THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



197 



his plants from the house to the open air, he is 

 careful not to set the pots on bricks or a pave- 

 ment, for these are continually extracting mois- 

 ture from the earth in the pots, and in hot wea- 

 ther the roots of the plants are thereby scorched 

 and dried up. He places them on the earth, 

 and in watering, pours some between them, and 

 thus the pots are kept moist and cogI during the 

 hottest day. It is a fact, that no where have I 



seen finer plants than his ; nor do I know any 

 one who can raise them with such certainty and 

 with so little trouble or difficulty: and believing 

 that the hint may be valuable to many of your 

 readers, particularly to those whose labors in 

 floriculture are chiefly confined to the house, it 

 is communicated, in the hope that they will re- 

 ciprocate, if in their power so to do. 



S. Dale. 



For the Southern Planter. 

 GATE. 



Mr. Editor, — You have furnished us a great J 

 deal of valuable practical matter in the " Planter" 

 upon the subject of gates, but I do not think 

 you have quite exhausted the subject, and there- 

 fore beg that you will re-publish the cut and de- 

 scription that I have marked in the number of 

 the "United States Farmer," that I got from 

 your office a few days since. I think the prin- 

 ciple an admirable one, but will be glad if you 

 will accompany the article with such comments 

 as your better judgment may suggest. 

 Your obedient servant, 



A. G. S * * * * *. 



We have turned to the article referred to, and 

 complied with the request of our correspondent 

 by putting the cut in the hands of the engraver. 

 <£ A circular piece of plank six or eight inches 

 in diameter, grooved after the manner of a pul- 

 ley wheel, is nailed or firmly attached horizon- 

 tally to the top of the heel post of the gate, in 

 such a manner that its centre shall be exactly 

 in the axis of the gate. To the inner side of 



this circular piece, (the gate being supposed to 

 open outwards,) in the groove, a rope or chain 

 is attached, which passes over a small pulley 

 fastened to the back part of the gate post, sus- 

 pending a weight sufficient to swing the gate 

 together. It is evident, that if the circular piece 

 be six inches in diameter, the gate may be 

 opened to its fullest extent without raising the 

 weight more than a foot." 



This is an ingenious, although not entirely 

 novel arrangement ; we have seen the same 

 plan adopted for small yard gates, where it 

 works very admirably, and certainly is the neat- 

 est and least inconvenient form in which a 

 weight can be applied to keeping a gate shut. 

 In a farm gate, a latch would also be necessary 

 to prevent stock from pushing it open. But the 

 weight here answers a double purpose ; it not 

 only keeps the gate shut, but it balances the 

 gate and tends to keep the heel post in an up- 

 right position ; so that if the balance of the 



