20 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, October 9, 1860. 
every rear, but so as to secure the ripening of the bulbs : we will 
shortly state how this may be done, and yet not interfere with a 
preparation of the beds for bedding plants. In favourable- 
seasons the beds of summer things will keep good until the end 
of October, then the beds are to be cleared; and if the bulbs are 
to have justice, the ground ought to be dug, aerated, and suitably 
prepared. Some bulbs would suffer from being out of the 
ground so long; therefore, secure a small space behind a fence 
or any such place, and plant all the bulbs rather thickly in sandy 
leaf mould on a hard bottom; from this they may be removed 
in October, November, and onwards, and planted in nicely 
prepared soil on a quiet, dull day. So much for the autumn pre¬ 
paration so as to give justice at planting-time to the bulbs. 
Such early-blooming things as Snowdrops, Crocus, Scillas, and 
the earliest Tulips, will have pretty well ripened their buds by 
the beginning of May, and, therefore, may be carefully lifted and 
placed in the reserve garden, and watered a little before the leaves 
quite decay. Even the early Tulips, all the later and double 
kinds, and the best of the Hyacinths and Narcissus would 
receive more justice if they were planted in pots early in autumn, 
and plunged in pots when the beds were ready for them ; and 
then, as soon as the flowering was over, the pots could all be taken 
up and plunged again in the reserved ground until the foliage 
decayed; and the beds could thus be properly forked and 
aerated and prepared for the bedding plants. The pots, thus 
once obtained, would last with ordinary care for many years, and 
the cultivator would have the satisfaction of feeling that he did 
everything he could do to promote the healthy growth alike o 
bulbs and bedding plants. Unless in late summers, Hyacinths 
suffer but little when lifted carefully out of the ground, and 
planted and watered, and, if required, shaded afterwards; bu 
the labour and care would be lessened if the bulbs were in pots 
Tulips need this plotting much (if they must be moved when 
done flowering, to give justice to the bedding plants), as they 
suffer much for the future if a check is giveii to the foliage before 
it begins to decay naturally.— ( Carter's Gardener's Vade 
.Mecum.) 
MELONS CRACKING-. 
ThESE Melons are in a two-light frame on a dung-bed, wdth 
no heat excepting from a lining at the back. They are about 
the size of a hen’s egg. They have been watered carefully.—Q. 
[The careful watering should have bpen next thing to no 
watering at all in such weather as we have had this autumn 
Over-much moisture and want of sun are the chief causes of 
cracking. Give more air, little or no water, and place a lining 
of sweet, hot dung round the frame.] 
MAKING A GREENHOUSE OYER A KITCHEN, 
' ' 1 V / " 1.1 , 
AND HEATING IT AND A WORKSHOP FROM THE 
KITCHEN FIRE. 
“ Having been a subscriber to The Cottage Gardener ever 
since the commencement, I venture to solicit your aid. Being 
about making alterations in my dwelling-house, can I heat a 
greenhouse and workshop from the kitchen fire ? If so, how to 
do it in the most economical way ? I require this because I am 
only a shoemaker, and amateur florist during my own spare time 
for pleasure and not pi-ofit. The kitchen at present is a lean-to, 
with slated roof. Now, I propose making a span-roof of glass 
and glass ends, just to exclude the frost in the winter, to grow a 
few plants. The greenhouse to be 25 feet long by 9 feet wide ; 
the shop 17 feet long by 10 feet wide; height of the kitchen 
6 feet 10 inches. The greenhouse to be over the kitchen, and the 
workshop over the brewhouse and passage. 1 have no more 
space, being bounded by the street on one side, and the church¬ 
yard on the other, so it is compulsion, not choice, to make it as 
proposed. 
“ The building is all up. I am not going to build it so, only to 
put a glass roof over the kitchen instead of the lean-to roof of 
slates. What should the floor be made of to prevent the water 
from going through into the kitchen, there being no floor at 
present, only lath and plastered to the joist ?”—W. P. H. 
I feet an extra pleasure in attempting even to assist all such 
inquirers as “ W. P. H.” “ Only a shoemaker” indeed! Why, 
some of the greatest men our country can reckon have been 
“ men of the last and the leather.” A cobbler it was—he owned 
he was a very indifferent shoemaker—that helped to give the 
first grand impetus for the true civilisation of India. He might 
have taken some sage people’s advice and “ stuck to his last,’* 
and remained an indifferent cobbler to the end of his days. He 
felt he had other work to do, and he did it, and work for which 
future generations will have reason to be thankful. The old 
proverb, however, of “ sticking to our last,”—in other words, 
holding fast to the occupation we have chosen as the means of 
livelihood, is a proverb of wisdom in general circumstances. All 
working is noble and honourable if rightly directed, and rightly- 
conducted. It matters not whether the working be with the 
hands, the feet, the head, or, as is generally the case, all com¬ 
bined. Working is essential to our healthy existence. 
Here, as in many other cases, it is wise to avoid extremes. 
Some so idolise work, and work chiefly in one track, that they 
have no time or inclination for thinking of anything else. 
Work to them is not only toil, but pleasure—the only pleasure 
they are capable of realising. They generally do excel in their 
one particular department; but for want of mental expansion 
they see and feel nothing of the beauty and magnificence so 
lavishly spread out around them. A goodly number of our 
young people are fast going to the opposite extreme. They are 
always dunning in your ears, that “All work and no play make 
Jack a dull boy,” anything but workable. On pleasure trips and 
other amusements they spend too freely what ought prudently to 
be laid by as a store for the day of affliction or reverses in trade, 
and, what is worse, are apt to get a sort of an idea in their heads 
that they would be so happy without the working. They get 
into the habit of spending so freely on pleasure and play, that 
when a crisis in commerce comes, there is nothing but a hubba- 
baloo of want and misery. The avoiding of either extreme will 
be found to be the path of safety and of happiness. Our mental 
faculties so diversified were never intended to be all fixed in one 
direction. Even change of occupation gives a great amount of 
enjoyment. Our best working men make that change often not 
merely a source of pleasure but of profit, without taking into 
account the benefits obtained even for their bodily health. A 
neighbouring shoemaker is not more distinguished for the good¬ 
ness of his articles and his plodding industry than he is for his 
success in gardening. Not a moment at “ early morn or dewy eve” 
is lost; and he has often stated that but for these runnings and 
sweatings in his garden, he could never have managed to do so 
much with his last, to which he sticks, without letting the fasf t 
as in the case of the all-work people, stick to him. 
Scores of all classes, from learned clergymen downwards, and 
especially those of sedentary occupations, and confined to large 
manufactories, have affirmed the same fact, and declared the 
garden had been the best medicine and physician to them. All 
conversant with horticultural and floral shows in the country, 
know well that the most successful competitors are generally 
weavers and shoemakers. Need I add, therefore, that I cor¬ 
dially wish success to our correspondent in his contemplated 
undertaking, and hope that that success may lead many to imitate 
his example ? 
I think I clearly understand the positions referred to. The 
greater part of the kitchen stretches westward beyond the main 
house, being bounded on the south by the next neighbouring 
house, and on the north by an open yard. Eastward of the 
kitchen is the lobby of the house. Over this kitchen and part 
of the lobby the greenhouse is to be made. Eastward of the 
open yard, and north of the lobby the brewhouse is placed, so 
that the south walk of the brewhouse runs in a line with the 
north wall of the kitchen. 
Lobby. 
Brewhouse. 
1 - 1 
Kitchen. 
West. 
Place an envelope on the right-hand side of your table, and 
another on the left-hand side, near to the first, but so that the 
farthest side of the second shall be in a line with the nearest 
side of the first, and you will see the position of the kitchen and 
brewhouse, and the greenhouse and workshop respectively. The 
fireplace in the kitchen I presume to be in the west end—that is, 
the farthest end from the workshop. Much of the interest and 
pleasure ot the contemplated greenhouse will arise from an easy 
