202 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 5. 
plants vvell, being able to give them air, &c., when it 
might not bo desirable to air the room; but now 
you have got me nearly into a scrape; for relying 
on what you said, as to the non-conducting pro¬ 
perties of confined air, I did not move the plants 
, in these cold nights, and notwithstanding there had 
[ bo«n a fire in the room, some of the foliage was slightly 
I injured.” There is such a thing as carrying a principle 
! to an extreme. A good, non-conductor of heat, and a 
'perfect one, are very different things. I never asked for 
! confined air, what its proprietors propound for frigidomo, 
| namely, that beneath it there would bo no change of 
' temperature. I can beliove it to bo a capital protecting 
j material, although several folds of it would not secure 
what it pretends to do in a cold aright. If confined air 
was altogether impervious to heat, then the warmth of \ 
your room would have as little effect on the one side as 
the frost without on the other. Bounded on each side 
by a wall of glass, a substance easily affected by changes 
of temperature, the air next to the glass would be 
affected by the heat on the one side and the cold on the 
other. But in proportion to the complete isolation of 
the enclosed air would be tbe obstacle to the uniform 
temperature within, by the free passage of heat on the 
one side, and of cold on the other. 1 can conceive it 
very possible that three distinct temperatures may exist 
ill such an enclosed space, and that therefore leaves six 
inches from the glass might be frozen, while those 
double that distance would be safe. Besides, let it not 
be forgotten, that every hole and cranny are so many 
means for setting the air in motion, destroying its isola¬ 
tion, and making it a conductor instead of a non¬ 
conductor. 
Even with such holes, an advantage is so far gained, 
because freo radiation is intercepted. For example, the 
best security wo could give to a sash over a cold frame, 
or pot, from frost, would be the covering it with an 
opaque substance that could neither be easily heated 
nor cooled, raising that covering several inches above 
the glass, and then securing it all round the sides and 
ends, so that air shall not easily come out or go in. 
We thus alike prevent the radiation and conduction of j 
heat. But suppose wo place such a covering over a 
sash, and leave the sides and ends open, we certainly so 
far prevent the free radiation of beat, but we allow tbe 
rather free egress and ingress of air to conduct it away. 
I Hence, in cases where close shutters outside would be 
undesirable in the coldest nights, the plants should be 
j moved from the outside glass; in very cold weather they j 
should be taken into the room altogether ; and in cases j 
where double sashes are not used, the plants, as often | 
advised, should be placed in the middle of the room at 
night. 
1 have been told of several very successful adap¬ 
tations of this double or bow window style, so as to 
resemble a miniature greenhouse, and I have no doubt 
they will become more general, as they are really more | 
interesting than the pretty toys of Ward’s cases, just on ! 
the principle, that three-parts of the pleasure to be j 
derived from plants consist in the being able to attend ! 
to and supply their many wants. Picture to yourselves 
1 such an enclosed space, say from eighteen inches to ! 
i three feet in width, see it arranged with little baskets 
| and vases, and stands filled with flowering-plants, with 
I openings in the external sash, so that in suitable 
: weather you may give air, water, wash, syringe, &c., 
without making, what the ladies are apt to call, a mess 
in the parlour, unless their own hands should have 
wielded the water-pail, &c., and then it is all right. 
Think of the ability to give these plants air, &c., when 
you could not make the slightest draught from the 
window into the room ; on account of the dear invalid 
reclining on the sofa, and the tlianlcs that dear friend 
would look far more heart-reaching than the balmiest 
words, when, after the room was all comfortable, the 
plants washed so as to be as fresh as a daisy after a i 
shower, you shut up your external ventilators, throw 
up the sash of your inside windows, and, amid beauty 
and odours, causing the mind of your friend to forget the 
distress of the present amidst the flowery recollections 
of the past, and the more than sunny hopes of the j 
future. And for such a delight to others even, let alone ; 
the pleasure to ourselves, would not the trouble and the 
care sink into insignificance? You say, that if you had 
fixed stages, baskets, &c., in such a place, that there 
would be an annoyance in getting them into the room 
in frosty nights and days, however beautiful the sight 
might be in summer. Well, let them alone where they 
are. Procure a waterproofed cloth so as to cover the 
outside of the window, well padded, and large enough 
to be fixed securely at the sides. In cold nights, and 
even days, admit a little air from the room among the 
plants, and when very severe, place a gallon stone- 
bottle, filled with hot water, in the miniature greenhouse 
before retiring to rest. 
I believe, that in the case of all who can afford the 
comfort of the real luxury of having a cool room in 
summer and a warm one in winter, that double 
windows will become a sort of necessary, even when 
plants are not cultivated between them. Air may then 
be given at pleasure, and yet the counter-action to a free 
radiation and diffusion of heat will serve to maintain a 
more equable temperature within. As a medium for 
plant growing, I think, that under various modifications, 
the idea is destined to be a popular one. Many think 
plants unhealthy in rooms, as giving out deleterious 
gases by night and in dark evenings. Unless, in the 
case where odours, pleasant or otherwise, are very 
powerful, I think too much stress has been laid upon 
this, but all agree, that whatever be the influence of 
vegetation during the night, it does, while healthy and 
clean, improve and purify our atmosphere during the 
day. These double cases would allow the needlessly 
timid to shut out the deleterious gases and exhalations, 
when dark, either in a bed-room or sitting room, while 
they could enjoy their exhilirating influence during the 
day. 
With pleasure I notice that this idea is to form a 
prominent one in the government rules for the new 
cemetries. Whatever the insido arrangement, it is to be 
imperative the surrounding of it with a belt of vegeta¬ 
tion of trees and shrubs; not so much for shade and 
beauty as for neutralising the exhalations from decom¬ 
posing matter, and thus so far afford a healthy atmos¬ 
phere. Government here is following out, at however 
humble a distance, the teachings of the noblest of all 
philosophy, be it reverently spoken, the example of the 
Great Architect of Nature himself. Before animals could 
poison the air with their breath and decomposition the 
counterpoison bad already been prepared. Vegetation 
had spread its verdant mantle over our earth, and the 
sunbeam had played upon its foliage, thus eliciting pure 
oxygenated, inspiriting, vital air, before present animal 
forms had been called to take their position in this 
beautiful world. It. Fish. 
THE IltlS. 
(Continued from page 212 .) 
Iris Susiana (The Shusan Iris).—This, though one 
of medium stature, has an uncommonly large flower, 
and on account of its singularly-blended colours is ex¬ 
ceedingly interesting and quite a striking beauty. It 
is, however, not generally grown, but certainly deserves j 
to be, because its flowers are so large and finely- 
colourod in streaks of rich purple. It is not strictly a 
bulb, but has a fleshy, roundish kind of root-stalk. 1 
