ZINC FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
20? 
through a clogged-up rose than would be spent in unscrewing and screwing on the 
top when it might require it. 
Another purpose for which zinc is eligible is as a substitute for lead in the 
construction or lining of cisterns. It is not only a less expensive article, but has a 
much neater appearance. In the same way small tanks of various forms might be 
made for the cultivation of aquatics ; and, for the sake of neatness, inclosed in a 
frame of wicker work, upon which many small species of Orchidacese and Lycopo- 
diums might find a home. 
Again, zinc forms an admirable material for gutters, to receive and convey away 
the water from a glass house or other building . When employed in this way, it 
should always be braced up well with iron supports made to fit close to the under 
surface of the gutter, otherwise in heavy rains the weight of water might depress 
it from the level, between the supports, and thus render it incapable of conveying 
off the water. Zinc gutters have a much neater and lighter appearance than 
wooden ones ; in fact, wooden ones ought never to be employed, as they give the 
front of a house a clumsy aspect, and cause a greater obstruction of light than 
zinc ones. 
Zinc gutters, or troughs of different lengths, are sometimes formed so as to fit 
on the top of round hot-water pipes for heating houses. In this way they are 
useful in houses where a considerable degree of humidity is required at certain 
seasons ; and more or less moisture might be furnished by covering either the whole 
or only a part of the pipes. The troughs, moreover, may be emptied at any time 
when the external weather renders it imprudent to keep a very moist atmosphere 
within ; and when they are no longer necessary, they may be entirely taken away, 
and set by, in some dry shed, till they are again required. Hence they possess some 
advantages of no little moment over troughs fixed to the pipes. 
In an admirably arranged Orchidacese house not long ago erected at the Messrs, 
Henderson's Nursery, Pine-apple Place, fitted up with slate shelves over the hot- 
water apparatus, a semi-cylindrical piece of perforated zinc plate is inserted 
between each length of slate, to facilitate the passage of heated air. A layer of 
sandy soil is placed upon the slate, and kept damp during the growing season. By 
this means the roots of the plants set there are provided with a genial bottom-heat, 
and there is a constant circulation of warm air through the perforated plate. 
Many gardeners are partial to labels of this metal. When cut out with a 
punch or chisel of an oval form, leaving a short leg to fix them in a pot, and either 
painted and lettered, or written upon with a prepared ink, they look very neat 
with the head bent down over the edge of the pot. Of a larger size, they are 
sometimes used for water-plants in ponds, the oval head attached to a rod of iron 
firmly fixed at the bottom of the water, and sufficiently long to raise the label a 
few inches above the surface of the water. 
Zinc is also moulded into handsome vases and stand-bottoms for placing plants 
upon in a room, so as to catch all the water that drains from the pots. These are 
