THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Apbtl 17. 
38 
feet, wide, as suggested ; a path of as many inches more 
than two feet as you can spare In front of the path 
have another four-inch wall, or better still, stout one- 
and-a-half or two-inch hoarding, so as to form another 
pit between it and the front wall. Perpendicular to this 
board, or wall-plate, fix another board close to the glass, 
longitudinally, and wide enough to clear all the sash- 
bars or rafters. You thus obtain a sill, and a wall-plate 
for the hack of your front pit, and you may fill up the 
space with sashes, either to open or slide past each 
other. Supposing that the front sashes of your house 
open outwards, over the shed, you have thus a front 
pit, and a back pit, and pathway, which you can easily 
and separately keep at the temperature you require. 
For this purpose, the heating medium should bo entirely 
in the back department. The top and bottom-heat may 
be effected separately, as often described. If it is in¬ 
tended to keep the place permanently for Pines, &c , or 
even Cucumbers, Melons, or tropical plants, the better 
for bottom-heat; it would be more economical to take 
two pipes along the path, or on the surface of the bed, 
supplied with evaporating-pans for top heat, and return 
them to the boiler, above and through the arches for 
bottom-heat. By having the insido sashes of the front 
pit shut, the temperature there, by opening the outside 
sashes, may be regulated to a nicety. When a higher 
temperature is wanted, slide the partition sashes, or 
part of them, and the temperature of both parts of the 
house will approximate. It woidd be well to have these 
sashes moveable, that, if desirable, they might be taken 
away in summer. It would be also desirable that at 
least the upper half of these partition shutters or sashes 
should be glass, so as not to lessen tlie light greatly 
from the bed behind. While the Pines, therefore, en¬ 
joyed a temperature of from 55° to 65°, and onwards, 
the front division might be 10°, 15°, or more degrees 
lower. Even this front part might be in two or three 
divisions, longitudinally, by cross partitions, and the 
temperature regulated to a nicety by moving the 
externa,1 and divisional sashes. 
Malting the most of such a House. — Now, let us 
glance for a moment how a keen amateur may make 
the most of such a combination. Sea-kale and Rhubarb 
are most valuable in the shortest days, the darkest and 
dullest weather. Unless there are Pines swelling off, it 
will not be advisable to give an artificial temperature 
above 60°, rather below it; and so long as that is the 
case, the space under the arches being also under the 
heating medium, will seldom be above 55°, and nothing 
could suit better for these two vegetables, merely placing 
the roots in a little fine earth. Asparagus may also bo 
procured in a similar way. When nearly fit for cutting, 
open the wooden-door in front of the arch, to let the 
light in, and then, to green it still more, let it stand 
close to the glass in a saucer, with a little water in it, 
for a day or two, before sending it to table. Chiccory 
would also blanch beautifully in such a place. Mush¬ 
rooms would also do well in winter. Many flowering- 
plants could also be securely kept in a torpid, dry state, 
as Acliimenes, Gloxinias, Gesneras, Zebrinas, &c. Here 
is a box we wish to fill with Mustard and Cress, to be 
in as soon, and to last as long as possible. The seed is 
sown, and kept, in the dark; as soon as it is up it is set 
in the passage of the house for a little while, and then 
one of these divisional sashes is moved, and out it goes 
full in the light, and in a colder temperature in the front 
pit. For the use of amateurs, nothing answers better 
than sowing in small pots, and removing these as soon 
as cut, and sowing again. Radishes may be done the 
same way, and they will be as short jointed and crisp as 
if grown in a frame. They will likewise do well in pots, 
not less than seven or eight inches deep, and as much 
across, and in light soil, poor, but with a little dung at 
the bottom of the pot. As for Potatoes, two sets may 
be placed in a ten or twelve-inch pot, and in light, 
richish soil. These may stand in the pathway, or under 
one of tho arches, until the tops are an inch or two 
above the soil, and then bo removed to the front 
division, and the temperature lowered by degrees by ad¬ 
mitting more air. By April, if desirable, French Beans 
might be substituted for these; or, if more desirable, 
such plants as Gesuera, Gloxinia, Acliimenes, or low- 
growing stove plants of any kind. To grow greenhouse 
plants, the divisional sashes would require to remain all 
summer. 
Supposing that Grapes would form a prominent 
feature, then this front division would be of great im¬ 
portance. If the Vines are planted inside in front, the 
heads, after being pruned, may be placed there, and be 
broken gradually, and when most wanted, If planted 
outside, as proposed, the Vines could not well be forced 
early in the circumstance, without a great deal of pro¬ 
tection to the boxes on the top of the shed roof, and 
even if introduced latish, they would be none the 
better for being at once introduced into a tropical tem¬ 
perature. Now, this small front division would admit 
of bringing them on gradually, and thus ensure the 
breaking of the buds regularly. If I could do as I 
wished, I woidd have some arrangement of this kind in 
every Pinery where Grapes also were grown. I have 
several times had great difficulty in breaking Vines 
properly, when the Vines were planted close to the front 
of the house, and the heating medium was also close to 
the walls, and the Vines could not be taken outside. 
Such a means of shutting off the Vines from more heat 
than you wish, as detailed above, is far preferable. 
Planting Vines for such a House outside in Boxes. —You 
have said nothing of how you are going to get at them, 
raised sixteen feet high on the roof of a shed. With 
the exception of the trouble involved, and the necessity, 
from their position, of frequent watering in summer, and 
thatching the whole over in winter, there would be no 
insuperable difficulty in the way. I would, however, 
propose the boxes to be two feet deep instead of one- 
and-a-half, and from two-and-a-half feet wide and long. 
Whatever you do, let there be plenty of holes in the 
bottom, and several inches of drainage before the soil 
is put in. In such a position, in preference to separate 
boxes, I would prefer one from two-and-a half to three 
feet wide, the whole leugth, and then divided into 
divisions for four or five Vines. I do not well know how 
lead would do for covering such boxes inside; but I 
know that the roots of plants in general like to cling 
to zinc. I should also prefer stone-colour paint in 
preference to pitch or tar for the outside. In the heat 
ot summer, when the sun gets freely over your neigh¬ 
bour’s house, you will be pretty well suffocated with the 
scent of the tar for the first twelve months, and your 
wood would be almost charred. A non-absorbing heat- 
colour will keep your wood coolest in summer and 
warmest in winter. I have known such boxes pitched 
inside, and the plants grow well. What is the experience 
of others on this subject ? Pitch would stand 'longer, 
I presume, than zinc. I do not think the latter lasts 
long, as plants do not like it so well for nothing. 
Vines inside instead of outside. —As will have been 
seen, I do not much admire boxes cocked up on the top 
ol a roof, chiefly on account of the labour they would 
involve. There might also be a question of the roof of 
a shed supporting such a weight as such boxes would 
have when wet. I would much sooner plant them 
inside, either in separate boxes below the sparred front 
shelf, or in one long box divided into partitions. They 
would require, then, much less trouble in watering, 
could be easily examined, surface-dressed, &c.; for in 
such a small space success would greatly depend upon 
surface-dressings and manure waterings, while tho roots 
would be kept in a uniform stato ,and not exposed to 
