358 



TM^O TIMELY NOTES. 



Were this the place and now the time to open the 

 merits of Florida z's . California, as determined in the 

 New Orleans Exposition, horticulturists could show from 

 the evidence that great credit was reflected on Mr. 

 Earle for the breadth of his views and the minuteness 

 of his perceptions about the points to be considered in 

 judging the orange. It shows that he contemplated a 

 future for this fruit, only dreamed of, or seen as in a 

 haze, by those in controversy. It is, perhaps, not a mat- 



ter of surprise that in the then early efforts of Florida 

 growers, they had fallen upon untenable points for 

 judgment ; but their quick wit has aided them in a 

 total discarding of all those points for which they then 

 contended ; and why we ask, live so completely in the 

 past, as to fail to recognize a good intended, and a real 

 good done them and the whole cause of orange growing 

 by the outcome of that New Orleans matter ? 



W. P. C. 



TWO TIMELY NOTES. 



Greenhouse Shading. — One pound of whiting, one 

 ounce of glue and a quarter ounce of bichromate of 

 potash. These materials make, it is said, an excellent 

 shading for greenhouses in summer. Soak che glue for 

 several hours in water and melt in a glue pot, and then 

 dissolve the bichromate in a little warm water and add 

 to the glue. Then stir in the whiting to give it a white 

 color. The whiting is not essential, as any other color- 

 ing may be used. The action of the bichromate on the 

 glue is active. The moment the mixture of glue and 

 bichromate is exposed to the light the glue becomes hard 

 and leathery, precisely as albumen, when mixed with 

 bichromate of potash, is affected by light in photography 

 and photo-lithography. The mixture must be applied 

 quickly to the glass, as it sets or hardens as soon as 

 exposed to the light. Without having tried the above 

 formula, it must be remarked that the proportion of 

 bichromate seems to be very large and the skin or shad, 

 ing on the glass will not easily come off, even when it be- 

 comes necessary to remove it in thefall. In photography, 

 three per cent, of bichromate is regarded sufficient to 

 form a water-resisting film, and one-fourth the quantity 

 would in this mixture be enough. If the whiting be 

 left out, a pink or rosy tint will be obtained, but prob- 

 ably not as good as a shading 



A New Driven Well (patent) employs a chamber 

 at the lower epd of the pipe. The water collects in 

 this chamber and forms a reservoir from which the wa- 

 ter is pumped through the pipe. The patentee's idea is 

 evidently to save the cost of stoning up the well in the 

 old-fashioned way. He uses a brick-arched chamber 

 at the bottom of the well, places the pipe in the cham- 

 ber and then fills up the well hole to the surface. 

 Another and cheaper way, and just as effective, and 

 avoiding all patents, would be to dig the well and fill the 

 lower part with large stones. On these place smaller 

 stones and cover with old sods, straw or brush and fill 

 up the well, leaving the pipe in the middle. This would 

 practically make a reservoir at the bottom of the pipe 

 well. Such a well would not be a driven well, as a driven 

 well means literally a pipe driven into the ground, and 

 this is its whole value. The patentee's pipe-well is not 

 a driven well at all, and is very little better than the old 

 stoned-up well, except that toads and children cannot 

 fallintoit. An open well, on theother hand, is an 'aired' 

 well. The water is exposed to the air, and with a chain 

 pump the water is "aerated" or charged with air every 

 time the pump is used and this is of value, as dead or 

 unaired water lacks needed elements and is not good for 

 drinking and cooking. 



