March i. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
400 
these are laid in a tube of wood, or an open drain, one ' 
end terminating in the bouse, and an opening at the ' 
end near tlie boiler, little beat would be lost. There is 
no difficulty in taking it the distance. Two sweet- 
scented plants,*to cover the two walls, might heLoiiicera 
japonica, and Mandevilla sudveolens, giving the last the 
south. 
4. Greenhouse and Mushroo:\is—Heating by Gas, 
&c.— I presume, in answer to “ L.R. L.-■, Louth,” 
that the raised border in which the Vines are planted at 
the back of the greenhouse is inside the bouse, and 
then the whole plan of bringing their roots all over the 
floor of the house, and covering that with lattice-work, 
is quite right. The pipes are placed near the middle of 
the house, and between them and the front is another 
border, on which it is desirable to place a Mushroom-! 
bed, and information is wanted as to suitability, &c. 
[reply, that in such a place, and with no extra beat i 
given to the Vines in spring. Mushrooms may be had ; 
from October to May. In summer it will be too hot, * 
and if you force the Vines in spring, it will also be too j 
hot. Mushrooms refusing to do well long when the 
temperature exceeds for any length of time from 55° to 
00°. In a greenhouse, in winter, with an average tem¬ 
perature 40° to 45° at night, 10° more are easily secured 
from the heat of the bed, and a covering of hay. Excess 
of moisture, from watering plants, syringing the house, I 
&c., must be avoided, by covering the beds with some¬ 
thing that will throw the water off. I have gathered 
many a bushel from such a place, and with but little 
trouble, and a comparatively small quantity of manure. 
I recollect, many years ago, seeing some grand beds 
under the stages of greenhouses at Mrs. Moore’s, in the j 
King’s Road, Chelsea. Our correspondent has heated j 
bis greenhouse with gas, placed under a cast-metal 
boiler, using fifty feet per hour, and costing 5s. lOd. per 
1000 feet, while he heats with coke at 2d. the twenty- j 
four hours, thinks that a thin copper boiler would be | 
best for gas, in which I agree; and wishes for more defi¬ 
nite information on the subject, in wbicb I also reci¬ 
procate, hoping that as even an intended good turn 
deserves another, the correspondent I replied to the 
other week will be kind enough to detail the whole 
process by which he manages so che<^ply, as many 
would have a small house were it not for the bother of 
the furnace. I have several times mentioned seeing a 
small house, heated by water in tin tubes, connected 
with a little tin-kettle, with a concave bottom, and having 
I a naptha lamp, or a gas jet, beneath it. Hotbeds for tem- 
I porary purposes, and where there is a thick covering of 
I soil, or decomposed sweet material, there is no necessity ! 
I for working the rank dung so much ; but recollect, that [ 
i if you place plants within the reach of it when in this 
' hot, rank, unsweet state, ruin will be the result. 
I R. Fish. 
{To be continued.) 
EVIL CONSEQUENCES OF A MILD WINTER. 
There is, perhaps, more injury done in a mild winter 
than in a severe one amongst the tender or half-hardy j 
plants which the gardener lias to deal with ; for it not 
unfrequently happens that a period of dull, mild weather 
throws the inexperienced off their guard, and towards 
the middle, or it may be earlier, a sharp frost sets in 
suddenly, carrying death and destruction to many things 
which had looked not only healthy but luxuriant. A 
mild winter is seldom followed by a genial spring, the 
consequence is, that plants which have survived until j 
the middle of February, perhaps, in the open air, are | 
o't.m killed then. This I have seen over and over again, 
and have seen Scarlet Oeraniums, in a tolerably green j 
and bealtby condition up to that period, suddenly die 
oif when a shaiq) frost sets in; and Peas, sown in the 
early or middle jiart of November, are killed to tbe 
grbund at tlie same time, if they have advanced too far. 
This teaches us the propriety of not depending on one 
crop alone of this useful vegetable; for though a young 
brood of Peas will endure any amount of frost when 
only one or two inches high, they cannot bear it when 
more advanced—say eight or ten inches; in fact, six 
inches is too much in ordinary times. 
Now, apart from Peas suffering from cold at this 
season, other things suffer likewise, in proportion to 
their delicacy, or the advance they have made in their 
growth; for, be it observed, that all plants of the annual 
or biennial sections endure more cold in a young than 
in a half-grown state. Even plants which are tolerably 
hardy are less hurt by severe weather, when young, than 
when subjected to it in a more advanced stage. It is on 
this account that Brocoli, Cauliflower, and other plants, 
suffer less when young than when half grown. In fact, 
Cauliflower, and the more delicate of the Brocoli tribe, 
are too tender to endure much frost in any stage of their 
gi owth ; but they are always more hurt when large than 
when small. 
We have here a lesson not to attempt wintering large 
plants, for, besides the danger of losing them by the causes 
mentioned, 'there is another equally serious one, which 
is, the liability that plants of an advanced size have to 
complete their growth in the most suitable, perfect 
manner, which they will not always do when in a too 
advanced state when spring sets in ; there being an 
almost certainty of plants of that size forming a sort of 
premature growth. Cabbage plants running to seed, 
instead of forming hearts, and Cauliflowers doing the 
same thing, only the change is called “buttoning,” 
which is neither more nor less than the plant finishing 
its growth before its proper time. Now, in order to 
prevent this state of things, it is better not to depend on 
one crop alone. 
The winter, up to tbe period I write, the 22nd of 
February, has not been in any way remarkable, except 
for the very little snow we have had ; but, as it is possi¬ 
ble to have it yet, it is too soon to say much; but we 
had a sharp frost from the 20th to the 23rd of Uecem- 
ber, which was the most singular I ever knew. The 
ground and everything else to which the frost had ac¬ 
cess being exceedingly dry, so much so, that clouds of 
dust were flying in the roads the same as in June, with 
a thermometer which on one or two days did not range 
higher than 25°, the coldest day of 1855 being tbe 21st 
of December; but there were-some nights last February 
in which the frost was more intense. However, since 
then we have had it very mild until the last few days, 
which have been very wintry in their character. Now, 
as the frost alluded to, and one before it, tended to check 
the growth of everything, and, consequently, there is 
nothing tender likely to be living now that was at all 
exposed to cold at that time—but tiie mildness of tbe 
weather has, in some measure, rendered the plants more 
delicate—it would be well to take some means to prevent 
their being destroyed. If the cultivator has been 
thoughtless enough to allow bis Cauliflower plants to 
remain covered up at all times during the last few weeks, 
they will be more delicate than many greenhouse plants, 
and in a bad condition to endure frost. However, we 
may expect to have cold weather of some sort, and, as 
has been before observed, plants will not endure so much 
frost in April as in December; consequently, a greater 
amount of protection must be given as the season ad¬ 
vances, especially to such tender things as have advanced 
some way in their growth. J. Robson. 
