September 15. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
453 
1\1 
D 
Weather near London in 1852. 
Sun 
Rises. 
— 
--- 
— 
1 
D 
w 
SEPTEMBER 15—21, 1853. 
Barometer. 
Thermo, 
Wind. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Sets. 
Moon 
R. & S. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
af. Sun. 
Day of | 
Year. | 
15 
If) 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
Til 
F 
S 
Sun 
M 
Tu 
W 
Flounced Chestnut; woods. 
Chestnut; wood sides. 
Frosted Orange ; burdocks. 
17 Sunday after Trinity. 
Convolvulus Hawk ; gardens. 
Sun’s declination, 1° 2' n. 
Ember Week. St. Matt. 
29.578—29.398 
29.817—29.682 
29-849—29.811 
29.643—29.226 
29.639—29.203 
29.593—29.531 
80.164—29.605 
63—45 
01—34 
62— 37 
63— 53 
63—43 
65—45 
57—34 
S. 
N. 
E. 
E. 
N.E. 
S.E. 
W. 
n 
84 
03 
23 
01 
37 a. 5 
38 
40 
41 
43 
44 
46 
14 a. 6 
12 
9 
7 
5 
2 
0 
2 33 
3 53 
rises. 
7 a 0 
7 15 
7 30 
7 48 
12 
13 
© 
15 
16 
17 
IS 
4 55 
5 16 
5 37 
5 58 
6 19 
6 40 
7 2 
258 ! 
259 1 
260 
261 
262 
263 
264 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during the last twenty-six rear, 1 ._,, ,, 
peratures of thesedays are 6;.2° and 46° respectively. The greatest heat, 84°, occurred on the 17th in 1843 • andthe^ ttC f T* 
17th in 1840. During the period 101 days were fine, and on 81 rain fell. ^ ' and the lowcstcold > 2 9°> on the 
CUCUMBER AND MELON HOUSES. 
SECT/O/V 
The enclosed is the plan of a Cucumber and Melon- 
house that was erected here last spring, which, being 
somewhat different to any I had ever seen before, and so 
much admired by all who have seen it, lias induced me to 
send you this copy; if you deem it worth insertion in 
your useful publication it is at your service. I can con¬ 
fidently recommend all parties about building a Cucumber 
or Melon-house, or combined as this is, to follow the 
annexed plan, as I think nothing can answer the purpose 
better. The plan is very simple, and will be under¬ 
stood by the generality of your readers. But to such as 
are little acquainted with these matters, a few explanatory 
remarks may be useful. It will be seen, by the section or 
elevation, that the house has an equal span-roof, the gable 
ends of .which face north and south; the north end being 
entirely bricked up to the roof, and at which end is the 
furnace. The length of the house is thirty-seven feet, and 
the breadth thirteen feet, outside measure. The height of 
the ridge from the ground level is eight feet six inches, and 
the outside wall, which is a nine-inch one, is four feet high. 
This sets the roof sufficiently high to train the plants 
one foot below the glass, and allows plenty of head-room 
beneath, and it also forms a very desirable angle for the 
purpose, which is about 34° or 35°. The ground plan 
shows the passage up the middle, which is three feet wide, 
; and on each side of which is shown the chamber. The 
j arch is intended to represent the situation of the boiler, 
which, it will be seen, stands inside of the house ; and it is 
surprising what a small quantity of fuel is required to boil 
the contents; though we have only boiled it once, and 
then merely for a trial, which was accomplished in about 
twenty minutes. The pipes are four - inch bore, and 
cast with gutters on the top, which I have shown in the 
section, and,also the method of supplying them with water, 
by a small pipe standing perpendicular in the gutter of each 
length of piping, and passes through the bed of soil to one 
inch above the surface, and is formed like a funnel at the 
top. The ground plan shows the direction in which the 
piping is fixed in the chamber, and also the pigeon-hole wall 
that the slates of the bed rest upon. But this is only intro¬ 
duced for the sake of using up a quantity of waste slate that 
was laying about; otherwise, if the slates are thick enough, 
and sufficiently broad to reach across the bed, there is no 
necessity for the wall. The house is divided in the middle 
by a partition, constructed similar to the end elevation, for 
the purpose of keeping the Cucumbers distinct from the 
Melons, as by this means, we can regulate air and atmo¬ 
spheric moisture in each apartment as we think proper. 
Had we thought it necessary, or wanted one, and for 
other purposes, we would have had valves at the partition, 
to stop the water from circulating farther than there, which i 
would be an excellent plan to such as have only small j 
means, and have to reserve much for bedding purposes; \ 
for a better place could not be built than the south end. : 
No. CCLIX., Vol. X. 
