1868 .] 
REMINISCENCES OF OAKHILL. 
185 
tired, and lived in the village of East Barnet was sent for, and immediately 
entered upon this duty. Mr. James was a man of note, whose lot in life had 
been cast among well-grown fruits and flowers; and, although he had been 
a successful cultivator and had made money by it, his merits had not been 
appreciated, and his star had risen and seemed likely to set unseen by the 
world. Like some old soldier, being hale and hearty, he was soon girt for 
the combat, and as there was no stint of means he resolved to set things 
to rights in good earnest. Suffice it to say, that in the absence of the regular 
gardener everything was vastly improved, and Mr. Dowding had the good 
sense to follow the example that had been set. 
The Pine-apple plants that had been plunged in warm tanner’s hark up 
to the brim of the pot, were mounted on the top of a burning heat, and only 
let into the tan bed about 1 or 2 inches; and as the heat below was in¬ 
creased, so also was the top heat, and all the light that could be got was 
let in, for the sashes were glazed with clear crown glass, and had thin copper 
styles, and these sashes were not only regularly washed but really kept 
clean, as much so as if they had been shop windows. The consequence 
of all this was, that much time was gained in the fruiting of the Pine-apple, 
for if the plants did not grow rapidly they had but one alternative, and that 
was to be roasted alive. Mr. James’s plan was always to accompany the 
supply of artificial heat with all the light he could get, and with a large 
amount of evaporating surface ; I need, however, scarcely remark that 
during the flowering season, as -well as during the ripening season, the at¬ 
mosphere of the fruiting Pine houses was decidedly a dry one. Pine-apple 
plants treated in this way would take an amount of manure water at the 
roots that could scarcely be credited. The strain upon the heating apparatus 
was lessened by covering the glass at night with neat sashes of reeds 
2 inches thick; this not only kept out the cold, but kept the glass dry, and 
thereby saved the loss of heat by evaporation. The actual amount of fire 
heat by night w r as very little indeed, for it was never considered desirable 
to fire much in the dark, but in the early part of the morning, firing was 
quite a different affair, for Mr. James, like Tom Moore, thought that “the 
only way to lengthen his day was to steal a few hours from the night.” If 
there was any one thing done better than the rest, it was the preparation 
of the tan bed, for the bark was all well housed in a shed, turned, dried, and 
heated, before it began to do duty in the Pine stove. The old school of good 
practical gardenfirs thoroughly understood fermentation, whether with horse 
droppings for Mushrooms, with stable litter and leaves for hotbeds and 
linings, or with tanner’s bark for Pine stoves. 
But I hasten to the Grape culture, as that was the attraction that drew 
me there, and first brought the garden into public notice. When I got there, 
I found the family in mourning, for Sir Simon was dead, and the reins of 
