Fetrnary 9, 1871. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



101 



ierised the frost. For days together the sun was hardly seen ; 

 we hare only had one really bright day since the year com- 

 menced, and only two half-bright ones, all the rest being 

 decidedly dull. Another feature favourable to vegetation has 

 been a striking absence of wind. Old millers say that they 

 have not for fifty years experienced such a still calm winter. 

 'There has been no blowing of the snow in wreaths, but it has 

 ■ lain quietly, doing its protective work. It has also been a 

 singularly dry frost. Since December 21st to the time of 

 writing (January 2Sth) the rain gauge, and this includes the 

 melting of the snow, has only received 0.59, or a little more 

 than half an inch of rain. There was a slight break on the 

 ■3;h and 9lh of January, when the first snow melted and the 

 green pastures told of its protective care. Two days afterwards 

 we had 20° of frost, but our friend the snow was again to the 

 rescue with a covering of 2i inches. This melted on the 14th, 

 and since then, allhough we have had frost every night, it has 

 not been severe. 



Taking a look round the gardens we must, with all the 

 winter's drawbacks, and considering its length and intensity, 

 regard it as a fortunate one. Plantations of Cabbages, Let- 

 tuces, and Cauliflowers, which must, but for the snow, have 

 been nearly all killed, are almost as green and fresh as ever ; 

 while Celery, Parsley, autumn-sown annuals, &e., seem little the 

 worse of the ordeal they have passed through. It is different 

 with things above the snow line. Broccoli which was left stand- 

 ing is nearly all killed, while that which was laid down is 

 nearly aU sa^el. Brussels Sprouts are partially injured, and 

 so are all the Kales, except Cottagers' Kale. One thing has 

 surprised me, and that is the hardiness of Asparagus Kale — 

 'Conve Tronchnda of some perhaps, yet a hardy type of it, as 

 it has, with the exception of Cottagers' Kale above noticed, 

 suffered less than any of the Cabbage tribe, thus possessing 

 two important qualities— hardiness and excellence. 



As to shrubs, it is almost premature to speak definitely, but 

 little or no injnry is at present noticeable. Some Eoses are 

 certainly injured, but I do not apprehend the loss is serious. 

 Sn the field the root crops are rather severely out up, not being 

 well covered with snow, but the breadths of Wheat have as yet 

 received no injury whatever. Fortune has thus come out of 

 misfortune, and taking a broad view of what has been and 

 what might have been, I am constrained to sum up the frost 

 as a fortunate one. It has had at least this advantage of 

 bringing out the sympathies of the rich towards the poor, and 

 making the hard times easier. One good result we are reckon- 

 ing on from the protracted cold, and that is the retarding of 

 the fruit blossoms and tiding them over the spriog frosts. The 

 irees look hopeful, and a good fruit year is anticipated. But 

 is the winter over ? 



P.S. — The weather changed on February 2nd. The thaw 

 is steady, appears general, and is accompanied with rain. — 

 J. Weight, Gardener to Ron. A. L. Melville. 



SLOW-COMBUSTION STOVE. 



Makt inquirers have applied for information relative' to the 

 -stove described at page 69, and, as might be supposed, the 

 same queries are put, with some variations, by all. Space will 

 he economised by covering the sum of the questions in one 

 reply. 



The chimney ought to descend. It must not rise, for the 

 carbonic acid produced by burning charcoal is heavier than the 

 air when cold, and so will not ascend in a chimney when it has 

 lost its heat. In the article in the number of January 26th it 

 is explained why the chimney should have a slight descent. 

 The end of it farthest from the stove is best placed about 1 foot 

 or 15 inches lower than the throttle. Charcoal is never so well 

 made but that it contains hydrogenous compounds which form 

 water during combustion, and this drips out of the descending 

 chimney when the combustion is very slow. It is another 

 reason for adopting this disposition of the flue. Coke will not 

 answer. It contains a large quantity (about 12 per cent.) of 

 «arthy matter, and will not, in consequence, commence to burn 

 until a high temperature is reached. It is difficult to light, 

 and is not at all the fuel to use when slow combustion with a 

 comparatively low temperature is required. The cast-iron plug 

 used in Joyce's stove would answer perfectly in lieu of the gas 

 pipe. The chimney need not be of zinc. Zinc does not oxidise, 

 and is very readily made into pipes, for this reason I chose it. 

 The fire is best lighted by placing some charcoal in an old 

 saucepan, well perforated in the bottom, upon the fire. When 

 the charcoal is burning up it can be safely carried to the stove 



upon a shovel or slate, &e., to prevent dropping, and poured 

 into the stove, which can be filled up as far as required imme- 

 diately. My stove was made by Mr. Groom, of College Street, 

 Camden Town, for 12s. 



Of the price of fuel I can only give my own experience. 

 Mine was bought in Litchfield Street, Covent Garden. Six 

 sacks, each containing about 4200 cubic inches, were sent eight 

 miles to my house for 15^'. At the same time, however, a 

 similar quantity was delivered to a neighbouring friend. Sup- 

 posing this to be a fair price, the cost of heating can be arrived 

 at thus : — Not more than would fill the stove to the depth 

 of 1 foot would be required in a severe frost during one 

 night. The diameter of the stove being 6 inches, the area of 

 the cross section would be = 6 inches x 6 inches x.78 54. 

 This multiplied by 12, depth in inches, gives rather less than 

 340 inches, not quite the twelfth of a sack — cost about 2s. id. 

 I have had fire to keep out damp, frost, &o., and sometimes 

 continued it when not needed, and my consumption this winter 

 has been five sacks nearly ; about 12s. 



One correspondent asks why his gas pipe will not answer in 

 cold weather. All gases hold a certain quantity of water in 

 solution ; more when warm, less when cold. The gas pipe 

 exposed chills the gas, and the water held by it when it left 

 the metre is condensed upon the inside of the pipe in the form 

 of dew. This collecting soon fills the pipe in its lowest bend, 

 then freezes, and the supply is cut oS. The only cure is to 

 have a pipe with a continuous fall to the greenhouse, and fix 

 there a fall pipe to receive the water, which can be drawn oS 

 at intervals. — F. Cheshire, A.C.P. 



WEATHER PREDICTIONS. 

 I FEAE I cannot endorse the opinion put forth by your corre- 

 spondent, " Amateue, Cirencester," about the weather-predic- 

 tion theory referred to at page 85 being always correct. The 

 basis of this theory I take to be that when the first seven 

 months of the year are dry, so that the rainfall for that period 

 is less than 10 inches, a severe winter is likely to follow. 

 Farther, it was predicted by the gentleman who promulgated 

 the theory that the present winter would probably be a severe 

 one, the prediction appearing early enough in the autumn to 

 insure its author every credit for not waiting for the event and 

 then recording the prophecy. Applying the theory to former 

 years here, I may say that there have been only two seasons 

 during the last sixteen years that the rainfall of the first seven 

 months of the year— i.e., from January to July, both inclusive, 

 has been below 10 inches, but there has been one in which 

 exactly that quantity fell, and one in which there were 10.23 

 inches, and one case is added of an opposite character. The 

 rainfall of the various years given beneath is for the first 

 seven months alluded to, 



1857 10.23 inches. 



1858 9.S1 „ 



1864 10.00 



1870 8.28 „ 



Now, taking the winter of 1857-58, 1 find the following notice 

 of it made : Autumn very fine, winter dry, spring dull. 



Taking the ensuing winter 1858-59, the remarks made are : 

 Autumn dry and fine, winter mild and dry, spring medium. 



For 1864 I find recorded : Autumn mild but wet, winter wot 

 and cold, spring fine. 



In 1868 a mild, wet autumn was followed by a winter of like 

 character, and an early spring. 



1870 is too fresh in memory to require comment, but one or 

 two instances where a hard winter has followed a season the 

 reverse of that predicted may be given. 



1860-61 : Autumn wet but open tiU the middle of December, 

 when some very severe weather set in, followed by a favourable 

 spring. 



1866-67 : Autumn very mild, winter exceedingly severe, 

 spring late. 



The above being all at variance with the theory, show the 

 uncertainty of weather predictions.— J. Eoesos. 



1868 10.56 inches. 



1860 19.00 „ 



1866 19.68 „ 



The Effects of the Wintek in Nokfolk. — A thermo- 

 meter on a north wall registered on the morning of December 

 24th, 4° Fahrenheit, and at 12 o'clock at night, 3°; on the 

 morning of the 25th it was at 5°. There was a heavy fall of 

 snow on both days. Several Eoses are killed, Laurustinus is 

 killed to the ground, common Laurels very much injured. 

 Deodars and Finns Edgariana very much browned. I am 

 afraid some of the Pinuses are very much injured; they scarcely 



