1868. ] 
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 
263 
rubble, fill it up with good soil in the proportions used for a Vine border, 
and apply a brisk bottom heat. It will be found that the heat rises very 
slowly at first, for the simple reason that the active heat is stopped hi its 
progress by the density of the soil, which it overcomes by degrees, taking 
up with it a portion of steamy vapour. As it rises it keeps a portion of 
the soil where this action is suspended, in a wet steam bath so to speak, 
and every accession of this heated vapour tends to render the soil a cold 
wet mass, far from congenial to any roots. 
If a piece of tarpauling is placed over the soil a little way from the 
surface, it is found that as the heat rises in the border, the under part of 
the tarpauling will be covered with condensed vapour running in streams to 
the lowest part. This consists of the moisture and natural gases of the 
soil, acted upon and escaping by the action of the bottom heat. A handful of 
soil from the top of the rubble will show at once to a practised eye that there 
are no natural agents left in it likely to be useful to Vine roots ; nor will 
water replace what is gone. It may be said that this is an extreme example, 
but a Vine border is made to endure for years, and affords plenty of time for 
this process to be carried out. It must be borne in mind that heat rises 
more quickly through soil that is pulverised. F. 
MONTHLY CHRONICLE. 
UNGI are for the most part regarded with suspicion, arising in great 
measure from ignorance and prejudice. Excepting the Mushroom, 
Truffle, and Morel, very few of them are employed as articles of 
food, though many are most wholesome and nutritious. Still, as 
there are numerous poisonous kinds, caution in their use is necessary, and, above all, 
the dissemination of popular information concerning them is desirable. Hence the public 
have reason to thank Lady Dorothy Nevill and Mrs. Lloyd Wynne for the prizes they offered 
at the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 6th ult. The education of the 
eye, resulting from a public exhibition of this kind is the best of all forms of instruction. 
Dr. Bull, of Hereford, who gained the first prize, exhibited a very large collection, consisting 
of numerous species, arranged in four compartments, containing those which are con¬ 
fessedly edible; those which are edible, but not usually employed as food; those which are 
not edible ; and those which are decidedly poisonous. The second prize fell to Mr. W. G. 
Smith, who had a smaller but very interesting collection. A stand of dried Fungi, from Mr. 
English, of Epping, prepared after a method peculiar to himself, formed an interesting fea¬ 
ture of the Show, which we hope to see repeated in future years. 
- Hedding Pansies, says Mr. D. Thomson, may be had in a state to 
produce an effective display all the year round. The way to manage them 
for summer and autumn show is to put in nice young short cuttings under 
hand-glasses late in September or early in October, just sufficiently early to have them well 
rooted before the severe weather sets in; and in April or May to plant them out where 
they are required to bloom. The beds or borders should be well manured, and deeply worked. 
- 3The Golden Queen Melon, a hybrid between Bromham Hall and 
Golden Perfection, is, without exception, the prettiest Melon in cultivation. 
It averages from 2 to 24- lbs. in weight, is of an oval shape, of a beautiful 
