ZINC FOR HORTICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
207 
on 
thrHgli a clogged-up rose than would be spent in unscrewing and screwing on the 
top i^hen it might require it. 
mother purpose for which zinc is eligible is as a substitute for lead in the 
coniruction or lining of cisterns. It is not only a less expensive article, but has a 
mJi neater appearance. In the same way small tanks of various forms might be 
I for the cultivation of aquatics ; and, for the sake of neatness, inclosed in a 
) of wickerwork, upon which many small species of Orchidaceae and Lycopo- 
s miofht find a home. 
.gain, zinc forms an admirable material for gutters, to receive and convey away 
the /ater from a glass house or other building . When employed in this way, it 
shed always be braced up well with iron supports made to fit close to the under 
se of the gutter, otherwise in heavy rains the weight of water might depress 
m the level, between the supports, and thus render it incapable of conveying 
off :ie water. Zinc gutters have a much neater and lighter appearance than 
ien ones ; in fact, wooden ones ought never to be employed, as they give the 
of a house a clumsy aspect, and cause a greater obstruction of light than 
ones. 
line gutters, or troughs of difibrent lengths, are sometimes formed so as to fit 
le top of round hot- water pipes for heating houses. In this way they are 
us/il in houses where a considerable degree of humidity is required at certain 
seEjtns ; and more or less moisture might be furnished by covering either the whole 
or ily a part of the pipes. The troughs, moreover, may be emptied at any time 
wli the external weather renders it imprudent to keep a very moist atmosphere 
wi' in ; and when they are no longer necessary, they may be entirely taken away, 
an' set by, in some dry shed, till they are again required. Hence they possess some 
ad ,ntages of no little moment over troughs fixed to the pipes. 
'[n an admirably arranged Orchidacem house not long ago erected at the Messrs. 
H'derson’s Nursery, Pine-apple Place, fitted up with slate shelves over the hot- 
wur apparatus, a semi-cylindrical piece of perforated zinc plate is inserted 
beVeen each length of slate, to facilitate the passage of heated air. A layer of 
sa y soil is placed upon the slate, and kept damp during the growing season. By 
th means the roots of the plants set there are provided with a genial bottom-heat, 
an 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 
pi ih or chisel of an oval form, leaving a short leg to fix them in a pot, and either 
ps ted and lettered, or written upon with a prepared ink, they look very neat 
w I the head bent down over the edge of the pot. Of a larger size, they are 
so etimes used for water-plants in ponds, the oval head attached to a rod of iron 
fii||ly fixed at the bottom of the water, and sufficiently long to raise the label a 
fei inches above the surface of the water. 
Zinc is also moulded into handsome vases and stand-bottoms for placing plants 
u] a in a room, so as to catch all the water that drains from the pots. These are 
