By Mr, William M'Murtrie. 



413 



as well as in the labour of turning the beds, which is no slight 

 advantage. I have no doubt that stoves thus heated will 

 answer remarkably well for early Vines, tender Exotics, and 

 stove Aquatics. 



In one of these stoves I grow Cucumbers only, and not 

 only get them fine and abundant, but am enabled to cut 

 them throughout the whole year ; in the other stove I grow 

 early Melons, which succeed as well as the Cucumbers, and 

 when the Melons are done with in August, I clear away the 

 soil and rotten dung, and lay about a foot thick of old tan 

 upon the top of the arch, which forms a bed for my Pine 

 suckers and crowns. I pot as many of my suckers and crowns 

 as I have at that time, and likewise collect all the small 

 weak plants from the Pine beds, and plunge them into the 

 old tan, which has soon become sufficiently warm; there 

 they remain until the end of February. Their growth is 

 quite astonishing ; from going into the steam house about the 

 end of August little weak plants, they come out in February 

 fine successions. As the pit in these stoves is wide, I generally 

 fill the back part of it in October with about thirty or thirty-six 

 of my late shown Pines, these do remarkably well through the 

 winter, and produce very superior sized fruit to any that 

 could be grown in a dry stove at that season of the year. 



I communicated the plan of one of these stoves to a friend 

 in Scotland in 1814, and I understand some houses have 

 been constructed similar to it in that country; though 

 not strictly corresponding to mine, and with less success, 

 which I attribute to obvious causes : — firstly, the cavities of 

 their chambers are too small, and without flues running 



vol. vi. 3 M 



