104 
removal from pit to pit,or place to place, according to the require- 
ments of the cultivator, as they are equally adapted for all pur- 
poses. We deem it necessary now to explain the reasons which 
induced us to plan the structure, somewhat differently from the 
ordinary garden frame. First, the pit, the walls of which are nine 
inches thick, and hollow, are built with brick, placed edgeways, 
with headers (as the cross bricks are called) at intervals, which 
hold the work together with firmness ; thus the desired object — a 
fined wall, is obtained, and materials are economized. Hollow 
walls are well known non-conductors of heat; they are also 
averse to the transmission of moisture, which spreads, as is well 
known, through brick walls, by capillary attraction, especially 
if they are formed of soft materials. By means of these double 
walls, then, chilling damps can scarcely enter from without, 
neither can warmth escape from within, but at a much slower 
ratio than through solid masonry. 
The sketch here given represents the pit as employed in 
wintering half-hardy plants in pots; and for this purpose it will 
merely be necessary to introduce a couple of trestles to support 
a few boards cut to the length of the pit, to carry a little sand, 
ashes, or sawdust, in which to plunge the pots of plants : or they 
may be set on the boards themselves, with moss placed between 
them, which, if regularly salted a little, before use, will be found 
to be as disagreeable to slugs as any material that can be em- 
ployed ; at the same time it is a good protection against frost, 
and pleasant for use. Of course, while thus employed, one of 
the glass protectors will be made use of; and if the inmates can 
be turned out by the second week of May, a good bed of cucum- 
bers or late melons may be produced, before the arrival of the 
usual wintering or housing period, say the middle of October. 
In anticipation of the pit being thus employed, the amateur 
must, on building it, determine on the mode of applying fer- 
menting material, for it will be very desirable, although his pit 
may be intended mainly for protection in winter, that he should 
make it an efficient source of enjoyment in the summer; and 
this will be best effected by applying a little heat from stable 
manure, or from tan, as explained in section 56 of the Aucta- 
rium, or decaying leaves, section 60. A single pit of this sort 
may stand as an independent object in a small flower gar- 
den; in which case, of course, the heat must be obtained from 
