192 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 1, 1861. 
would, in my opinion, be more agreeable than a square piece of 
ground covered with a ridge-and-furrow roof. A single span- 
roofed house 30 feet wide might, therefore, be 1000 feet long, if 
thought necessary, for a promenade-house. And when one can 
confidently state that a house 24 feet wide and 1000 feet long 
can be built for £1500, and one of the same length and 30 feet 
wide for a small advance on that sum, one feels surprise that 
such houses arc not attached to hotels in some of our health¬ 
seeking towns in the west and south of England; they will ere 
long be mentioned in the “taking” advertisement of such places, 
and if properly managed will conduce largely to the recovery and 
comfort of those not blessed with health, and who are obliged to 
leave their homes for change of air.— Thos. Rivers. 
HEATING A PEOPAGATING-HOUSE. 
I wish to put up a small propagating-house about 12 feet 
by 7 feet. Will an aspect due east do, which I have chosen 
because I can heat it from the greenhouse boiler? Which is 
best to have the pit, against the front or back wall ? and which 
do you prefer, a wooden or brick tank, both lined with cement ? 
I thought to let the flow pass through the tank and return by 
a three-inch pipe through the house for top heat. Will a tap 
on the flow completely shut off heat ? IIow high should the 
pit be above covering of the tank ?— Dorset Subscriber. 
[If you have only one bed in your house it will matter litt'e 
whether you have it at the front or the back ; only at the back 
you will require to be more careful with shading in the early 
morning, as it faces the east: therefore, on this account for 
mere propagating, we would prefer the bed being in the front. 
You, like another correspondent to-day, give us no account of the 
height of your house back or front, though that is even more im¬ 
portant than the mere length and width ; but this we can say, for a 
common pit without being able to get into the house comfortably 
at all, the means of heating will not suffice, if you resolve to 
begin propagating before April and May. For early work—say 
February, you would need double the pipes you propose, and in 
that case it would be as w r ell to have the means of giving top 
and bottom heat independently of each other. If economy is 
your object, you could do this either without a tank or without 
pipes for bottom heat after they entered the tank by modes 
frequently referred to. We have no objection to the pipes 
passing through the tank, however, except on the score of expense. 
A tank divided into two, as a flow' and return, would just be 
as effective ; and if the pipes go through a tank the water will 
be no warmer than the pipes make it, and will be little better as 
a reservoir than nine inches of open rubble about and above the 
pipes. We have no preference for wood versus brick tanks, only 
we think wooden ones if well made are less liable to break, and if 
well hammered at the corners and joints, and a little red lead 
put there afterwards inside, and no paint given outside or 
inside, there is no end to their lasting, if made of red deal well 
seasoned, and well supplied with water afterwards. Such a 
tank would need no cementing or any thing else inside, and 
from three inches and a half to four inches deep would be 
enough for your purpose. You would require a framework all 
round it from six to nine inches or more deep according to the 
depth of the pots you meant to put over it, and that might be 
in sweet tan or pure sand. Another advantage of wood versus 
bricks would be, that by means of stout bearers you could place 
your tank at the required height at once. 
Of course, a brick tank would require to be carefully cemented, 
and we have not a word to say against those who like them. 
How, then, would you manage such a house? Well, looking 
to convenience, we would have a pathway 26 inches or 28 inches 
wide down the middle, and if we had much propagating to do we 
would have a bed on each side from 35 inches to 36 inches wide 
each, and rounding at the further end. We would take two 
three-inch pipes round underneath that bed," if we wished to 
propagate in January and February, and one four-inch pipe if 
we commenced in April. We would also have two three-inch 
pipes for top heat. If we wished that place to grow a few 
young plants as well as to propagate, then we would have the 
propagatmg-bed in front, and a bed for setting fresh-potted 
plants in behind, and in that case the bottom heat would be 
confined to the front bed ; so that the water, either in tank or 
pipes, would just go round, and the top heat would do the same. 
Under such an arrangement if the place was always to be used, 
the two pipes for top heat might proceed at once from the boiler 
and return beneath ; but for the small extra expense, it is best 
to have top and bottom independent of each other. Perhaps 
the simplest plan of all would be to have two beds as proposed, 
take two four-inch pipes as much as possible round the house 
underneath the two beds, surround the pipes with open 
clinkers, &c., and have openings with slides in the pathway-wall, 
by closing or opening which you could let out heat into the 
atmosphere at pleasure.} 
THE TEMPEEATUEE DUEING THE NIGHT 
OF DECEMBEE 24th. 
I HEREWITH enclose a copy of the late severe frost, taken 
hourly bv myself on the 24th and 25th of this month, and shall 
be glad "to hear of the extremes from other quarters.—J OHN 
Perkins, the Gardens , Thornham Rail, Rye. 
Dec. 24th. 
Therm. 
Deg. of Frost 
Dec. 25th. 
Therm. 
Deg. of Frost 
2 P.M. ... 
26 
6 
1 A.M. . 
. l 
33 
3 . 
24 
8 
2 .... 
. 4 
36 
4 . 
18 
14 
3 .... 
„ 6 
38 
5 . 
17 
15 
4 .... 
. 6 
3Ps 
6 . 
16 
16 
5 .... 
.. 5 
?07 
7 . 
8 
24 
G .... 
. 64 . 
534. 
8 . 
6 
26 
7 .... 
. 4 
36 
9 . 
6 
26 
8 .... 
. 54 . 
374 
10 . 
5 
27 
9 .... 
. 4 above zero 28 
11 . 
3 
29 
10 .... 
. 15 
17 
12 . 
1 below zero S3 
CULTUBE OF NYMPHiEA CCEEULEA AND 
EUBEA. 
“Please to give a few lines in your next Number on the 
cultivation of these in tanks, situated in vineries and stoves.”— 
A. Z. 
I do not recollect seeing rubra, which is the tenderest of the 
two, do much good out of doors ; but I recollect seeing ccerulea 
blooming in a common water-reservoir once in Scotland. Those 
roots that were sunk deep survived during the winter, but came 
very weak and miserable-looking the following season. Those 
left within nine inches of the surface of the water all perished. 
These were turned out in the small pans in which they were 
growiug in a cool stove in the middle of June. One, if not 
both, of these have bloomed out of doors in summer in the south 
of England; and I understand that, owing to the mildness of 
the winter, they frequently pass the cold months uninjured, 
though not placed particularly deep in the water. These, and 
many other beautiful tender water plants, have bloomed in 
summer and autumu at Messrs. Weeks’ establishment in a large 
reservoir out of doors, but the water heated by pipes from a 
boiler passing through it. In general circumstances, however, 
they do far best in houses regularly heated ; and as they require 
the brightest of our weather to open their blooms nicely and 
diffuse their perfume, they will generally come strongest when 
allowed to rest in the dark months, and started into growth iu 
March or April. 
Under such circumstances we will make no allowance for 
risks. At the rest period a common vinery also at rest would 
be too cold for them. The roots, therefore, should be removed 
to a warmer place, taking the vessels in which they grow with them. 
The temperature when at rest should seldom be below 50°. The 
soil in the pans should not be dry, but there will be no necessity 
for water standing over it. The roots will keep nicely in a 
dryish mud, and may thus remain in any inconspicuous place, 
warm enough, from November, if beginning to fade, until March. 
The temperature, as already stated, should not be often below 
50°, nor much above 55° with fire heat. 
When it is desirable to start these into growth— say in March, 
turn the roots or tubers out of the soil, separate and divide them 
according to their size, placing from three to five good roots in 
a vessel—say fifteen or eighteen inches in diameter or square, and 
some seven or eight or more inches deep. Pack the roots, and 
cover them with rich loamy soil, with some pieces of charcoal, 
which will help to keep the water sweet. These vessels may be set 
to any depth in the tank, previously supplied with water to about 
75°, and allowed to heat gradually 10° more. The vessels may 
have a covering of water at first of two or three inches deep, and 
as the plants grow they should be sunk a few inches deeper. 
If deemed more convenient a very little water over the soil 
I would do at first. 
