8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 202. 



and a foot wide, to which a board was hinged. Cotton cloth 

 was nailed to the edges of this and the greenhouse-wall, so that 

 by opening out the board the air is conducted over the pipes 

 and heated some before flowing into the house. A hood at 

 the edge of the bench in front of the ventilator confines the air 

 soinewhat,andpreventsitfrom passingout beforelingeringover 

 tlie pipes. By opening the ventilator at the end sufficiently, down- 

 ward draughts from the top of the house are entirely obviated. 

 Alongside of my house I have had a six-light cold frame, 

 which has for a lona: time been a great care and annoyance. 

 Cold frames are indispensable in a garden for storage, and are 

 much used, of course, for growing plants. While I have used 

 tliem for that purpose, it has always been under protest, for 

 shifting sashes and covering and uncovering in all weather are 

 labors not to my taste. There are some garden operations at 

 which I draw the line. There is seldom a difficulty without a 

 solution, and at last the six-light sash has gone, and I am en- 

 joying the satisfaction of cultivating my half-hardy cold-frame 

 plants in comfortable quarters. This was managed by a very 

 simple re-arrangement, maUing what is practically a cold annex 

 to my greenhouse. As this annex is proving a success, per- 

 haps a few details may give useful hints to some fellow-ama- 

 teur fond of hardy plants. The original house, it may be 

 remembered, was a span roof eight feet wide, and with three- 

 feet walls. The first operation was to set up four posts twenty 

 inches outside of the wail, and on top of these a girder four 

 inches by three was secured. Then the sashes on one side of 

 the house were lifted and lapped on the girder, putting in new 

 rafters, of course, to hold them. Outside of the old frame a 

 new'frame was made two feet wide of boards nailed together, 

 with tarred paper between, and sunk in the earth nearly to the 

 level of the surface. On top of these was spiked a two 

 by three plate-piece, to which were fastened saslies one foot 

 wide and three feet long. On top of these is another plate 

 piece chamfered on one edge, to which was nailed a drip- 

 board. Sashes are hinged on the girder, extending to this 

 board. The ends were glazed, which completed the enclosure 

 of the house. Inside entrance is gained through the furnace- 

 room, and the path being sunk to the level of the furnace-pit, 

 nearly two feet below the main house, there is six feet head- 

 room over this.. The space under the new sash is now a solid 

 bed of earth six feet wide. 



Fig. 3. — End-3eclion of Plant-house, the addition in dotted lines. — See page 6. 

 A. Solid bed. B. Paths. C. Proposed fernery, D. Hinged sash. 



In planning the changes my theory was that the warm air 

 rising on both sides of the benches should keep the plants on 

 them comfortable, and that in cold weather, when the ven- 

 tilators are mostly closed, the cooling air would flow into 

 the annex and temper it. The space above the wall was left 

 open for this purpose, the opening being fourteen feet long 

 and two feet wide. The arrangement has proved satisfactory, 

 and there is usually a difference of fifteen to twenty degrees 

 in night temperature between the two sections. The revised 

 cold frame now appears as a solid bed, six feet by eighteen, 

 at which one can work comfortably in any weather, and the 

 temperature can be kept as low as may be desired. The 

 sashes being hinged, by putting in partitions it is possible to 

 make such variations of temperature as may be desired for 

 different collections of plants. It will probably be several sea- 

 sons before I shall work out the possibilities of my new acqui- 

 sition, but this season I have flowered there a good crop of 

 late Chrysanthemums, and have it now planted out with a few 

 Roses, Carnations and Pansies, and a large collection of bulbs. 

 Primulas and small hardy plants in pots. Azaleas and Genistas 

 are seemingly destined to do well. It seems a capital place to 

 bring on bulbs slowly. 



There is one other change which I have postponed to an- 

 other season. By dividing and removing half of the wall of 

 the warm section, taking out the earth under the bench and 

 putting in a stone wall at the edge of the iimer path, there will 

 be room for a temperate fernery two and a half by fifteen 

 feet. Of course, it will be necessary to board this over to con- 

 fine the heat to its present course. In this fernery there will 

 be head-room of two feet at the rear and three feet at the 

 front. There does not seem any reason why temperate Ferns 

 and some other plants growing under the same conditions' 

 should not do well there. Of course, the wall will receive at- 

 tention, and being laid up with earth will be planted with suit- 

 able Ferns, Lichens, etc. To resume, I have apparently 

 improved my main house by getting more head-room and a 

 less stuffy inclination of air, have gotten rid of a care in the 

 cold frame, exchanging it for an equally suitable place for the 

 plants — in some cases a more suitable one. My current work 

 is scarcely increased, as the cool section dries out very slowlv 

 and seldom requires watering. The care of the stove, of 

 course, is no greater. It will be seen that when the alterations 

 are complete there will be in all two three-foot benches, a two- 

 and-a-half-foot fernery, and a six-foot bed in a width of fifteen 

 feet of greenhouse, which seems a fairly economical utiliza- 

 tion of space. The tank sunk in the end of the path, I fear, 

 will prove too cool to be of much service. As a measure of 

 precaution, I have provided a covering which can be rolled 

 over the lower sash should there occur very extremely cold 

 weather, for, while the furnace has a capacity sufficient for 

 both houses, I prefer the protection to the hard firing, which 

 would possibly give too much warmth in the warm section. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. J. A'. Gerard. 



Cultivation of the Hellebores. 



'X'HESE plants are easy to manage. They prefer a light rich 

 ^ soil, and a position comparatively dry and sunny in win- 

 ter, and cool and shaded in summer. Shade at any season of 

 the year is not an absolute necessity, full exposure to the sun 

 being rather beneficial than otherwise, provided the roots can 

 be kept moist andcoolin hot weatherbyfrequentand thorough 

 watering. i\Iost of the Hellebores grow naturally in soil of 

 rather poor quality, but they make better foliage and flower 

 more profusely under liberal garden treatment. A good 

 method to pursue in planting is to excavate the soil to a 

 depth of about two feet, replacing it with a mixture of fresh 

 loam, leaf-mold and thorouglily decomposed farm-yard manure 

 in equal parts, the best compost for all kinds of Hellebores, 

 whether grown in the garden or in pots. The work should be 

 done in early spring just as the new growth makes its appear- 

 ance. It is unwise, however, to interfere with the plants when 

 they are established and doing well. Sometimes they require 

 fresh soil, or it is desirable to increase the stock, and then re- 

 moval is necessary. A surface-dressing of rich manure will 

 generally be found sufficient to keep old plantations in good 

 condition if the soil about the roots is well drained, so that it 

 does not become sour by stagnant water. 



The manure should be applied soon after the flowering sea- 

 son, and allowed to remain on the soil all through the summer, 

 and until a covering is again required in spring, when the ex- 

 hausted remnants may be raked off. This mulch is verv bene- 

 ficial to the plants, apart from the nourishment they derive 

 from it. The litter of the manure protects the roots against 

 drought, and when no enrichment is needed a mulch of simi- 

 lar kind should be used. The lack of m'oisture at the roots is 

 the great obstacle to overcome in cultivating these plants. 



The flowers appear at a time when they are most valuable, 

 on account of the dearth of other hardy flowers ; but, unfortu- 

 nately, their beauty is easily tarnished by the storms which 

 then prevail. The only way to meet this difficulty is to arrange 

 the plants compactly, so that a frame may be placed over 

 them. Many object to such a contrivance as unsightlv ; but 

 unless one has a cold greenhouse, in which the plants may be 

 grown, the frame is the only cheap and handy way of securing 

 perfect flowers and foliage in their proper season. And, after 

 all, the flowers, lasting as they do from eight to ten days in 

 water, are most enjoyable when cut in a perfectly clean condi- 

 tion and used for indoor decoration. 



Much has been written about the inadaptability of Helle- 

 bores for forcing. They are not good subjects for this work. 

 By exercising care, however, much satisfaction may be had 

 from them. It is sometimes thought that they may be taken 

 from the garden, potted and placed in heat immediately as 

 successfully as some other hardy plants. Nothing can be 

 farther from the truth. There are few cultivated plants to 

 which artificial heat, applied without judgment, is so deadly. 



