[ 220 ] 



XXXIV. Description of an improved Forcing Pit. In a 

 Letter to the Secretary. By Mr. John West, Correspond- 

 ing Member of the Society, Gardener to the Marquis of Nor- 

 thampton, at Castle Ashby, in Northa?nptonshire. 



Read, September 7, 1819. 



Sir, 



I herewith transmit for the inspection of the Members of 

 the Horticultural Society the ground plan, back elevation, 

 and sections of a Forcing Pit, lately erected under my direc- 

 tion at this place, which I hope will meet their approbation. 

 I have, in the last nine years, so fully proved the utility of 

 a four-light pit on this plan that the Marquis of Nor- 

 thampton has caused a new one, with five-lights, to be 

 built on the same principle : this latter I now propose to de- 

 scribe. 



The neatness and cleanly appearance obtained by the re- 

 moval from sight of the dung used in the forcing, is no slight 

 circumstance in favour of the improved forcing pit ; but the 

 power of regulating the heat to a great nicety, and the equal 

 application of it round the whole body of the earth, are so 

 advantageous, that I can safely recommend the plan for the 

 forcing of Asparagus and early vegetables, for Strawberries, 

 and for the most delicate kinds of Cucumbers. 



The chamber within which the dung is placed, is three feet 

 and a half deep, being about eighteen inches below the sur- 



