200 
THE COTTAGE G Alt DEN Eli. 
June 19. 
top and the centre, and in pairs ; and the same between 
the bottom and the centre. Now the table may bo long 
enough to hold forty pairs of dishes on each side of the 
centre without being crowded, or it may be so short 
that no more than four pairs can be placed on the 
whole, that is, a couple of pairs on each side of the 
centre. Now take them all in the lump— 
A centre; 
Two flanks, across the table, to correspond ; 
Two top and bottom dishes, ditto ; 
Four corner dishes ditto ; 
the.rest in pairs, but each pair to have a match pair on 
the other side of the centre. This skeleton is the rule 
from fit. Petersburg!! to St. Kilda, even where the 
dinner is set on the sideboard, and the company sit 
down at once before the dessert, and ask the waiters 
for such and such things as they want from the side¬ 
board. This arrangement cannot be departed from, 
but the variations, in the tilling of the dishes, and in 
the disposition of the secondary ones, is endless; and 
I whoever places them in the most varied and tasteful 
I ways should have my award with pleasure, and with 
profit to a thousand gardeners, and ton thousand 
visitors. L think Sir Joseph Paxton is the most likely 
man in England to cut up our old fruit shows, and 
tell us, or rather show us, how they do it “ up stairs.” 
D. Beaton. 
Hanoi n Oil.—D r. Griesler has discovered that a few 
drops of spirit of ether will, when mixed with rancid 
oil, restore its freshness. 
The Weathejr. —In various parts of Lincolnshire, 
during the intensely cold nights of the three last days 
in May, many sheep that had been shorn were found 
dead from cold. A number of swallows were also found, 
killed by the inclemency of the weather, on the Branston 
Hoad.— Stamford Mercury. 
STRUCTURES ADAPTABLE FOB REARING 
AND PROTECTING PLANTS. 
“ I have a room unoccupied, heretofore used as a joiner’s 
shop, about eighteen feet long, from north to south, and 
eleven feet wide, from east to west. The gable ends 
standing north and south. There are three small 
windows on the west and east sides. It is in a situation 
to enable me to warm it by hot-water at little expense, 
and to maintain, day and night, any heat that may be 
needful without any expense whatever. Now, in the 
first place, l want to know whether it would be worth 
while to place a glass-roof ou to this place? "Whether 
rough plate glass would be best and cheapest? And 
on what principle it should be done? And, secondly, I 
to what purpose this place could be most suitably era- j 
ployed for helping the kitchen.and flower-garden?” 
A prevalent idea exists among many amateurs, that, 
provided they can obtain heat, the chief requisite for 
the healthy existence of plants is secured. This fallacy 
cannot be too quickly dispelled. Many a plant is 
ruined for ever by being coddled in a snug place in a 
warm room, that might have been alive and flourishing 
if it had been kept in a cooler place, and received all 
the light possible. It is well known that both the 
physical and mental powers of rational existence are 
apt to be seriously injured when deprived of light and 
air; hut the absence of these agencies from plants in a 
growing state is certain destruction. Let it be clearly 
understood that solid additions to plants take place 
almost alone during their access to light, and a fruitful 
field of disappointment would bo avoided. Do not be 
deceived, in this respect, by seeming appearances. Plants 
will elongate freely and quickly in darkness and shade, 
hut it is chiefly at the expense of the matter previously 
stored up in them. Hence, in hothouses, kept at all 
warm at night, elongation takes place chiefly then, and 
very Jittlo during bright, sunny days. It is as much as 
the sun can do to consolidate the lengthenings of the 
previous night. Every one knows that a Potato-stem, 
j left in a dark cellar, will extend itself to a great length ; 
but any one who has taken the trouble to kiln-dry such 
! stems, so as to dissipate the mere moisture obtained from 
the place, and then burn them, or char them in a close 
| vessel, will, from the smallness of the remains, com¬ 
pared with the remains from shoots grown in the open 
air, at once obtain an insight into the fact, how neces¬ 
sary light is for giving solids, the wood and fibres, the 
carbonaceous matter to plants, without which they can¬ 
not long stand without crutches, which speak of con¬ 
sumption and decay. 
A few of such experiments would clearly unfold to 
the most inexperienced that rooms, large or small, can 
be of little use for keeping plants in a growing state, 
if these plants are not properly supplied with light. 
Only those near the windows can have justice done to 
them. The case is different with many plants, if you 
merely wish to preserve them, and not to grow them; 
and these are such as may remain in a torpid state for a 
considerable time without injury. For instance,—in 
such a position as our correspondent describes, there 
are many things that would not survive the winter 
out-of-doors, that would keep well in a room with only 
a window or two, provided the temperature was seldom 
at freezing point, and ranged from o5° to 40°, abundance 
of air being given to keep tho room cool when the out¬ 
side temperature rose above those named. I have seen 
line specimens of the sweet Verbena ( Aloysia citri- 
odora) kept in this manner for years,—taken up out of 
the ground, and slightly pruned, and potted at the end 
of October, housed in winter, hardened off by degrees, 
and replanted again in the following May. The whole 
of the Fuchsia tribe may thus be safely kept; the great 
thing is not to allow the heat to get so high as to start 
the buds before you can remove them to a window or a 
greenhouse. Many of the Jasmines and Honeysuckles, 
a little tender, may be treated in the same way; and the 
I roots of the strong-growing scarlet and purple Lobelias, 
and many Salvias, such as Fulgens, Patens, Coccinea, Cha- 
mcedrifolia, &c., may thus be easily kept in boxes of soil, 
and that soil rather dry. Succulent plants, in general, 
will also keep well, secured from frost, and kept cool 
and dry. All that is necessary is just to sustain 
the vital powers, not to excite them. I have seen 
many of Cactus varieties, Mesemhryanthentums, and 
other succulents, thus safely kept in a darkish room ; 
but as soon as the warm days of spring came, they 
were brought to the window, or the greenhouse, and 
all the heat and light possible given to them in summer. 
Thus, also, Scarlet Geraniums, because they contain 
so much succulence, may be safely kept in such cir¬ 
cumstances, if they have been established, and of 
some age. Young cuttings would be ruined. As 
Verbenas, &c, must be kept slowly growing, it 
would be vain to expect to keep them, or Calceolarias, 
in a room, if they did not receive a good amount of 
light and air, and be placed near the light; for though 
the room, from a window or two, may seem to be light 
enough, let it be clearly understood, that such plants 
cannot thrive in tho diffused light, such as they might 
receive in the middle of the room ; but they must have 
direct light, such as they can receive only when close to 
