JO 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 3. 
drained. It should not be long below 00° even in cold 
weather.] 
HEATING A GREENHOUSE. 
“ I am about erecting a greenhouse, which you will see by 
the plan is seventeen feet by ten, and height to suit.. It 
will join another small one, which I propose turning into 
a potting-house, and to keep mould, pots, Ac.; there will be 
two doors, and two top sashes, and ventilatoi's in the front 
wall just over the pipes. That will be enough ventilation, will 
it not? Do you think I shall be able to have the stoke hole in 
the corner of the potting-house, as it will save me from 
being in the open air? What boiler do you recommend, and j 
size ? Will not one How and return three-inch pipe be 
enough, as it is only wanted to keep Geraniums, Ac., in ? 
“I shall have a pit just over the pipes when they come 
out of the boiler filled with broken bricks, sand, Ac., for 
striking cuttings in.—A Constant Reader.” 
[As best, every way, we should recommend you to have the 
stoke hole in the part intended for the potting-shed. It will 
also make that place more comfortable in bad weather, and 
had you plenty of light, many deciduous things might be 
kept there in winter, Dahlias, Ac. If all the same to you, 
we would recommend taking the pipes round to the other 
end of the bouse. We would also advise four-inch pipes 
instead of three-inch, though three-inch would do. If the Hue 
was carried for a certain length in the house you would 
secure more heat. One of the small saddle boilers would 
suit you, such as was advertised lately. We have frequently 
complained that a small boiler for such a place was a great 
want, and makes many a one rest content with a small flue, 
or such a contrivance as was mentioned the other week by 
our correspondent from Edinburgh. You will require a 
ventilator at the highest point in your roof.] 
A SMALL PIT FOR MELONS, CUCUMBERS, AND 
CUTTINGS. 
“ I have a three-liglit frame, together twelve feet by six 
feet; and I wish to know if it is possible to arrange so as to 
grow Melons, Cucumbers, and cuttings, each in separate 
compartments. I have one of Joyce’s stoves, which I 
propose to place in the corner, and to conduct the pipe for 
the smoke through the entire length ; by which means I 
fancy I may be able to get a good top-heat. For a bottom- 
heat, I have dug out the bottom two-and-a-half feet deep, 
and I propose to put in eighteen inches of hot manure ; on 
the top of that well-rotted stable manure, six inches, and 
then to fill up with suitable mould. Now I want, if possible, 
to grow Melons in the first, Cucumbers in the second, and 
reserve the third for seeds, cuttings, or other matters that 
may require a little heat. I intend planting my Melons 
and Cucumbers in pots, so that I can remove the pots and I 
frames on which they are trained altogether, when the 
manure is worn out at the bottom, put in the new manure, 
and replace the pots and frames again in their places. If I 
can do this, perhaps you will also be kind enough to inform 
me what sort of Melon and Cucumber, (the names), can 
be best grown in such a situation. If I cannot grow both in 
the space, which you think is best to try with, Cucumber or 
Melon? Also the names of the best works on the growth of 
Melons and Cucumbers.—L. W.” 
[The subject is a large one, too large for this place ; but 
take the following in the meantime. 
1. Six inches more dung would enable you to do all you 
propose without a stove, merely with the assistance of linings, 
after this season of the year. 
2. Your stove would not enable you to get enough heat 
without linings at an earlier period. 
3. You wall up your stove close to the glass, but even then 
gases will escape, and will destroy your plants. If you use 
it at all it ought to be outside. 
4. We have no faith in your moving pots and trellis with 
plants growing; the plants would be injured. Where would 
you put the plants when renewing the bed? What if a 
little of the fresh dung was not quite sweet ? The rankness 
and the gas from the stove would soon settle matters. 
5. Tour idea of devoting abed to so many purposes is 
good, if you cannot do otherwise; better place a board 
division between each, and each light will be easily treated 
as it requires. 
G. What is the pipe you contemplate? See what is said 
by Mr. Fish of an iron pipe, to-day. 
7. CutliiUs and Stockwood Cucumber, and Bromham Hall 
and Golden Ball Melon. 
8. Read this work, and consult Ayre’s, Mill’s, Moore's, 
and Duncan’s books on these fruits.] 
CLIMBERS FOR AND PLANTS FOR THE BACK 
WALLS OF GREENHOUSE AND STOVE. 
“ A Subscriber lias a greenhouse twenty-five feet long, 
and a stove fifteen feet long, with span-roof, and back wall 
ten feet high. A border runs along the back wall of each. 
She wishes to know if a reach-tree would flourish on the 
back wall of the greenhouse ? there is a stage in the centre of 
the house. If not, what plants would be most ornamental 
to train on the wall? Also, what climbers would bloom in 
j succession through the greatest part of the year, to train up 
two pillars and eight rafters; but they would have to be 
grown in pots or boxes. 
“ She also wishes to be informed of the best plants for 
the back wall of tbe stove, one pillar and five rafters.” 
[The Peach-tree will do very well on the back wall of the 
greenhouse, provided the stage is not so high as to shade 
the tree from the sun, and provided, also, the climbers from 
the roof do not shade the tree injuriously. If much shaded, 
the fruit will be deficient in flavour; and as the wood will not 
be well-ripened, there will be little blossom, and that will 
not be likely to be perfect, and, therefore, not set freely, 
i If the Peach is relinquished, the wall might be covered 
with various things, such as Camellias, as noticed at Wilder- 
| ness Park, last year; with Oranges , with Passion-flowers, with 
| Cactuses, with Geraniums, with Acacia armosa, Ac., or a 
j mixture of all. The Greenhouse Climbers may be Habro- 
i thamnus elegans, Dolichos ligtiosus, Bignonia Chererii,Kennedya 
Marryatla\ Zichya coccinea, Hurdenbergia monophylla, Ken - 
! nedya nigricans, Passiflora Colvillii, Passiflora carulea ramosa, 
j and Mandevilla suaveolens. The back wall of the stove, we 
would cover with Passiflora quadrangularis, or give it a carpet 
of green with Ficus stipulate, and then have such plants as 
Hoya carnosa thinly trained in front of it. Climbers for 
stove, Ipomea Horsfallice, Passiflora princeps, Passiflora 
Icermesina, Stephanotus floribunda, Ipomea Learii, and 
Begonia venusta. For these, pots not less than fifteen 
inches acress will be necessary.] 
BOURBON ROSES FOR CLUMPS. 
“I am about planting a clump of Bourbon Roses on the 
lawn, aspect from south-east to south-west. Sheltered 
from the west, north, and east, by the house tall trees and 
shrubs. I am not quite sure which would be the best to 
plant them on; their own roots, or grafted on the roots of 
the Manetti, Celine, or Bonrsault stock, or budded on either 
of those stocks, from four to six or eight inches high. I 
grow the Tea Roses on their own roots (same aspect,) most 
beautifully, by covering the clumps three inches thick with 
cinder-ashes all winter, take the ashes off the first week in 
April, and pruning them close at the same time. Your 
opinion will much oblige.—M. M., Weald of Kent." 
[No Roses look better in clumps than Bourbons. The 
soil should not be very strong for them, but as rich as it 
can be made. A bed made for Asparagus by an old-fashioned- 
gardener would be just the very best bed for Bourbon Roses 
that could be made. In such a bed none but the very best 
kinds should be planted. The following are the very best in ! 
each shade of colour of those that one can buy cheap, except, 
perhaps, Acidale, the only White Bourbon we have. In 
some places this Rose is the very best in the autumn; in 
other places it never pays for its keep. Acidale is the | 
| best and only white. The Malmaison Bose is the next I 
tint—a blush. Madame Nerard and Queen of Bourbons the 
j next, of a deeper blush. For rose colour, there are none 
