Apiul 22. 
COUNTllY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
09 
I am about to describe consisted of light, rich, turfy loam 
from an old pasture, mixed with some crushed bones and 
lime rubbish. When any further stimulant is considered 
necessary it is supplied in the shape of liquid-manure. 
1 believe the admission of the ammonia through the holes 
in the arches amongst the roots, and through the pipes into 
the house, to have a very beneficial effect upon the plants, 
particularly when the young leaves are expanding. 
The only trouble necessary with the border is to lay a coat 
of dry fern upon it in September, and over the fern a tar- 
pauling: these remain all the winter. 
This plan will recommend itself strongly to those who 
desire to keep their gardens scrupulously neat, as there is 
nothing unsightly in the tarpanling, and at a short distance 
it is scarcely distinguishable from the natural soil; the neat 
stone curbing also, and the Valencia slate-slabs, form a clean 
and ornamental path in front of the houses. 
The bunches and berries attain a very large size in these 
houses; hut I am of opinion that moderate-sized bunches, 
excepting for the purposes of exhibition, are much more 
satisfactory than very large ones, since the berries swell and 
colour better, and the bunches retain their bloom more 
perfectly and look better when dished up, keep up a supply 
longer, and when it is necessary to send the supply to a 
distance, they travel infinitely better: it will, therefore, be 
well to reduce the large hunches to a moderate size. 
Section of Arch, showing 
tank. 
Elevation of Arches supporting border, with pigeon-holed walls. 
L^___T1 
«...t.j—>■ ! 
io . IT— 
Section. 
.9 a s—14—» 
a Back wall. 
b Back path. 
c Flow-pipes, consisting of two lines of 
trough-pipes, 3 inches in diameter. 
d Betum pipe, 3 inches plain. 
e Front ventilators. 
/ Border inside the house communicating 
with outside border g by arches in front 
wall. 
h Bung-trench. The wall on the border 
side of this trench is arched below 
and pigeon-holed above, 
t Valencia slate-slabs, 1 inch thick, fitting 
into a rabetlcd curbing- stone. 
j Bung chamber beneath vine-border, 
with arched roof: these arches are 
built with pigeon-holes as shown at />, 
through which the aminonincal gas 
arising from the fermenting material 
enters the drainage and the soil, and is 
absorbed by the roots. 
k Six-inch common drain-pipes, with 
openings inside the house at 1, through 
which the ammonia from the chamber 
; passes into the house and is absorbed 
by the young leaves. The openings 
l are provided with covers I', by which 
the ammonia maybe admitted into the 
house or not, at pleasure. 
n Cemented brick troughs or tanks, per¬ 
fectly level, 12 inches wide, 6 inches 
deep, extending from the front wall q 
to the front of the border g. These 
tanks, by means of a 3-inch pipe at o, 
are filled with manure-water at those 
seasons when it is thought advisable 
to give the plants an extra stimulus. 
There is art aperture in the front wall 
of the border at m, through which the 
hand with a small scraper can be intro¬ 
duced to clean out the tank and ascer¬ 
tain its wants. 
—Horticultural Society's Journal. 
B 
