July 17. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
273 
pruning, or rather, stopping. Some plants do not make 
side-shoots in abundance. Such I have found it necessary 
to stop at an early stage, in fact, close to the base of the 
plant. Without stopping, that is, nipping off the single 
upright first shoot, the plant very often grows ou with 
a single stem, and is then far from handsome, especially 
when the lirst-mado leaves fall off, and the stem becomes 
naked. I stop them, again and again, until I have a 
sufficient number of shoots to form a leafy, drooping 
plant. 
Watering. —It has always been an objection to sus¬ 
pending plants, that it is difficult to water them, and also 
to weed, prune, train, and examine the soil; difficulties 
arising from the height they hang in the stove, conserva¬ 
tory, or greenhouse. It is true, all this can be done by 
a self-supporting step-ladder; but that is an awkward, 
clumsy expedient. That objection is now done away 
with by a simple, yet ingenious contrivance, invented 
by a youth, the son of my respected friend and neigh¬ 
bour, Mr. W. Rayner, Surgeon, of Uxbridge. This 
invention is on the principle by which the chandeliers 
in churches, chapels, and other buildings, where they are 
lighted with candles or gas, placed in, or ou, what are called 
chandeliers. It is well known such things are balanced 
with weights; but Master Rayner balances his baskets 
with each other. Supposing the baskets are nine or ten 
feet apart, just over where one is to hang from the roof 
a pulley is fastened to the roof, and then, over the next 
adjoining basket, another pulley is fastened to the roof. 
Then a cord is drawn through each pulley, and each 
end of the cord is fastened to one of the two baskets. It 
is evident they balance each other, and thus, when one 
basket is pulled down to water the soil in it, the other 
rises up just as much as the other is pulled down. When 
the one pulled down has been watered, trained, &c., then 
the other is drawn down and similarly treated. When this 
second has had its due attention, and its wants supplied, 
then it is raised to its proper position, which action 
lets down its fellow. By this method, every basket can 
be carefully managed, the soil examined, stirred up, or 
fresh added, dead leaves removed, and, above all, regular, 
and easily-applied, sufficient quanties of water given to 
keep the soil well moistened. The only improvement 
I would suggest ou this iugenious contrivance, is, to have 
each basket hung to a noose at the end of the cord, by 
means of a strong wire letter S ; one end to go into the 
noose, and the other to catch the wire of the basket. 
Then two persons, one at each basket, could take them 
down, and give them a thorough wetting, by dipping 
the basket and soil in water, and allowing them to 
remain if very much dried. T. Appleby. 
Agricultural Statistics of Scotland. —The report of 
the Highland Society to the Board of Trade, just 
published, shows that under the head of Scottish holdings 
rented at less than 10Z., there are ]O',144 occupiers, 
77,732 arable acres, 25,698 cattle, 4,273 horses, 7,871 
sheep, and 8,198 swine. Under the head of holdings 
rented at less than 20Z., the number of occupants 
i amounts to 2G,085, the number of arable acres to 
160,438, the cattle to 103,771, the horses to 24,735, the 
sheep to 141,561, and the swine to 17,481. The total 
gives a list of 42,229 occupiers of all holdings, 238,170 
arable acres, 129,469 cattle, 29,008 horses, 149,432 sheep, 
and 26,399 swine. A separate return for Orkney gives 
the total number of imperial acres at 41,844f; of which 
about 13,517 are in tillage (only 7£ under wheat crop), 
and about 17,058 in grass, including 5,865 acres of 
sheep walks. The stock includes 1,424 horses, 2,078 
milch cows, 2,696 other cattle, 1,891 calves, 5,612 ewes, 
gimmers, and ewe hogs; 2,125 tups, wethers, and wether 
hogs; and 1,396 swine. The gross produce of Orkney 
in 1854 was 180 bushels of wheat, 5,727 of barley, 
238,728 of oats, 108,168 of here, 210 of beans, 132 of 
peas, 39,230 tons of turnips, and 6,532 tons of potatoes. 
The average produce of wheat per acre is 24 bushels, of 
barley 39, and of oats 36 bushels. Owing to the 
number of petty occupiers to be dealt with, almost 
equalling that of the tenantry of the county, and the | 
difficulty of finding the proper persons from whom to 
obtain information, the preparation of these returns has \ 
entailed a great amount of time and labour; but it is 
stated by Mr. Maxwell (who reports on the part of the 
Highland Society) that the public lies under a great 
obligationYiot only to the farmers officially engaged in 
conducting the inquiry, but to the many proprietors, 
agents, factors, poor inspectors, and others, through 
whose assistance the returns have been compiled. Every 
precaution has been taken to make them as accurate as 
possible. 
CULTURE OF HARDY HEATHS. 
The greenhouse species of Heaths are deservedly 
great favourites, but the hardy ones are neglected. This 
I cannot understand, for they are beautiful objects, and 
well deserving of cultivation. A correspondent having 
made some inquiries about them, I have determined 
to write a paper or two on their culture, in order to 
remind the readers of The Cottage Gardener that 
there is a tribe of plants which, if a suitable situation 
and proper soil can be given them, would give a new 
feature to dower-gardening, and add to the attraction, 
besides increasing the interest and pleasure a flower- 
garden is so well fitted to create and afford. 
We have Rose-gardens (and most beautiful they are 
this season); we have, as it is called, the Americau 
garden, amongst the plants of which we often see the 
hardy Heath used as a dwarf plant for the front of taller- 
growing species; but it is rare they are grown in beds 
by themselves, as they ought to be, in order to show the 
effect they are capable of giving. We have gardens, 
almost ail infinitum, on the bedding-out system, and 
why, let me ask, should we not have a Heath-garden ? 
Certainly not for want of varieties of colour; for we 
have from pure white to dark purple, with all inter¬ 
mediate colours (with one exception, yellow). Then, 
the season of bloom extends over several months, from 
March to September, and during the rest of the year the' 
plants are of the liveliest green, and require the least 
care of any plants we cultivate. Taking all these points 
into consideration, surely the hardy Heaths need no 
further recommendation from me. 
Situation. —The Heaths, I mean (of which I will give 
a descriptive list) are all very hardy, and the greater 
part of them will bear the most exposed situation. The 
Heath-garden, then, may be situated almost anywhere. 
I can imagine a retired spot, surrounded very appro¬ 
priately with rockwork, and further back with a belt of 
Spruce or Scotch Firs, the ground level, irregular, or 
sloping, but dry, and laid out in different sized beds, in 
any form the owner may fancy, with edgings of box (or 
even the small kind of Heath itself), and gravel walks 
between the beds; should turf be preferred, then a 
large bed iu the centre should be allotted to the taller 
kinds, with smaller beds of the dwarf kinds surrounding 
it. In such a spot, the Heaths would form an interesting 
episode to the more gay parterre near the mansion. It 
might form a connecting link with mountain or forest 
scenery in its wildest state, and there are many seats of 
our nobility where such a scene might be created with 
the happiest effect. 
A Villa garden might be so laid out as to afford space 
for a small Heathery ; but it should always be in a 
retired comer, and if connected with and in front of 
