GLASS STRUCTURES AND APPLIANCES. 



4S 



written that the former are bell-glassea and the 

 iatter cloches. But this would hardly he correct, 

 though the majority of cloches are knobless. They 

 are more easily made and consequently cheaper, and 

 -iakefar less space to pack and store, without knohs. 

 Against this must be placed the greater convenience 

 for lifting and remoTal furnished by the knobs. 



Hitherto in this country the use of bell-glasses has 

 been chiefly confined to purposes of propagation (see 

 Fig. 4) and the protection of tender plants. Useful 

 and indispensable as they 

 are in regard to these, 

 they are still more ralu- 

 able as stimulants to cul- 

 tivation. In France and 

 other parts of the Con- 

 tinent they are so gene- 

 rally used, and that in so 

 wholesale a way, that it 

 is no exaggeration to say 

 that in certain seasons and 

 localities each cauliflower. 



Fig. 4.— CnTTrMos dndeb BELx-ai.A3SES. 



o a. Bell-glasses ; h, lio1>-1)ed ; c, hot-water pipes to 

 lieat b; dj iralls of the pit. 



They not merely protect seeds from the ravages 

 of birds, but hasten their germination and carry the 

 young plants through the danger period with a 

 rush. 



Hand-lights. — Of these we furnish illustrations 

 of several varieties (Figs. 5, 6, 7), aU used for simi- 

 lar purposes to cloches and bell-glasses, and very 

 frequently as substitutes for them. For the pur- 

 poses of fostering growth and the protection of 

 semi-tender plants they 

 are equal or superior to 

 either, while their larger 

 size enables thenL to .cover 

 larger plants and enclose 

 wider areas. Unless psir- 

 ticularly well made and 

 carefully used they are 

 never so dose as the 

 cloche or bell-glass, and 

 hence not so well adapted 

 for purposes of propaga- 



P;g. 5. — Copper Frame in one piece. 



Fig. 6. — ^Iron Frame in one piece. 

 Hakd-lzohts. 



Fig. 7.^Moval)le Top placed to 

 admit air. 



lettuce, and endive or salad plant has its cloche ; and 

 the large, sweet, crisp produce from under them 

 affords the highest possible testimony to their fos- 

 tering power in accelerating and enlarging growth. 

 Their effect on quality is equally striking, perhaps 

 even more so, while they reduce the time from the 

 start to the finish to the shortest possible limits. 



Hitherto the stimulating influences of cloches and 

 bell-glasses have been mostly confined to the culti- 

 vation of salads and such vegetables as Cucumbers 

 and Cauliflowers in the open air. Probably they 

 have a yet greater field of usefulness before them in 

 the future, in connection with the fostering of early 

 spring flowers and the protection of semi-tender 

 plants, and perhaps the culture of hardier varieties of 

 Melons in the open air. Their usefulness in raising 

 seeds in the open has long been recognised. 



tion, unless for such common things as Pinks, 

 CSloves, and Carnations, pipings of which root rapidly 

 under hand-lights. 



The old-fashioned hand-lights (Figs. 5 and 6) 

 were made in one piece, the ribs being formed of 

 iron, copper, zinc, or lead. On the whole, iron is 

 best as being the most durable, but copper was 

 generally used at one time, the base and the upper 

 side of the vertical portion being formed of iron. 

 Now the entire framework is generally formed of 

 iron, the upper side of the sash-bars being rebated so 

 as to receive the glass. But dry glazing in horti- 

 culture was first applied to hand-glasses, and is still 

 practised in the formation of such caps or hemd- 

 glasses as those illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. Li all 

 these, and several other forms that might be de- 

 scribed, the whole of the hand-light, when finished. 



