THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Makch 11. 
1 
■ i :!0 
i 
hatching sncli eggs; hut insteaul of helping me to “sit,” 
jMr. West ^vas “on the go” the wliole month. We were 
then at tlie en<l of INlny, and the summer heat deranged 
our artiticial lieat to such n degree as made it plain to both 
of ns that no reliance could he placed on the results arrived 
at under such conditions. “ The exact power of the Case,” 
and “ the cost of working at Surhiton,” could not be ascer¬ 
tained during the summer months, and in Avinter no one, 
for whose use and benefit Ave were engaged, thinks of striking 
cuttings; therefore, the time for the fullilment of the pro¬ 
mised accounts had not yet arriA'ed. It Avas the beginning 
of February before cuttings Avere thought of hei eabouts, and | 
up to this date (the 28tb) no frost of any severity occurred ! 
to alloAV of the cost of Avorking the apparatus to be coniputed; j 
neither Avas it lAossible to calculate on “ the exact poAver of | 
the Case.” | 
Noav, seeing that these are the most essential points to | 
be knoAvn; seeing, also, that the promise of the draAving, j 
accompanied by the “ essential points,” Avas conditional; ' 
and, AAioroover, seeing that natural causes alone, Avbich are | 
beyond mortal controul, prevented tbe essential points from 
being ascertained; I say, seeing all this, Avill it not surprise ' 
you to hear that Mr. Walton has been persecuted, almost 
every day for the last six months, by parties desiring to 
knoAV that Avhich no one could ascertain sooner, oAving to ■ 
natural causes? I have, over and over again, apologised to : 
Mr. Walton for being the cause of so much trouble and 
annoyance to him, and I Avould publish the names and 
addresses of every one Avho broke through that privacy Avhich 
every English gentleman values as the apple of his eye, 
Avere it not that 1 knoAv some of them have families Avho 
Avould feel degraded by the exposure. 
As the poAver of this form of the apparatus and the cost . 
of AA'orking it cannot be known till Ave have a run of hard 
frost during the propagating season, all that I can do noAV is 
to repeat, that Mr. Walton’s OAvn Case costs him no more 
than tAvopence for the four-and-tAventy hours, taking the 
average of the propagating season. Mr. Walton’s butler, 
Avho gives out the oil, declared this to me last Aveek. lie 
told me, also, that the lamp must be trimmed three times in 
the tAventy-four hours, as the best lamp-maker in London, 
Avho made the one in question on purpose for the apparatus, 
Avould not guarantee its Avorking properly more than eight 
hours Avithout being trimmed; but that lamp holds suffi¬ 
cient oil to last several days. 
I must repeat, once more, that I never saw a better con¬ 
trivance for amateurs to strike cuttings and raise seedlings j 
Avith than this of Sir. Walton’s, and that there is not a better ' 
mode in existence, as far as 1 am aAvarc of. There is 
nothing better in any' of the London nurseries I have seen ; 
nor at any of the botanic gardens; nor, in short, anyAvhere. 
llot-water, Avilhout circulation, is noAV proved to be as 
good, on a small scale, as it is by' circulation on a large one. 
Mr. Walton’s first idea Avas to apply the heat of a lamjA, or 
gas jet, to the bottom of a tin can by means of a double 
bottom or “ false bottom,” and on that principle his own 
Case is still Avorked. In the present form of it the heat is 
brought direct into the body of the Avater in a zinc tube, 
coiling round and round, then opt through the back of the ! 
Case, to carry off the smoke and smell; and the principle is | 
the same as that by Avhich the Avater in the basins in the ' 
Crystal Palace is kept Avarm ; hot-Avuter pipes heat the Avater 
in the basin.s, and a zinc pipe heals that in this apparatus, 
being heated itself either by gas or cjil. Put Avheie gas can 
be applied, I Avould recommend it as far preferable to a lump, 
because there is no bother about snuffing, trimming wicks, 
or keeping a lamp clean. A lamp must be trusted to a 
servant Avhen the master is out, and if he neglects it, your 
batch of cuttings may be dead and gone before yo,u come 
home. But as gas cannot be had everywhere, I subjoin 
Mr. Walton’s descrijition of his OAvn case, Avilh sketches to 
illustrate the Avorking, premising that his fears about the 
draught from the lamp through a coil of tubing Avere ground¬ 
less Avhen the gas Avas applied, and that nothing acts more 
satisfactorily Avith a very small jet of gas. Neither is it 
necessary to begin Avith hot-Avater if that in the tin case 
should get cold at any time. Also, that Avhat he means by 
the lamp burning for eight hours, is not that the half-pint of 
oil is consumed in that time, but that the lamp requires 
trimming at the end of eight hours. 
“ The box I used Avas an old one, to Avhich I added a top, 
so as to give an inclination, ns in a garden frame. Half 
Avay doAvn, in the inside, a moulding is nailed, on Avhich the 
zinc frame rests. The pots are placed on the zinc frame. 
The boiler is of tin, surrounded by a false cover of tin, 
Avhich I found necessary to create a draught for the lamp. 
A small chimney runs from the inner boiler, through the 
false cover, into the frame ; and, although the Avnter does 
not boil, the steam, or moisture, keeps the frame damp, 
'i’he false cover has a chimney Avhich runs through the 
frame and out at the back, to carry off the smoke, if any', 
but there ought to bo very little. The lights are divided 
into three, and are merely fixed in zinc frames, not Avood, 
and let into the top, to lift on .and off’, or tilt. This is better 
and cheaper than glass in a Avood frame, as the Avater (Avhy, 
I cannot tell) does not drop inside, but rests on the outside, 
and may be tilted off. The lamp w.as made by Smithurst, 
of Bond Street, but is quite plain and circular, holding more 
than half-a-pint of Colza oil. It must be Avell trimmed, 
so as not to smoke, and then Avill burn eight hours. A tin 
lamp Avill do just as Avell. The smoke does not get at the 
plants, but avouIcI collect at the bottom of the boiler, and 
fall on the lamp. 
“ The lamp is three inches high and four inches across. 
If trimmed at night it Avill be alight in the morning, and 
should be trimmed in the middle of the day. If the lamj) 
should go out, and the Avater become quite cold, druAV oil 
some and add hot Avater, otherwise the lami) Avill not burn. I 
have raised from cuttings. Hoses, T'erhenas, Fuchsias, and 
Diclylnc spcclabilis, and it is excellent for forcing seeds of 
all sorts. Mr. Beaton, our gardening authority here, says it 
Avill raise any thing that can bo raised by heat, as it is so 
clean and moist. lie has suggested an improvement, Avbich 
I intend to try; Avhich is, to do aAvay Avith the outer tin case, 
and to insert, at the bottom of the boiler, a coil of zinc 
tubing, and to carry it out through the Case as my smoke is 
noAv. This Avould be more simple, but I very much doubt 
if the lamp avouUI have sufficient draught to burn. Mr. 
West, the ironmonger here, has made them complete for 
dos.; but he could make the boiler apparatus, tin lamp, Ac., 
separate, and you could have the zinc tray and box made in 
the country to fit the boiler. 
