J uly 24. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
299 
Vines are flowering, we take them all out. I remember the 
pleasure with which I saw these little rills first commence 
to ilow; whilst the stove, warming a constantly evaporating 
surface of eighteen square feet, caused an imperceptible 
vapour to arise, in some degree resembling “the distilling 
as the dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb.” 
Whilst the constancy of the action reminds me of those 
lines supposed to be addressed to the Cottager by his Clock : 
“ For thee I labour day and night, 
Labour for thee with all ray might; 
A new example take from me, 
And serve thy God, as I serve thee.” 
We are, I believe, indebted to a Scotch judge for this 
simple contrivance, and the gardening world is not aware 
how much it owes him. 
In the volumes that have been written about Polmaise, this 
principle has been too much lost sight of. Most gardeners, 
on seeing my trough and carpet, consider them a clumsy 
addition to a nasty Arnott stove. I attribute to them much 
of the luxuriance of my Vines, and the profusion of those 
crystal gems which every Vino - grower rejoices to see 
exuding from his young wood. 
The tan-pit, in the middle of the house, acts'in the same 
manner; but from the small space that we have (the house, 
as I mentioned, being eighteen feet by fifteen feet) we can¬ 
not afford to leave it unoccupied, as is generally recom¬ 
mended, and as is practised with great success by Mr. Nash, 
at Bishop Stortford. There I saw fourteen Black Hambro’s 
in one house, and fourteen Muscats in another, all in full 
luxuriance, each Vine bearing its large bunch of Grapes, 
regularly from end to end, on alternate sides of the rafter, 
like a good Scotch Turnip field, which I tell our farmers, 
who are fast approaching to the same perfection, has every 
Turnip in its right place, and never two where there ought 
to be one. My tan-pit is at present occupied cliicdy by 
Azaleas, which are perfecting their buds; a few little Orange- 
trees, which my daughters have grown and grafted with their 
own hands; some Begonias ; aFranciscea; a Stephanotus, 
which my present gardener raised from seed, and which 
will, I hope, soon show whether it is a variety; and a Garde¬ 
nia radicans now perfuming the house. Around it, and on 
shelves, stand an Oleander, the earlier plant being now in 
full flower, and enjoying a cooler atmosphere; an Ipomea 
Learii; a few Camellias ; some Fuchsias of good sorts, per¬ 
fecting their wood before flowering; and other plants that 
I cannot now enumerate. But I must tell you that two 
Scarlet Geraniums (Brighton Scarlet and Huntsman ) are 
trained up the back-wall, planted in the earth. 
Before I expected to have a garden of my own, I had 
admired Geraniums so trained at Dropmore, and determined, 
if I ever had a hothouse, to devote part of my back-wall to 
this purpose. They furnish us with their brilliant addition 
to the nosegay from one Christmas to the next. At present 
they are cut in, as the same flower so much abounds in the 
beds; but when in full bloom, they are a striking ornament 
to the back-wall. Having been at Dropmore three or four 
years ago, after an absence of some thirty years, I asked for 
their Geraniums, or whether they had given up growing 
them in that manner, as I could not find them. Mr. Frost, 
the very careful gardener, answered, that he had had an 
accident with his iluos, and had lost them, but should soon 
renew them. I thought my Arnott stove had never played 
me that trick. A visit to Dropmore will well repay a 
Londoner. By the Great Western to Slough, where he can 
visit the nursery of that prince of flower gardeners of the 
present day, Mr. Turner, as famous for the variety of his 
show plants as for their excellence; then proceed to the 
grounds as Dropmore, which combine with beauty of 
situation some of the finest ornamental trees of their sorts 
that are to be found in England, especially the Araucaria 
and Deodars. The seed from which the latter are grown, 
and also the large plants at Chiswick, Kew, &c., were brought 
by my brother from the Himalayas, in 1831, by the route of 
the Cape of Good Hope. He kept the seed in his cabin in a 
tin case, and occasionally exposed it to the sun on a fine day. 
Thus was this noble tree first introduced into England. 
The Queen’s admirable garden, at Frogmore, a credit to 
royalty and Mr. Ingram, might finish a very enjoyable day. 
But to return to my Vines. After their being covered 
down both in the border and house, I was glad to find, at 
pruning time, that there was more wood on which to 
operate, and that of a better quality. In the ensuing spring a 
few bunches began to appear. These ripened pretty well, 
and again the wood was stronger and better. Last year, the 
consulting gardener came to look at them. He was surprised 
at the progress that had been made, and the luxuriance of 
some young Vines that he had given me. He is one of 
those rare gardeners, who, when anything goes wrong, 
attributes the blame to himself; and to whom it is both a 
profit and a pleasure to give a good plant, or cutting ; for he 
is sure to take care of it, and replace it if anything goes 
wrong with one’s own. 
IVe had, subsequently, some shanking, but the bunches of 
tlie Muscat were large, and brought to maturity. The 
Black Hambro’s were of a fair size, and a good colour. 
This year, under my new gardener’s care, they again look 
better: shanking has disappeared. He has kept up more 
heat, and given much less air than I did ; and the summer, 
hitherto, has been much drier than last year. Before he 
came, we had a little stable-manure upon the border, not 
enough to create fermentation, but I thought that it would 
bring the roots of the vines a little nearer to the tempera¬ 
ture of the house this very cold spring. These particulars 
are mentioned in case they should throw any light on the 
difficult subject of shanking. 
I have measured the leading shoot of a young Vine at three 
feet from the old wood: its girth is one-and-a-half inches, and 
there are eight eyes in that length. The wood is round, 
and it is now turning brown. I hope that, by keeping the 
young Vines more cut back at first, we may make the lower 
part of the house more productive. I have trained a hori¬ 
zontal branch from one of the old Vines along the front, 
and this is bearing a few bunches. Next year I shall bo 
better able to judge how far the want of heat in front can 
be overcome; or, perhaps, I may supply the house by 
carrying the flue of a neighbouring pit along the front wall. 
Our large church is comfortably heated by a full-sized 
Walker’s Stove, which is nearly on the same principle as 
Arnott’s ; and, let me mention, to Dr. Arnott’s honour, that 
his invention was not protected by a patent, but was at once 
thrown open to the public as a free gift. 
If these letters should show any of your readers how the 
great enjoyment of a Greenhouse can be obtained at a 
moderate certain cost, and with little trouble; or should 
they induce more experimental gardeners to explain how 
similar advantages can be obtained in an easier or simpler 
manner, it will afford much satisfaction to your obedient 
servant,—A. L. M., near Lincoln. 
P.S.—It may be interesting to some of your readers to hear, 
that at the Lincoln Flower Show, held on the 18th of July, 
our Black Hambro’ Grapes gained a prize, being only beaten 
by the gardener that I had consulted as to the management 
of my Vines. 
Errors at Page 243.—Third paragraph, “ A sheet- 
iron pipe without footing ,” should be, without “ luting." I 
supposed, from having seen it so used, that luting was the 
technical word for making the joints of a pipe quite tight. 
My pieces of pipe are only slipped over each other. 
Same paragraph, “ as the dust from containing the 
ashes,” should be, “ as the dust pan containing,” &c. 
The 1st Objection. “ I think of adopting should be, 
“ adapting .” 
THE HOUSEHOLD. 
Under this head we shall, from time to time, furnish our 
readers with information on such matters as may conduce 
to the comforts and pleasures of home ; and as “home” is a 
word dear to every heart, a subject in which we have all a 
common interest, we shall be glad to be supplied with the 
experience of our friends, when they think that by doing so 
they can contribute something, however little, towards the 
pleasures of the homes of others. This being the season 
when Strawberries are in perfection, and generally plentiful, 
we have much pleasure in giving the following receipts for 
using that agreeable fruit. 
Strawberry Jam. —Select small, well-ripened and well- 
coloured fruit, and to each pound of fruit add tliree-quarters- 
of-a-pound of loaf-sugar bruised. Put them into a copper 
