PITS HEATED BY HOT WATER, &o. 



449 



lain has four fruiting pits, which are 

 heated with hot water and stable litter 

 combined — the stable litter for bottom 

 heat, and the hot water for surface heat." 

 Eleven lights (each light is 4 feet 4 inches 

 wide) form the largest fruiting pit, of 

 which figs. 625 and 626 are sections. In 

 fig. 625 is shown the manner in which 



Fig. 625. 



that add 18 or 20 inches for the depth of 

 the soil, which consists entirely of pure 

 peat, with abundance of white, sharp, 

 sparkling sand — such, for example, as 

 would be preferred for heaths. The bot- 

 tom heat is regulated by the drains g, 

 which are opened when the heat is too 

 strong, and shut when it is too low. 



Atkinson's succession pine-pits with hot 

 water and dung linings combined. — Figs. 

 627 and 628 represent an excellent range 

 of pits upon this principle. This pit is 



access is had to the hotbed. Fig. 626 

 shows the entrance and the furnace, with 

 a side view of the pit. a furnace, b hot- 



Fig. 626. 



water pipes, c chimney, d concealed pit to 

 get at the hotbed, e hotbed, / door, which 

 is shut up after the stable litter has been 

 removed ; g air-holes, furnished with a 

 cover to regulate the bottom heat; h 

 bed filled with peat soil, in which the 

 pines are planted ; i iron bar, supporting- 

 boards to hold the peat soil ; h footpath, 

 I door, m water-cistern, n shelf for straw- 

 berries, o ground line, p iron railings for 

 hanging the straw mattings upon, which 

 serve to cover the pits. Ventilation is given 

 in the usual way, by lifting up the lights. 



M. Pelvilain's pits are narrow, admit- 

 ting only of three rows of plants. Their 

 depth must be regulated by the height of 

 the plants to be grown in them ; and to 



VOL. I. 



70 feet long, and divided into two com- 

 partments. It is heated by means of dung 

 linings placed all round, and also by hot 

 water, as well as by the tan or leaf bed in 

 which the plants are plunged. Although 

 somewhat more complicated and expensive 

 in erection and working than a tank pit 

 of the same size would be, still it has ad- 

 vantages that few pits of its day had; and 

 where stable litter is abundant, it may be 

 advantageously used, as the pit and linings 

 will be often sufficient to keep up the neces- 

 sary temperature, and the hot water can 

 be applied when these decline. When 

 the linings are covered over, the whole 

 has a neat and compact appearance. The 

 section fig. 628 is drawn to a larger scale 



Fig. 628. 



than the ground-plan and elevation ; but as 

 a scale is attached to each, the dimensions 

 may be accurately enough taken. 



Fig. 629 is a section of melon or 

 cucumber pits, adapted to those shown in 

 ground-plan of kitchen gardens, mark- 

 ed mm mm, fig. 21. They are 8 feet 



3 L 



