Novemijeu 20. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
103 
i 
1 
twelve feet deep, and is vaulted top and bottom ; the door is 
at one end. It Ims two lobbies before tlie double door of 
the liouse is opened ; the walls are a brick-and-a-balf thick, 
in cement; between the two walls, they being double, except 
the top, I placed in a lot of hofj earth, tliat had been sub¬ 
jected to the action of the sea; my motive was, tliat, it being 1 
an atiscptic, and, as you recommend ice to be kept as warm | 
and dry as possible, I thought it a good plan. Have I done ! 
wrong? Ought I to have left the space free between the | 
two walls ? The thickness of clay, well puddled over the i 
arch, is about two feet. Is that enough ? I ask this, as it i 
has not answered so well as I expected; although I have but | 
Icwt. of ice left this year; next year I shall want it to last ■ 
better.—G. W.” 
[Mr. Beaton will probably be reverting to the subject. , 
See what Mr. Fish also says in a late number. Any place 
will do for the Geraniums, where you can maintain dry- | 
ness, and exclude frost—from 35*' to 4.’)0 would do well; 
and, provided these conditions are secured, the more light 
you have the better, 1 
Your washing-up place will do nicely for the purpose ; j 
and, as you have hot-water, we would advise screwing on ; 
two or three-inch pipes forthwith. These are just the places ' 
which ought to be made the most of. Of course, you will 
secure means for giving fresh air. { 
We have not tried bog earth as you have done, and steeped 
in sea-water, between the walls of an ice-house. We should I 
prefer that the space had been empty; but we should like 
the opinion of others. Have you secured a drain with a 
trap in the bottom of yoirr well? Two feet will not be \ 
enough over the top, unless you cover it with litter or vege¬ 
tation in a rank state.] i 
CHEABEST MODE OF WARMING A GREENHOUSE. ' 
“ Will you please inform me the best and cheapest mode j 
to warm a greenhouse, eighteen feet long, seven feet deep, ! 
and about eight feet high. I do not want to build a lire- j 
place, but merely something to keep out the frost. I have j 
been recommended one of Joyce’s stoves, with patent fuel ; 
also to fill one or two large stone bottles with hot-water. 
Which, or what, do you advise ?—T. I. F.” 
[A small, brick stove, similar to those used by Mr. Rivers 
and also as used by Mr. Lane, in his long hanging-house, 
would suit you; but you must have an opening for the 
smoke to go out through the wall, with a funnel or fine, 
shorter or longer, as convenient. 
If you use an iron one, get one with the outside iron—a 
good space from the fire—and depend upon no stove that 
has not a funnel or chimney^ of some sort to take out the 
smoke. Did you not object to a stock-hole and furnace out¬ 
side, we would recommend a small flue underneath your 
floor. 
If you can lay on gas, you might heat a small tin, or 
copper boiler, and from that take tin or galvanised iron 
pipes. The large water bottles would do, if you had plenty 
of them, but ^tbey would be troublesome, unless you also 
covered your House.] 
TROBCEOLUM MACROBHYLLUM.—FICARIA VERNA, 
AND MANDEYILLEA SUAVEOLENS BRUNING. 
“ Tropccolmn macrophyllum, mentioned by “ B. G.” in No. ; 
300 of The Cottage Gardeneh, is not put down in any i 
nurseryman’s list of bulbs, nor in The Cottage Gardeners’ 
Dictionary. Does it go by any other name ? ; 
“ Ficaria verna. When should this be plairted? andw'here : 
likely to be procured ? 
“ Should Alandcviltca suaveolvns be cut dow'n to the ground 
every season, in a conservatory ?— Annie.” j 
[The Tropaiolum niacrophyllnm is T. pentaphyllum, several 
times highly recommended by Mr. Fish. We thought, at 
the time, that our correspondent had made a mistake. i 
Ficaria verna may be planted in the autumn, or just as 
it begins to peep through the ground in spring, then lift the ' 
tubers carefully. It is best under the shade of trees, and is ! 
generally found most plentifully on shady hedge-banks. 
MandeviUca should not be cut down; but the young shoots 
should be pruned back to within a few buds of the older 
wood. See a notice, some time ago, of the plant at Stock- 
wood, by IMr. Fish. The plant consists of one long shoot, 
some forty feet in length, or so, is trained longitudinally 
along the house, and spurs are placed some eight or twelve 
inches apart, and from these there is a dense mass of white 
blossoms every year. The plant is pruned in much the 
same as a Vine, and w’ashed, to keep it clean every winter. 
There can be no (xnestion that that is a capital plan.] 
HARDINESS OF GLADIOLI. 
“ As it seems to me that all the gardening books are very 
much at fault on the above-mentioned matter, I wish to add 
my experience to that of your “ Eton College ” correspondent, 
in this week’s number. I have tried these corms for two 
years running, entirely withont success. In 1853-I, I planted 
in the open border, and in pots under cold frame; and in 
1854-5, in pots under cold frame, and in pots set on shelves , 
in a tolerable stable, kept dry until the end of Februai-y ; 
and in every instance the corms rotted without starting. ^ 
The kinds planted were, Cardinalis, Floribundus, Ganda- ' 
vensis, Bsittacinus, Viridarium, Queen Victoria, and some ' 
others. Y'our recommendation, neither to plant separately 
nor to disturb the patches of bulbs, unfortunately, avail 
nothing to the amateur, who is compelled to buy in a sepa^ 
rated and dried condition.—A. C., Chelmsford." 
[Buy al] the kinds in the market, at the end of October, 
and plant thi'ee bulbs of eacli kind in C inch or Srl-jrots, 
and in light, sandy loam ; give no water till the leaves are 
an inch long, in a cold frame ; when the pots are full of 
roots, in April plant the balls entire, where you intend the 
bed to be ; let the top of the ball be two inches below the : 
surface, and never disturb them after that: nor let much , 
frost nor too much wet get to them.] i 
BELGIAN DAISIES. 
“I wish-to obtain a few really practical directions for 
growing these plants strongly,rvith large foliage and flowers; 
the new hybrids appear to be much more tender than the i 
old varieties, and very liable to damp off, either potted or in 
the open ground.—A. C.” 
[To grow Belgian Daisies, you want a dry, warm situa¬ 
tion, very rich, light soil, an open, airy situation, pa¬ 
tience, good temper, and plenty of watering pots in 
summer, and sufficient leisure time to look strictly after 
them. The reason why Belgian Daisies, and all other 
Daisies, do so badly with some people is this—as soon as the 
Daisies are out of bloom they are allowed to take their 
chance for the rest of the season; but, being a highly arti¬ 
ficial flower, so to speak, the Daisies ought to have as much 
care and attention, all the year round, as florists’ Auriculas, 
Anemones, Binks and Tulips. Our single Daisies love to 
creep along the surface, and to be well mulched in a living ■ 
mantle of lawm grasses. We turn tliem double, make them ! 
tender, then expose them on a burning, bare surface all the | 
year round, and they soon “ go for it.” From the first day | 
in May, till the last in August, a row, or a bed of Daisies, i 
ought to have a good watering just four times a week, or six 
times in very dry weather, and the soil to be stirred about , 
them once in ten days, at least; but a better rule would be, ' 
“ to stir up the Daisies ” every time the grass was cut.] 
WINTERING YOUNG BELARGONIUMS.—GRASS IN 
THE SHADE.—BOMBONES. I 
“ Istly, Of my young Belargoniums rooted at the end of 
summer; generally, three-fourths of the number die off from 
November to January. They are Avell-rooted, in CO-sized ^ 
pots, and carefully watered; but they have no sun for about 
forty days in the depth of winter, although it shines on the 
roof of the greenhouse, and I do not light a fire unless it is i 
a frost. Sometimes the thermometer is inside. The 
plants mostly go black from the root up the stem. 
2ndly, Which is the best Grass to sow for borders where 
there is not much sun in winter, and which does not require j 
much cutting in summer ? 
