38 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 17. 
This is not a mere sudden whim, be it understood. I 
have done thus with the Violet for years, and have had 
capital success: this year, however, I am pushing the 
principle further still. And what may we fairly suppose 
is the present effects of such a course on the Violets ? 
Perhaps this will he best answered by looking into the 
question of effect by a natural course. Violets, left in 
the open ground to nature’s bottom-heat, we all know 
will blossom occasionally through the winter, during 
mild periods; but this is rather uncertain. Now, such 
a climate as the pit here described affords, just overcomes 
those extremes of temperature and stress of weather 
which is averse to their habit. 
But in this pit, suppose they were indulged with an 
air-heat equivalent in common practice to the ground- 
heat directly they were planted, what would be the con¬ 
sequence? The plants would speedily elongate in then- 
leaves and leaf-stalks; they would have a tendency to 
smother themselves with runners, and abortive and pre¬ 
mature bloom would be the result. As it is, all the 
efforts of the plant are directed to the forming a stout 
crown, just as with Strawberries intended for forcing; 
and from whence will emanate scores of bouncing blos¬ 
soms, composed of unusually large petals; so I have 
ever found it. 
But we must not rest here in the application of 
this principle; nor suppose that it is applicable only to so 
simple a thing as a Violet. This, as before observed, 
was selected simply for illustration. What may not be 
arranged in this way on behalf of some winter forcings, 
whether of fruits or flowers; what about the autumn 
management of what are called genuine winter flowers ? 
This is, I feel, in some degree, untrodden ground, 
and requires that all advances be made cautiously; like 
the military strategy of Old Nick of Russia, a secret 
mine may spring beneath our feet, in attempting to 
advance on apparently sound ground. 
To come to the point. It has always appeared to me 
a most desirable affair, that all gardeners, or others who 
have the objects before alluded to to carry out, should 
have a roomy, brick pit, or other structure, at liberty, for 
this very purpose, in the end of August, and to secure a 
bottom-heat of about 70° to 75°, of a character to con¬ 
tinue until the end of October. In such a pit, flowers, 
and even fruits, under certain circumstances, might be 
plunged up to the rim of their pots in tan, or other 
warm medium. Here they might receive, liberally, ven¬ 
tilation and light, and be kept at the lowest temperature, 
as to air-heat, possible, barring frost. This may seem 
to some an odd idea, and may be termed an unnatural 
procedure; but I am not assured that it is so unnatural 
as one might be disposed to imagine. When we come 
to examine the character of climate in some foreign 
climes, we find occurring, at times, an enormous discre¬ 
pancy between the air and ground-heat. We have often 
heard of the excessively low night-temperature, as com- 
i pared with the day-heat—in some of the West India 
j islands about 90° in the day, falling to some 55° to 00° 
at night, and even lower. I speak from memory, how¬ 
ever ; and, doubtless, the climatic history of many 
countries, whence we have received flowers or fruits, 
would equally astonish us on a closer examination of 
the subject. 
With regard to flower-forcing, or the particular culture 
of what are termed winter flowers, I believe that much 
may be done in this way. About two or three years 
since, somebody recommended bottom-heat for flowering 
the Chrysanthemum in superior order; and, doubtless,a 
capital recommendation too; proceeding on the very 
basis here suggested of a discrepancy between ground 
and air-heat. Everybody knows that our climate is 
notorious for starving winds towards the end of Sep¬ 
tember; these winds are, perhaps, greater refrigerators 
of the soil than people commonly imagine. This rapid 
cooling down of the soil, by much diminishing the root- 
action at the time of greatest need, is not by any means 
favourable to the production or perfecting the blossom- 
buds of many of our tropical flowers or fruits. 
There are many things which, under such circum¬ 
stances, would succeed much better if taken up from 
the open ground, and potted in the end of September, 
than by being kept altogether in pots. For instance, 
amongst shrubs, I would point to such things as Deutzias, 
Weigelia, Forsythia, Honeysuckles, Persian Lilacs, Jas¬ 
mines, and even the Moss and Cabbage Ros$s, as 
capable of being brought under a system of the kind, 
and as simplifying labour by such treatment; these, 
however, are what are termed “ forcing” matters. Pinks 
are sometimes lean affairs when forced early, being 
grown in pots previously; and I am going to-morrow 
morning to try an experiment on this interesting flower. 
I had some stout plants left this spring of the Anne 
Boleyn, a favourite forcer ; these, last spring, had been 
slightly forced for bouquet purposes. About Midsum¬ 
mer they were thinned and pruned, turned out of their 
pots, the fibres disengaged from the ball of soil, and then 
planted out in a bed, the surface of which was dressed 
with the surface of an old mushroom-bed, viz., loam and 
manure. They have now become very robust, and I 
shall pot them, and subject them to such treatment as I 
described for the Violets. I have little doubt of their 
succeeding in all. 
Then there are the Bulbous tribes, many of which 
may be thus handled under a slightly moderated course. 
It is now well known that it is of little use forcing 
these until the pot is nearly full of fibres. This, if I 
mistake not, I was one of the first to point to, most 
emphatically, years’ ago; and it is now generally 
recognised. It will be found, that when they have 
rooted tolerably freely, and the bud has begun to move 
in a natural way, a bottom-heat of 70° maximum, with 
as low an air-heat as is consistent with their steady 
development—say about 45” to 55°—will cause them to 
progress beautifully, and the truss will rise in compact 
form as it ought to do. 
I have now, I hope, said enough to show that the full 
consideration of this matter is worthy the attention of 
every lover of a garden. If' there be any truth in what 
I have here advanced or suggested, the application of 
the principle is as open to small gardens as to great ones, 
involving no expense worthy of consideration; indeed, 
in some respects, a real economy, as a labour question. 
I wish much that it may obtain interest enough to 
induce some of our friends, who join science to long 
experience, to give us their views; it requires more 
heads than one to show it forth as a system. 
R. Errington. 
CRYSTAL PALACE. 
(Continued from Vol, XII., page 492.) 
The principal divisions of the terrace-garden are laid 
out in panels, as we gardeners say; the fountain-basins 
are in the middle of a panel where fountains are intro¬ 
duced, and the planting of the flowers is exactly on that 
principle which I have all along insisted on in these 
pages, just to the very letter—neutral centres, and the 
strongest colours all round the outsides, so as to give 
the full extent in perspective to a given space, instead 
of diminishing the real, or apparent extent, by gathering j 
the strongest colours into the centre, as was the custom \ 
with many, till I broke the ice, and made it dangerous 
to get to the middle of a panel with a load of Scarlet ; 
Geranium over the shoulders. 
But what is a panel? A Scotch lawyer would say a 
panel means a jury-list, and pannel means the prisoner I 
at the bar, the double n making all the difference. If I 
