December 
COUNTRY GENTLEj\[AN’S COMPANION. 
217 
sun seen to-day. It were better to give no air, in sucb 
circumstances, and just enough of tire-heat to raise tlie 
temperature a few degrees liigiier than at night, thougli 
that was considerably below the average day tempera¬ 
ture in fine weather. If the pipes, or dues, are heated 
so much as to raise the house considerably, then air 
may be admitted for a short time opposite the heatiug 
medium ; and this might be done if the frost and such 
weather was long continued. 
Suppose, however, that instead of this you have, 
in unison with a keen, dry, frosty air, a bright, 
cloudless sun, and that from a roaring morning’s fire 
you have a strong beat in your pipes or Hues, then, 
indeed, you must either shade (though you may have 
had little of the sun for weeks), or you must let 
in the dried air pretty freely; and thus, from that air 
and the dry heat combined, present the plants with a 
double chance of becoming parched and wizened, 
blasted and shrivelled. On the other band, having ar¬ 
rived at the conclusion that the sun would be tolerably, 
or very, bright during the day, and, therefore, having 
secured merely as much beat in your flue, or pipes, as 
would carry you safely over the coldest part of tlie 
morning, then, by the time the sun was powerful on the 
house, the heatiug medium would be cooled, and, there¬ 
fore, comparatively speaking, the sun’s rays would e.K- 
eroise little influence,—not more than a very little air 
at bottom and top; where the air at bottom conies in 
contact with the flue, or at top alone, where no such fa¬ 
cilities e.\ist, would be sulficient to prevent the house 
rising more than from to 10''' above the average, 
which would be safer, in such circumstances, than ad¬ 
mitting such dry, cold air freely. Much would also 
depend on giving the little air at an early period just 
when the house was about the usual average. A very 
little thou would be sufficient, and no such extremes 
would be experienced as allowing the bouse to rise fast 
first, and then let air freely in. If the sun was very 
bright, in such cases, in November, December, January, 
and February, a slight syringing over the plants will alike 
weaken the force of the sun’s rays and lessen the tempera¬ 
ture. It will only be in extreme cases, and when the 
day turns out contrary to our expectations, or when a 
strong fire-heat and a bright sun meet, that our corre¬ 
spondent’s system of shading will be chiefly j-equired. 
In all such cases of keen, dry, frosty air, outside shading 
will be preferable to a free admission of such air. Once 
get convinced that sun-heat alone, in the winter months, 
is com])aratively beneficial rather than otherwise, and 
a few degrees higher temperature during the day in 
bright frosty weather will not be at all alartning. in such 
a house facing the east, what air is given will require 
to be given and taken away earlier than in a house 
facing the south. So much do wc value the heat from 
the sun, that unless in very mild weather,—at least, 
whenever frost was apprehended,—we would shut u]) the 
houses facing the south close by two o’clock, or earlier; 
and then the sun-heat enclosed would so far economise 
the fuel heap, and do the work much better. 
3rd. “Foggy weather. Is it safe to open the lower 
ventilators in this case?” What X. Y. Z. wants to know, 
is, whether it is good gardening to trust to the lower 
ventilators almost always from October to April with 
such plants? 
'The answers here must be short, as my space is nearly 
full; but considerable attention has already been jiaid to 
all these matters. I have no means of giving such 
bottom-air at present, myself, but I know well its im¬ 
portance at all times for keeping the wdioie air of the 
liouse in a state of motion. It is peculiarly desirable, 
when, as in this case, it comes in contact with a heating 
medium before being diffused into the house. Front 
air may thus often be given, when otherwise it must be 
withheld. As already stated, tho air that passes in at 
narrow openings of the top-sashes passes through the 
warmest and moistest air of the house before it can get 
down to the plants. Evaporating pans on the fine, or 
passing through a moist medium, would also thus 
moisten and heat the front air. Tljere can bo no 
question of the utility of the system. The first question, 
as to opening these ventilators in foggy weather, must 
depend on circumstances. No house-plants like dense 
fogs. If the house is close glazed, such fogs will often 
be excluded ; and if the temperature inside is high 
I enough, and the fog is of short duration, I would keep 
I the house shut, and give no air whatever. If the fog 
' got into the house, I would put on enough of fire to 
change the fog into invisible vapour. If very dense, 
or at all cold, I would use enough of fire to do this, and 
I give a little air at the top of a common house an iuch 
! or two; and at top and bottom of such a house as our 
correspondent’s. 'Tliis would not only clear, but agitate 
and renew the enclosed atmosphere. The fronl; air 
, should be taken away first, and the top also be taken 
away early; a moderate heat will keep the fog at bay. 
and, in such a circumstance, the drier the heat the more 
effectual it will be. Jh Fisn. 
I 
CYPlllPEDIUMS (L.vdies Sj.ipper Plaxts). 
The group of })lants under this name are very 
I interesting, and are widely spread on the surface of the 
earth. One species is a native of our country ; anoihei’ 
so far north as Siberia; several are found in North 
I America; all these may be considered as hardy. On the 
other hand, some are natives of the hotter parts of the 
, world, namely, Java, Malacca, Borneo, and Ne))aul. 
’ 'They maybe divided into three divisions of, 1st, Hardy ; 
2nd, Greenhouse ; and 3rd, Stove. Jt may seem an 
! anomaly, but it is (juite true that the hardy ones are 
I the most difficult to cultivate ; and that difficulty exists 
in correctly imitating the soil and situation in which 
I fl^ey grow wild. Our own species, in its wild state, is 
becoming exceedingly rare; indeed, it never was very 
common. I remember, wlien I was under-gardener at 
; Womersley Park, near Pontefract, the seat of J.ord 
Hawke, 1 had a fellow-apprentice, whose fatlier lived 
near Settle, in Yorkshire, a place tlia.t is situated near 
; what has been called the Alps of England; there the 
' Ladies Slipper has been found. 'I'his person, whose 
! name was Partridge, was a tolerable British botanist, 
I and in his rambles in that neighbourhood met with a 
I strong root of this English Cypripedium;' and, like too 
many discoverers of rare plants, he dug it up and 
sent it to his son, living witli me. 1 was then not 
more than eighteen years old, and was a bit of an 
enthusiastic lover of rare plants; and, therefore, though 
our wages were only twelve shillings per week, and 
provisions were exceedingly dear, i purchased the plant 
of him, for which he charged me a guinea. It had 
what he called twenty-one rises; that is, it had that 
number of buds, and, consequently, could be made, in 
time, into as many sej)arate plants. I was happy in pro 
curing sucli a fine specimen, and sent it to my father, 
then a nurseryman near Leeds. He tried to cultivate it, 
and succeeded for a few years; but it gradually got 
smaller and smaller, and, finally, perished with all its 
progeny. This little anecdote of, perhaps, the finest 
root of this Jjady’s Slij)per that ever was found in 
England, proves that nearly forty years ago it was a 
rarity. It proves, also, the difficulty of keeping it alive 
in gardens; but then cultivation of these varieties was 
not so well understood as it is now. 
To render theip pulture more easy to practice, I have 
detei'minod to write a jsaper or two on tliein, and shall 
follow tho divisions as given above. 
