s 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
I 
Aprtl 3. 
and strength of draft in such circumstances ; and hope 
that some will put them to the test, and report progress. 
I have frequently urged upon hot-water tradesmen the 
making and advertising a small boiler, with pipes, easily 
put up and fixed, so as to heat small greenhouses, say 
twenty feet by twelve, or less ; but if such a matter is 
so unworthy of their notice, that there is great diffi¬ 
culty in getting small structures heated by such a mode, 
except at such an expense as terrifies a person from at¬ 
tempting it—Hues and glazed pipes, and other modes, 
must of necessity be resorted to. Of course, all who have 
seen these strong hard-burned pipes lying about in towns 
where sanitary improvements in the shape of drainage 
are being effected, will be well aware that they are alto¬ 
gether a different affair from the red pipes manufactured 
at Potteries and mere land-drainage establishments. 
HEATING AND AIRING GREENHOUSES. 
As April will appear before this reaches the reader, 
such a jotting as the above is nearly out of place, 
especially after the attention given to the matter in 
previous volumes; the season having arrived when 
artificial heat will be next to totally unnecessary. 
Provided there is a sharpish frost at night, if the 
previous afternoon was sunny, and the air taken away, 
say by three o’clock, if the clear atmosphere denoted a 
coming frost, and again the sky was clear in the 
morning—speaking of early and bright sunshine—there 
might be no occasion for a fire at all, if the thermometer 
inside kept at several degrees distance from the freezing 
point, as the sun would soon raise the house sufficiently. ( 
Writing this on the 26th, the day is bright with sun- : 
shine; but still the air is cold, as might be expected 
after the sharp frost of the preceding night. Now, 
in such circumstances, just as much air as will keep the 
house sweet and comfortable is far preferable to abun¬ 
dance or air, cold and dry, which thus robs the juices 
from plants in a way little dreamed about. Many 
amateurs are quite well aware of this in the colder and 
darker months of the year, but they forget to apply it in 
the spring, when it is almost of as much importance. 
For instance, and I am not speaking at random, a young 
gardener, on going to bed, finds the thermometer ap¬ 
proaching the freezing point, with a starry sky above 
him, and takes precautions accordingly. On getting out 
before six in the morning he finds the mercury six or eight 
degrees below the freezing point, and the walks as firm 
as iron; while inside the house the glass stands at 38°. 
He does not stay to feel his pipes or flue ; but knowing 
that the cold is generally the most intense for a few 
minutes before and after sunrise, he is so afraid for the 
house getting a degree lower, that the fire is set a 
roaring, and, perhaps, replenished half-au-hour after¬ 
wards, so that want of heat shall be no excuse for 
failure. Before he goes to breakfast, the pipes, or flues, 
have become so warm, and the sun striking the glass 
with considerable force, he is obliged to give air to 
moderate the heat. It is amazing how the temperature 
mounts when fire-heat and sun-heat thus meet, and, 
therefore, abundance of air is given top and bottom, to 
prevent a cool circulation; and then a mass of enquiries, 
or cogitations, are put in the memorandum book, as 
to the reason why the edges of tender leaves get crimped, 
as with a ladies’ Italian iron; aud how others flag, 
though well supplied with water, and do not recover 
until the house is shut up for the night. So much is 
written in the praise of abundance of air, that that air, 
however cold and dry, though the sun be shining, is 
never accused as the real rogue that he is. In such 
bright days, after keen, frosty nights, the airing should 
bo given moderately, aud chiefly at the top of the house; 
and to insure this moderate opening of the sashes, it 
will be necessary that a bright sun should not act on 
the house in unison with a high temperature in the 
pipes or flues. The sun itself will not raise the house 
so quickly ; and the heat from the sun being attended by 
its light will not injure the plants, though the tempera¬ 
ture of the house be a few degrees higher than usual. In 
such a case as we have supposed, a small, brisk fire, just to 
prevent the temperature of the house sinking lower, before 
the sun began to play upon it, between seven and eight 
o'clock, would be all that was necessary. If from the 
clear sky, and there being still a little heat in the pipes, 
you could calculate that the house would scarcely sink 
any more before the sun told upon it, it would be wiser 
to give no firing at all in the morning, and thus you 
would not be compelled to give so much cold air. The 
same rule applies to forcing-houses; and, therefore, 
economy in fuel, the health of the plants, and ultimate i 
success, are often promoted by the fireman just getting 
into the habit of consulting outside and inside thermo- | 
meters, and scanning the appearance of the heavens, 
before he pitches fuel into a furnace, merely because it 
is a little cold, or he has been in the habit of doing so. 
In sunny weather, unless in very cold nights, fires will 
now be unnecessary, as by shutting up early in the after¬ 
noon, a good amount of sun-heat can be secured to act 
in reserve during the night. The more cubic feet of 
atmospheric air a house contains from the glass to the 
ground, the more effectual this will be. The heat thus 
accumulated in shallow houses and pits is soon dissi¬ 
pated, unless some protection is used. 
HEATED WATER FOR WATERINGS. 
During the winter and spring months all plants that 
you wish to grow freely should be supplied with water a 
few degrees warmer than the atmosphere in which they 
are growing. Many bedding plants that about this 
season must get rather rough treatment, by being trans¬ 
ferred to borders, with modes of protection, for a time 
more or less suitable, greatly depend upon this warm 
water for surmounting the hardships to which they are 
unavoidably exposed. 1 have several times been told 
how clever our French sisters manage these warm water¬ 
ings, for promoting and accelerating vegetation. Plants 
otherwise treated alike, but differently as respects being 
treated with cold water, and with water about 60°, soon 
manifest a striking disparity. There is one favourite 
group that should have no chilled water after April; 
namely, Calceolarias; and the less artificial heat of any 
kind, tjie more healthy they will be. Fire - heat, 
and want of plenty of air, even though cool, but 
| above freezing, are the great inciters of green fly on 
these beauties. 
TIME FOR WATERING. 
As a general rule, plants in pots should be watered 
during the forenoon from October to June; from the 
middle of June to October, the afternoon or the evening 
will be the best. If watered late, when the weather is 
cold, the temperature of the soil is apt to become very 
low from evaporation, which always cuts the body that 
loses the moisture. Were plants watered in the morning 
in the dog-days, the moisture would be so rapidly 
evaporated, that the plant would derive little benefit from 
it, and very frequent drenchings deprive the soil of its 
nourishing properties. When the waterings are given 
at night the plant has plenty of time to take its full 
allowance at its leisure, aud the soil and roots are fully 
surcharged, ready to meet the demands of the sun of the 
following morning. Insects in abundance, and a sickly 
growth, are not unfrequently the consequence of 
plauts standing dry at night in summer, aud the sun 
beating on them fiercely next morning, while in this 
debilitated state. On the other hand, in cold weather, 
