one without disturbing several others, and these are 

 generaUy left so that the smoke can escape through the cracks 

 formed in the process. I have known such instances, and the 

 blame has been thrown on the system ; it is more for the want 

 of taking notice of such minutise than from any defect in the 

 system itself that accidents have happened, even where a per- 

 manent heat is required, as in the forcing of Grrapes. I have seen 

 some of the very best Grapes that could be grown hanging in a 

 vinery heated on the flue system. 



But still there is no reason why hot water should not have its 

 full share of credit ; and what I have had to do with hot water 

 has been satisfactory. But then it is one thing to heat 500 super- 

 ficial feet of glass, and another thing to heat as many thousands. 

 What may be thought economical in the former case may be 

 thought the contrary in the latter. There must be proportions 

 in every case ; but this does not alter the fact, that what scientific 

 men are aiming at and have tried to achieve is possible — that is, 

 to give a large amount of heat with a small consumption of fuel. 

 To do this it is necessary that all the heat generated should con- 

 tribute to the object in view ; but how this is to be done is the 

 question. If you burn a pan of charcoal in a room the whole of 

 the heat generated is disseminated throughout the enclosed space, 

 provided there is no outlet for it ; but this is not the case in 

 the furnace, which must be provided with a chimney, up which 

 much of the heat ascends with the smoke, escapes at the top, 

 and is lost. This must inevitably be the case to a certain ex- 

 tent ; for I do not see how the escape of a portion of the heat 

 in this way is to be prevented, but that is no reason why some 

 of it should not be saved ; and sometimes this is effected by 

 having a horizontal flue, in addition to the boiler and hot-water 

 pipes ; but unless a good draught can be secured this method 

 does not answer. A boiler fire ought to draw well, or it soon 

 becomes clogged with soot. 



One of the best arrangements of the kind I have ever seen, is 

 in the case of a lean-to conservatory I have, until lately, had to 

 do with. In this case the whole of the fireplace and boiler is 

 under the floor. Thus the heat of the fireplace itself ascends 

 through the floor, and acts on the internal atmosphere of the 

 house ; it also adjoined a cistern of rain water, and warmed 

 that. The chimney ascended inside the house, a portion of heat 

 was, therefore, secured from that ; then there were 120 feet o { 





