92 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 29, 1885. 
being: worth retaining:. The result was, that last season we had a splendid 
bed of pink Asters that was admired by all who saw them. The double 
varieties were not noticed in comparison with the singles, and in these 
days when so many are on the look-out for something new they might 
fairly be considered a success. As cut flowers for decorative purposes 
they are quite unsurpassed ; mixed with yellow Marguerites they produce 
a charming effect. There is little doubt that the German growers could 
send us plenty of varieties and colours if there was a demand for them, 
hut we do not want the dingy colours found in so many of the double 
Asters. There is no reason why they should not stand in the same rela¬ 
tion to double Asters that single Dahlias do to the double varieties. Their 
cultivation i9 the same as required for all Asters. I find the second week 
in April the best time to sow the seed. Then they grow vigorously with¬ 
out anv check, and they produce seed more freely than double varieties. 
—H. N. 
TEMPORARY HOTBEDS. 
The season having now arrived in which forcing of all kinds will bo 
going on with great activity, the careful cultivator will often have his 
inventive powers'put To the test in order to insure to everything that 
degree of warmth and shelter which is so essential to its well-being ; for, 
in many cases, the number of frames and other conveniences are not 
sufficient for "the requirements of the season, that some “ makeshifts ” 
have to be called into action, while, at the same time, every inch of glass 
is supposed to be hard at work as well. Now, though it would he idle to 
say that any substitute for a glas3 covering is as good as glass itself, yet 
many contrivances might he adopted which would either hasten on or 
shelter productions of a kind not too tender. For instance, Potatoes 
that were planted on a hotbed in December, might, by-and-hy, have the 
frame taken away from them ; the second crop especially might be made 
to dispense with such a luxury, and some framework of some kind or 
other erected which would admit of being covered up with some frost¬ 
proof material ; while, at the sams time, other beds might be made, and 
the Potatoes planted, which it would be unnecessary to humour with a 
glass covering at all if that material be wanted elsewhere. 
Let us suppose that tree leave’, or dung, or both, exist in sufficient 
quantity to have a frame or two built with. Then, with this fermenting 
material, when in due order (acc >rding to directions so often given), let a 
sort of hotbed be made of any required length, but it had better not be 
more than 5 or 6 feet wide ; the height of 3 feet will probably do at this 
season. When this is done, procure some deals or rough slabs, and fix 
them edgeways up all round the top of it, securing them at the corners to 
each other ; and, if necessary, at one or two places in the middle ; partition 
pins might be laid across, acting in the capacity of tie beams, by the sides 
being fastened to them. This being done, some contrivance must also be 
adopted with a view to support the covering that will be necessary to put 
upon this bed ; one of the best being a waterproof oilcloth, or something 
that way, to support which a rail had better be carried along the centre, 
about 2 feet higher than the tops of these boards ; this rail to be secured 
by posts driven into the bed, &c., and, if necessary, short pieces might be 
laid from the sides to it, in the manner of the rafters of a building, and it 
will easily be seen that over this, mats, or any other covering of that kind, 
might easily ba thrown at any time. 
From this it will easily be seen that a great amount of exposure 
must take place when light is wanted, consequently very tender products 
must not be expected to thrive here ; but, in fact, such delicate plants as 
Cucumbers and many other tender seedlings ought to have some more 
suitable place ; but as a succession of young Potatoes is no less necessary 
than Cucumbers, and a handful of Radishes a month or so before their 
natural season out of doors is often as much esteemed as a handful of 
flowers, it follows that any easy means of obtaining these must be worth the 
little labour they cost. Young Carrots, too, are esteemed a luxury at a 
season when the old ones are no longer palatable, and, by a similar con¬ 
trivance to the above, their presence may he commanded some time 
before those in the open air come into use, and, what is equally important, 
in quite as good a condition as these are when of the same size. 
If no preparations have been made by the amateur by the time these 
pages will reach him in the way of making such beds, no time must now 
be lost, and let the soil be at once put on, and the seed sown ; or if for 
Potatoes, let them be planted. It is not much advantage to have them 
in the growing condition which they often are prior to putting into a 
frame closely covered with glass, for in this latter case the warmth and 
shelter afforded is sufficient to maintain them in that growing state in 
which they have been before their final planting; whereas, to take up 
Potatoes which have made some progress from a warm floor or bed and 
remove them out of doors to where the only heat they have is a little 
at the bottom, subjects them to a check, which throws them farther back 
than those not started at all. However, a little sprouting at the eyes will 
do no harm, and in planting such makeshift beds it is advisable, to use 
larger Potatoes for seed than for outdoor planting generally. 
When circumstances will admit of it, great advantage accrues from 
having the 6oil required for such beds in as dry and mellow a condition 
as possible; this may easily be effected when there are means for that 
purpose, as shed room, &c. It is also proper to observe that a very rich 
soil is not absolutely necessary for the purpose, although it mu‘t not be a 
poor or exhausted one, and for the Carrots a considerable quantity of 
sand or other opening matter ought to be added, for this root is not bene¬ 
fited by much dung or other enriching substance of that kind. Radishes 
may be treated more liberally, perhaps, but the principal agents of success 
are in other causes, and one of the most important is the total seclusion of 
hat cold harsh air so baneful to vegetation in the spring. If this can be 
accomplished without shutting out entirely light from the plant, then the 
object is gained ; but as that cannot well be effected without glass, 
means must be taken to partially admit the light, while a part of the 
covering remains on, or rather while some temporary covering is taking 
the place of the principal one. Oiled calico will do better than a dark 
body, or paper similarly prepared will answer equally well, only it is not so 
durable, and requires a stretching frame or something that way to support 
it on ; but these things will easily suggest themselves to the operator. 
Suffice it here to say, that anything that will admit the light and check 
the coldness of the atmosphere when the east wind is parching everything 
up, must be beneficial. Only let it be borne in mind, that in as far as 
Radishes are concerned, a larger space of full exposure must be made ; 
otherwise the plant will be nothing but top, or, what is equally bad, a 
long useless neck. Carrots are more hardy, and as the seed is a long 
time in germinating it is not nece-sary for the bed to have much light 
during the early part of this process ; however, they must have light 
before they make their appearance, otherwise they wiil lack that robust 
sturdiness so necessary to their well-being afterwards. 
It is almost needless pointing out the many purposes to which such 
beds may be adapted. A patch of Cauliflower and Lettuce seed, sown in 
such a place, furnishes plants long before the same kinds could be had in 
the ordinary way of outdoor sowing ; and it not unfrequently happens 
that the stock of autumn-sown of these things suffers much in a severe 
winter like the present ; hence the necessity of replacing as many as 
possible. I may also observe that French Beans do very well on a bed so 
treated, only they must be somewhat later, as their tropical origin ill fits 
them to endure the cold blasts so common in our springs ; but of this I 
may probably speak hereafter. Nevertheless, many things might be sown 
here which are wanted in small quantities ; and a little later such a bed 
will be famous for raising annual flowers to plant out in the parterre and 
elsewhere ; in fact, the uses of such a bed are manifold ; and as the 
season is at hand wherein every inch of glass will be hard at work in the 
rearing and protecting things more tender or valuable, it behoves the care¬ 
ful cultivator to make the most of the means at his disposal. If the 
common objects can be effected in a homely way, the mode in which that 
is done reflects more credit upon him than when a more expensive system 
has been at work. As many residences in the vicinity of London can 
command hot stable dung in any quantity, and as many country places 
abound in leaves in an almost equally unlimitable extent, I advise each 
party to adopt a free use of each material. Whatever may be the merits 
of hot-water pipes and tanks, even when arranged in the most complete 
way, the day has not yet arrived when the old-fashioned dung bed ha3 to 
be driven out of use. Though it would be unjust to affirm its produce in 
every respect came as early as that furnished by a well-regulated system 
of hot water or other mode of applying fire heat, yet it is much to be 
questioned whether any mode is more congenial to vegetation when that 
does show itself. The management of a plant when luxuriating in the 
genial warmth conveyed by well-prepared fermenting materials, is an ea«y 
matter when the top or foliage of the plant is allowed to partake likewise 
of its exhilirating influence ; but in the description of rough half-exposed 
beds, which this chapter has been devoted to, the kindly influence of a 
genial heat has to be neutralised by frequent full exposures to an 
atmosphere not the most agreeable to vegetation in a dormant state, let 
alone that of a highly excited kind. Nevertheless this anomaly is partly 
got over by beginning in time, and a sort of sturdiness of top is attained 
when good management and attention are put in force.—J. N. R. 
SWANLEY IN WINTER. 
In my little horticultural peregrinations I like to visit Swanley once a 
year. This year my visit happened to be in winter—a frosty day in 
January, not very severe, yet sufficiently so to make the grounl crisp, 
necessitate rather sharp firing to maintain the requisite heat in the houses, 
and three or four thicknesses of mats to be p'aced on the cold frame? for 
keeping the legions of sturdy young Chrysanthemums safe from injury. 
The occasion was opportune for observing at least one important feature 
of the establishment—namely, the heating apparatus in full working 
condition, and as the method adopted differs somewhat from that generally 
in use as to the arrangement of the hot-water pipes a brief reference to 
it may not be without interest to some readers of the Journal. 
I had been told that Mr. Cannell heats his housps, or rather arranges 
the pipes, on a system that is “ scientifically unsound.” inasmuch as the 
proper way is to conduct the flow pipes with a gentle rise to the end of 
the house most distant from the boiler, from that point taking the return 
pipe with a corresponding descent either under the flow in a lean-to 
house, or down the other side if a span-roofed structure. That is the 
orthodox plan ; but it is not exactly the method of arrangement adopted 
at Swanley. The flow pipe, of course, starts from the top of the boiler, 
but it is taken along the central path of the house, close by the side of 
the wall; in fact, it is as low as it can be placed, while the return pipe 
to the boiler is some 3 feet higher. The houses being span-roofed 
there are two flow pipes, one on each side the path, and two which 
are called “ returns ” suspended from the rafters a foot or so from the 
glass along each side of the structure back to the boiler. This is all 
wrong scientifically, I have heard ; but have those persons who thus de¬ 
scribe it examined closely? Have they taken care to observe that the 
pipes most distant from the boiler do not return to it with a gentle incline 
say, an inch in 20 feet, or so ? The truth about the matter is this— 
the pipes rise from where they enter the houses nearest the boiler, and 
continue rising until they reach the same point back again, when the 
