THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
8C) 
November C. 
then, would be required at the bottom of the wall, or, 
rather, the front wall would require to be placed on low 
arches, and that part of the border next the house 
would require to be chambered. Then, to render it 
^ eiiectual, the flue would need to pass through that 
1 chamber; or, if it stood in the house, the flue must bo 
' covered over, so that the heat should be thrown into the 
chamber before it rises into the house ; unless, as already 
intimated, a strong heat was used, the flue would tell 
little upon the border. The simplest mode for in- 
! fluenciug the border by the heat of the flue, would be 
' to build the front wall solid in the usual way, and to 
i make that wall act as one of the sides of tlie flue. This 
: will, however, lessen the heating surface for warming 
i the atmosphere of the house. It is impossible to get 
: every advantage by any one mode of action. The front 
' wall had better be nine inches wide. 
I For such a house you will want five Vines, and these 
, may be two Hoyal Muscadines, two Black Hambro's and 
one West's St. Peter, if greenhouse temperature is to be 
given. If the heat of a Vinery is to be given, substitute 
the Dutch Sweet Water, and the Oolden Hamhro', or the 
Muscat of Alexandria for the Muscadines. 
2nd. “ G. H. F. C.” is about erecting a range of houses, 
thirty-five feet long, in the middle of a wall, 200 feet long, 
facing the south ; the houses to be ten feet wide, a gravel 
path passing in front. The Vinery is to be twenty feet 
long, and wbat is said above of number of Vines, forma¬ 
tion of roof, &c., will be applicable here. Owing to the 
gravel path, the Vines arc to be planted inside of the 
house, aud the border made there, and this seems to be 
all that requires particular notice. He has been advised 
to take out the whole space to the depth of three feet; 
then to concrete the bottom, which is clay; on the top of 
the concrete to place ten inches of rabble, bricks, &c., 
covered with ashes; and then place the old earth over 
that to the depth of something under two feet, with 
sand upon the top to keep it sweet. Now, the great 
omission in the specified circumstances is, the want 
of a drain below the level of the concrete to keep 
that and the rubble dry. The propriety of replacing tlm 
old earth will greatly depend upon its quality. I would 
j prefer fresh soil, of a hazel-coloured, loamy nature, and 
I that I would keep it open by two or three cart-loads 
of lime rubbish, pieces of chalk and lumps of cliarcoal, 
and enrich it with from a dozen bushels of broken 
bones, whicli will long continue to give out their 
nourishing qualities. Provided the soil is thus kept 
sweet and open, strength can be given at any time, by 
surface-dressings and manure-waterings. In such a house 
I would prefer planting the Vines against the back wall, 
by bringing them down the roofs. 
^rd. “A Beginner” has a range of four low lean-to 
houses, or pits ; sunk two feet in the ground, but per¬ 
fectly dry. The two middle ones are sixteen feet by 
eight, and the two end ones are sixteen feet by fourteen. 
Those are heated by a Polmaise stove, which works 
admirably; and for the two centre divisions bottom-heat 
can be obtained at will. Near the end of these, but 
I standing quite clear, is a span-roofed house, eleven feet 
j by thirty-four, not heated. The ends of this house 
I point north and south. All these have been used for 
I the supply of a greenhouse close to the mansion, and 
I furnishing a good-sized flower-garden ; but our corres- 
i pondent thinks they ought to do more, as he has brick 
manure pits besides, and especially since he is willing to 
. apply top and bottom-heat to the span-roofed house, and 
wishes to know how best to arrange this house, and make 
the most of the others, being open to Grapes, Pinos, &c. 
Now, I w'ould gladly give every information upon any 
specified point that X felt at home upon, in return for a 
plan of tlie working of the Polmaiso stove that heats 
I those four housea, and eupplios bottom*heat to two of 
i them, Two houses, sixteen feet by eight, ought to 
supply a good many plants to a fair-sized greenhouse. 
The bedding-plants could all be removed by the end of 
April, and hardened off, and protected out-of-doors, 
until planting time; and I see no reason why the end 
houses should not yield crops of Grapes, and the most 
of these bo cut before the bedding-plants come in by the 
end of October. Presuming that the two centre houses, 
sixteen by eight feet, have a sufficiency of bottom- 
heat, Pines could be cultivated in them, and the span- 
roofed house set apart to plants, and one-half of that 
might be appropriated to greenhouse plants, and the 
other half to stove plants and Orchids. I"or such 
purposes, there would be no absolute necessity for 
bottom-heat, and it would matter little whether the path¬ 
way went down the middle, or around it, only the single 
pathway would occupy least room. Such a span-roofed 
house would be the very place for Cucumbers and 
Melons, and, in that case, bottom-heat would be 
necessary, and a single pathway down the middle 
desirable, with a bed heated beneath on each side. 
Supposing that one-half of such a house was appro¬ 
priated to Cucumbers in winter, the other half might be 
filled with plants, French Beans, Straw'berries, &c., be¬ 
fore the Melons were of good size to be planted out aud 
monopolise the head-room. These, trained to a trellis, 
would present an interesting appearance, and would 
leave many a nice place for a favourite plant on the sur¬ 
face of the bed. In such a house, supplied with bottom- 
heat, and a path in the middle, and means of examin¬ 
ing by lifting the sashes from the outside, I’ines might 
be grown very successfully planted out; and with or 
without bottom-heat, the same beds, with a different 
regulation of temperature, would just be the place for 
fruiting Vinos, Peaches, Xfigs, &c., in pots. So much 
has lately been said on heating, that I need not refer to 
the modes of doing so. There is no end to the uses to 
which such houses may bo applied, and there is much 
pleasure in applying houses to different purposes at 
different times. I shall have much pleasure in attending 
to any specific inquiry. R. I’isir. 
Ivy AS A Screen. —There is one mode of employing 
fvy, which I am surprised is not more generally adopted. 
My residence is in the vicinity of a large town, and, 
when built a few years ago, was in the open country; but, 
as is frequently the case in such situations, unexpected 
buildings have arisen around it, to shut out the sight of 
which I have adopted the following plan:—I have 
planted, thickly, on a raised bank, good specimens of 
Ontario and Black Poplars, against which, in good soil, 
f have placed strong plants of the Irish (Canary Island) 
Ivy, keeping them well watered during the summer. It 
is astonishing how quickly they grow, and will speedily 
make a tall evergreen hedge; if, eventually, they nearly 
kill the trees it will bo a matter of no importance, as 
the object will be gained.—S. 
NEW, OR GOOD BEDDING-PLANTS. 
The system of furnisbing the flower-garden with 
masses of plants, one to a bed, or with an edging of a 
dwarf plant round the mass, has become quite the rage, 
and is still increasing, so that even amateurs with small 
villa gardens are, many of them, following the fashion, 
The gardener, now a-days, has to provide an immense 
stock of plants, in the autumn and spring, to furnish his 
beds and his ribbons of flowers whenever he has the 
means of preserving them. Formerly, his ]\lelon-))its, 
Cuouraberdrames, &c„ had a vest during winter; they 
were like the ships in the Black Sea, taken homo into a 
dry, comfortable dock, and, while there, furnished om- 
