154 



JOURNAL OF HOETICT7LTTJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDEffER.. [ ingest as, 1K4, 



nothing new in orchard-houses, as ire axe now told there is 

 nothing uncommon in producing Grapes in January. By- 

 the-by, I was on tie Committee when those new and old 

 Grapes were exhibited ; and though most of us voted for 

 the old Grapes, because the competition was for flavour 

 alone, and the new ones were unripe, yet all agreed that the 

 new ones were worth three times as much in Covent Garden, 

 even in their then state. — J. ~R. Peaeson, CJiilwell. 



HOTBEDS. 

 I hate just been reading "A Gossip about Hotbeds," and 

 the advice given is very good. About twenty-sis years ago 



1 lived with an old squire as gardener, and had the manage- 

 ment of a three-light and a two-light pit. One day I went 

 out about two miles to see a friend who was gardener at an 

 old halL He had two ranges of pits, each consisting of six 

 or eight lights. His Cucumbers and Melons were just 

 beginning to show fruit, but the plants had sunt down too 

 far from the glass, and he said to me, " Next year I will try 

 the soil on boards." I pondered over the remark, and in 

 the following March I filled my two-light pit about three- 

 parts full with worked manure, putting in posts in the corners 

 and ledges, in order to keep the boards at about 20 inches 

 from the glass. The pits, I must observe, were badly 

 situated, being on a rising ground and exposed to north 

 winds, and when I put my plants in, the wind cut them at 

 the back if I gave air, and if not the steam was too much 

 for them. I found I had not sufficient heat for that early 

 period of the season, so I put linings all round, sunk 2 feet 

 beneath the surface. I thus obtained more heat and also 

 more steam, and my plants looked worse and worse. The 

 thought struck me one day, I will knock out half a brick just 

 below the boards, about the centre of the front wall I did 

 so, and the steam came pouring out lite smoke from a 

 chimney, and in a few days my sickly yellow plants began 

 to grow freely, assuming a dark green colour. I have 

 pursued the same course ever since and never found it fail. 



A farmer near here who has a two-light frame has tried 

 the following plan for six years and he is always successful : — 

 He takes six or eight cartloads of fresh dung from the stable, 

 places it under a south wall just outside the garden, builds 

 it square to the height of about Si feet, beats the top level, 

 then takes two boards about 10 inches wide and an inch or 

 two longer than his frame, and places one about the centre 

 of his bed, which is from 1 foot 3 inches to 2 feet wider all 

 round than the frame. On each side of his centre board he 

 places strips of old board, old stakes, bean rods, old gate 

 bars, or palings, leaving intervals of an inch or two for the 

 steam to rise through, these strips only extending an inch 

 or two wider than the frame all round. This done, he next 

 puts on his cross-bars which are about the thickness of a 

 3trong hedge stake, and their ends being cut flat these rest 

 on each side of the centre board for about 2 inches. He 

 then puts on his other centre board so as to cover the ends 

 of the cross-bars, and thus there is an interval between 

 the two boards which acts as a flue for the escape of rank 

 ateam. He then rests on each side of his top board another 

 lot of strips like those at the bottom, and if a little closer 

 together all the better. If short of strips he pnts on a few 

 Easpberry cuttings or stout straw. This stage is about 3 or 

 9 inches above the level. 



Having made this framework he packs a lot of short dung 

 all round it, and puts on 2 or 3 inches of rotten dung or clay, 

 treading and beating it down so as to prevent the rank 

 steam from going through. He puts on his frame and 

 places 2 or 3 inches of dung or soil up the sides, so when the 

 steam rises it works along the cross-bars and escapes by 

 the steam flue along the centre. He next puts on about 

 9 inches thick of soil all over and treads it down. Sods 



2 inches in thickness chopped up, some rotten leaves and 

 rotten dung mixed together, form the best compost, a little 

 sandy soil being placed at the top. 



After making the sides of the bed even he drives in ten 

 or a dozen thatch pegs round the edges, leaving the tops 

 about 4 inches above the surface, puts long strips of wood 

 just inside the pegs, and fills in with soil at the two sides and 

 front of his frame. On the beds thus formed he sows Eadishes 

 and a little Drumhead Lettuce mixed. The Eadishes soon 



come up, and when these are drawn the Lettuces appear, and 

 if too thickly they can be transplanted into the garden. He 

 then drives in six or eight thatch pegs round the hole at the 

 back and puts same straw round the pegs, for this hole must 

 be kept quite clear. He next builds some manure about 



1 foot or 15 inches up to the wood at tie back of his frame, 

 and in a day or two the steam will be up ; he obtains some 

 Cucumber plants from a neighbouring garden, plants them 

 in the frame, and with proper attention he ean have Cucum- 

 bers ready for cutting in about three weeks. Last year he 

 had a good supply from May to the middle of October. 



The advantages of this plan are, that there is no danger 

 of over-watering : that the plants are generally covered with 

 dew as in the open ground, at least on the under side of 

 the leaves ; that when the Eadishes and Lettuces are off 

 the roots of the Cucumbers strike into the soil on the out- 

 side, getting the benefit of every shower of rain; and, 

 finally, that on a keen windy day the frame can be kept 

 close without the plants being injured by the steam of the 

 bed. 



If Eadishes, &c., are not wanted the manure can be 

 brought up to the sides of the frame, when a bed is made 

 up much earlier. Cuttings of all kinds do well. I generally 

 cut Cucumbers in the last week in March. One season I 

 cut ripe Melons on the 27th of May. Potatoes do exceedingly 

 well. In working brick pits I never like to raise the linings 

 higher than the soil inside, as they only require bottom heat 

 to cause a steam in hot weather. 



I have generally found the only plan to keep a good suc- 

 cession of Cucumbers in pits is to raise young plants from 

 cuttings and pull up old exhausted plants, turning the earth 

 as well as the linings before putting new plants in. I have 

 always found a good depth of earth — say from 1 foot to 



2 feet, advantageous for Cueombers and Melons, especially 

 in a very hot season, as the roots are not so liable to be 

 scorched by the sun. 



I have ventured to send you the above remarks, as I think 

 every one should endeavour to impart to others as much in- 

 formation as he can. — E. Maeshall. 



JWe are very much pleased with your idea of doing all 

 the good you ean, and imparting all the information you 

 can, even in a humble way. Were there more of your dis- 

 position there would be more knowledge, more happiness, 

 and more progress in this world in which we live. We 

 honour your resolve quite as much though we may not be 

 able to perceive much of the novel or progressive in what 

 you describe. Keeping the bottom of such beds at a uni- 

 form distance from the glass by means of boards has been 

 long practised. When the flooring was made secure, either 

 by priming or by earth firmly placed over them, dung 

 less sweetly worked could be used beneath them. In other 

 respects, except keeping the roots "out of the manure little 

 advantage was gained over the common bed and frame, 

 for provided the right distance from the glass is secured, 

 the frame will sink as the bed sinks. We think your boards 

 were too near the glass ; instead of 20 inches, 36 inches 

 would have been better, which would have given you 

 20 inches for soil and 16 inches for foliage and air. You 

 might have moderated the force of the fresh air by hang- 

 ing a close net over the opening, and if only a little tilting 

 — say half an inch or les3 were given, the heated air as it 

 passed out would have heated the cold air going in. We 

 have seen men planting Cucumbers in a windy day in March, 

 with as little care as to their tenderness as if they had 

 been planting an Oak on the open common. This was not 

 the way by which the old gardeners performed such wonders 

 with their dung-beds, and we feel persuaded you know how 

 to admit air ■end keep out steam. The success attending 

 the knoeking-out of a brick in the wall, just shows that you 

 had too much noxious steam, from the dung not being 

 sweetened enough, and the boards and soil too open to keep 

 it down, and also that most likely there was too much 

 bottom heat to suit the atmospheric heat. In the " Gossip " 

 you refer to, fermenting material was scarce, and the most 

 was made of it, and no danger at ail was experienced from 

 steam, the operations too being much less cumbrous than 

 those to which yon refer. Lpon our own principle of follow- 

 ing the plan that answers best, we advise you to follow 

 yours, and would say to all with beds in brick pits, Adopt 

 the same plan under similar circumstances. For ourselves 



