492 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 10, 1891. 
Hurserymen often glazed their buildings with fragments, and there 
were occasional gaps, while deposits of dirt settled in the insterstices. 
Quantities of putty were used to fill up the laps, which, in con¬ 
nection with other obstructions of the light, often gave to the 
houses a very gloomy aspect. The construction of most was 
severely simple, whatever might be the size ; a high back wall, 
generally 2 feet higher than the roof, a low front wall, or parapet 
as they called it, the sides of glass and wood. To avoid the 
necessity of shifting the sashes on the roof, some of the houses 
were built with openings in the back or high wall for the purpose 
of ventilation, these were usually closed bv wooden shutters. It 
was about the year 1780 that someone suggested the employment 
of a leaden lap instead of putty for holding the glass in sashes, but 
an objection was made to this after a time, as the water running 
down the outside of a roof accumulated on the upper edge of each 
band of lead, and by degrees worked its way inside to drop on the 
plants. An improvement was made by the use of a very thin lap 
of lead, the glass being also secured with putty, but after a few 
years both modes became unpopular. The copper lap was a later 
invention, attributed to Mr. Stewart, who employed it in his large 
conservatories at Woodlands, near Blackheath. Gardeners, how¬ 
ever, objected to the drip from this, which occurred unless the 
roof had a considerable slope, as this was said to be impregnated 
with copper, also to some extent the light was diminished. 
By the middle of George III.’s reign, the open fireplaces 
first used for heating greenhouses were almost discarded, and the 
yet more objectionable plan of sinking the building and of warming 
it by a surrounding of decomposing manure had been quite given 
up. All houses, nearly, were now heated by stoves and smoke- 
flues ; the stove, or furnace as they called it, being outside the 
structure and mostly placed behind the higher wall out of view, 
though some, for good reasons, preferred to have the flue 
enter the house at the front. It was carried round three sides in 
small houses and then brought back to the point where it entered, 
but in large houses it was made to return down the middle of the 
building. Coal was burnt, not coke or charcoal as a rule, and a 
variety of schemes were tried to avoid the necessity of going out to 
feed the stoves during the night, such as by a wheel which would 
revolve when the fire went down, but they were not successful. About 
1775 we find mention of can-fiues, so styled, a Dutch invention, 
known long before then in Holland. These were earthen pipes 
laid in portions and joined by cement ; the objection to these was 
they heated rapidly but cooled down as soon. On the introduction 
of cast iron flues, rather later, these were also opposed by many, 
because it was thought difficult to prevent their being overheated, 
and some coated them with a mixture of clay and sand. Flued 
walls for fruit trees appear to have been introduced about this 
period. These were built of brick, occasionally of stone, and, of 
course, hollow pipes being carried from the base of the wall to 
within 1 or 2 feet of the coping ; the stove was not placed in 
close contact with the wall, to avoid the diffusion of too much 
heat. A wooden or wire trellis was sometimes put in front of the 
side used, and some nurserymen had these walls covered with 
glass. 
The poet Cowper amuses us by his description, given both in 
prose and in verse, of the trouble he took to raise “ the prickly and 
green-coated Gourd.” Evidently from what we read about his 
period the Cucumber was attaining an important position. Many 
new methods for its forcing and cultivation were tried. Indeed, 
McPhail remarks that almost every mechanic had a bed of 
Cucumbers in his garden, and he appears to have originated the 
method of raising plants by cuttings and layers as well as from 
seed. The gardeners now managed to produce Cucumbers all the 
year round by forcing in frames or stoves. Large quantities also 
began to be raised under handglasses ; the seeds were sown in 
April or May for a summer and autumn supply. The majority of 
growers used dung chiefly for forcing, sometimes combined with 
vegetable mould or top-spit earth. Abercrombie gave his brethren 
many valuable hints, pointing out the imnortance of a steady heat, 
not allowed to fall much at night, also the need of due ventilation, 
which had been rather neglected, and he advised the application of 
sulphur as a remedy for mildew. 
Before 1760 there were not more than six nurseries of any 
consequence in Scotland ; but twenty years later showed a marked 
increase when the cannie Scots found that money was to be made, 
not only by the productions of the garden, but by raising seedlings 
of hardy and half-hardy trees and shrubs, some of which were 
found to succeed better in the air of Scotland than in that of 
England. A taste for flowers rapidly developed itself amongst the 
weavers of Paisley, which extended to other districts. Florists’ socie¬ 
ties were formed, and competitions took place, which led to the exhibi¬ 
tion of new varieties of the Pink, Carnation, Tulip, Ranunculus, and 
other species, some of which were deemed superior to those obtained 
in the south. At this time the cultivation of the Strawberry had 
increased more in Scotland than in England, also of Gooseberries 
and Raspberries, these being much in demand for making British 
wines. Some of the pupils of the famous garden-planner, Brown, 
made their way into Scotland, but did not attain to much success 
there. A man named Ramsey, however, improved upon some of 
Brown’s methods, and became eminent there towards the end of 
that century. 
In England a stimulus to the cultivation of choice and new 
plants was given by the publication of Curtis’s “ Botanical 
Magazine,” commenced in 1787. Before that dale, however, wo 
read of William Curtis as the publisher, in 1777, of a “Flora 
Londinensis,” and about that date he took up the subject of 
horticulture practically, for having secured a plot of ground in 
Lambeth he formed a collection of plants, medicinal, useful, and 
injurious, all arranged scientifically, to which he admitted the 
public by subscription. He was assisted by Barrington and 
White, and subsequently removed to Brompton. We have, it 
seems, to thank Lord Bute for introducing the Dahlia, a flower 
which caused much excitement, the seeds being sent from Mexico- 
to Madrid in 1789, and his Lordship secured England a few of 
these. It is curious that some persons were anxious to name it 
Georgina,after Georgia Russian botanist, but it received an appel¬ 
lation from Dahl, the Swede. The first perfect blossom is said to- 
have been raised in the French garden of Holland House, after many 
failures, and its history is illustrative of a common error amongst 
gardeners then, they supposed that because a plant was an exotic- 
it must want a high temperature and a stuffy atmosphere* 
Mignonette ^first grown, ’tis said, in Chelsea Botanic Garden, had 
become common about the London windows by 1775, and one of 
its cultivators prophesied that it would so increase as to grow 
along our hedgerows ; but this does not appear likely to occur* 
Some good work for horticulture was done unobtrusively by men 
comparatively unknown, such as Nathaniel Rencb, whose family for 
two centuries held a nursery at Southfields, Fulham. He died in 
1783, at the mature age of 100, and in the same room where he was- 
born. This Rench produced many variegated evergreens, and 
some think he introduced the Moss Rose.—J. R. S. C. 
FUNGOID DISEASES. 
(Continued from page 47f) 
The following subject has special interest to growers of fruit in this? 
country, inasmuch as it treats of Apple scab, Fusicladium (Clado- 
sporium) dendriticum, Fckl. The work was conducted by Prof. E. S* 
Goff, and at the same station as last year, to which reference was made 
in this Journal ; but a brief outline of the circumstances under which 
the experiments were pursued are imperative :—“ The fruit farm of 
Mr. A. L. Hatch, on which the experiments here reported were con¬ 
ducted, lies three and a quarter miles south-east of the village of Ithaca,. 
Richland County, Wisconsin. It crowns the summit of a hillock, and 
is not far from 1000 feet above sea level. The soil is a light clay loam, 
underlaid by Potsdam sandstone, and is in a good state ot cultivation.”" 
The location is a wet one, and corresponds in many respects with the 
climate of this country, especially in a wet season; hence the experi¬ 
ments have special significance, because Apple scab and cracking in Pears- 
is most prevalent in wet seasons, and runs rampant in cold soils and 
wet localities. 
“ The weather during the early summer,” states Prof. Goff, “ proved 
excessively rainy, and the effects of some of the applications were 
undoubtedly destroyed by copious showers soon after the treatments. 
It was sometimes necessary to postpone applications from day to day 
owing to the very frequent rains.” Three fungicides were tested this- 
season (1891), namely :—I. Copper carbonate dissolved in ammonia and 
also in suspension. II. The sulphur powder, so-called, introduced by 
Mr. E. Bean, of Jacksonville, Florida. III. The compound of ammo- 
niated copper sulphate and ammonium carbonate—namely, mixture 
No. 5, before described. 
The objects of the experiments were to ascertain the most efficacious 
materials and the best methods of using the fungicides. Prof. Goff 
observes that “ It was found in 1889 that the ammonia, unless very 
largely diluted, endangers the foliage, and gives the fruit a rusty appear¬ 
ance. It also dissolves the arsenic of Paris green or London purple when 
used for the codlin moth at the same spraying, and this indirectly 
causes injury to the foliage.” This is in accord with our experience of 
ammonia applied to the foliage as we have done for many years for the 
destruction of parasites. Treatment was followed on two trees with, 
copper carbonate dissolved in ammonia, and two others with the same 
material simply stirred in water, as we apply Paris green, and the crops- 
of these two pairs of trees were compared with each other, and also- 
with those of the check tree. The treatment also had regard to 
spraying before the opening of the flowers, deferring it until after 
bloom, and the number of times necessary to give best results. Some 
trees were sprayed two, others four, six, and eight times respectively,, 
and the crops of the different trees compared with each and with check 
trees net sprayed at all. 
“ The strength at which the fungicides were used. The copper car¬ 
bonate was in every case of the precipitated form, and when applied in the 
