S53 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, January 20 1861. 
I 
best, and much more esteemed than states cut from laths, v hich 
are always so staring: indeed, a painted stake made by a 
carpenter, in our eyes does not look so nice as one of these young 
shoots, well dried with the bark on as firm as may be. When 
cut green in summer they are not half so good. Every little twig 
from prunings, such as Currants, if a foot long or so is saved, 
and so of other kinds of prunings. When these are merely 
pointed with two draws of the knife, and put in bundles and 
nicely dried in a shed, how useful they come in in summer when 
time is so valuable. Stems from Euchsia stools make capital 
little slender sticks after they are frosted. That frosting must 
take place or the shoots be extra well dried, or when placed in a 
pot they will grow like a fresh Willow shoot. 
The cold-pils were examined on Monday, but let alone. To¬ 
day (Tuesday, January 22nd), most of the covering has been 
taken off; but enough left to keep out the light, and a little air 
given. Some Geraniums are injured, but not many; and the 
Calceolarias have a black leaf or two on them, but will take little 
or no harm. Some put in late after the first frost, just beginning 
to root, are as fresh as possible. They were growing little, and, 
therefore, felt the cold and confinement less. All this just 
proves what our friend Mr. Deaton so ably advocates. Keep 
•ucli things as stunted and as dry as possible to be safe in such 
places, and the better they will do. If mild and dull to-morrow 
we shall clean the damped leaves off; if bright sun we shall 
delay a little. 
W e have to day taken the litter from the roof of the conservatory, 
and little signs of the frost will be seen there. A few leaves of 
climbers close to the roof are rather brown, but the wood is all 
safe. Were it not approaching the personal, it would be as good 
as a play to tell the outs and ins about getting a boiler, and the 
some half-dozen feet of piping to connect it with the old pipes. 
I merely mention it as a warning in cases of great emergency. 
j.Iad I been in London, with the aid of a smith I could have 
had all I wanted done in the days I had to wait weeks for. 
However, “ all’s well that ends well.” Without pulling a mass of 
brickwork about, I could not replace, except by a saddle-back, 
and thanks to that being well set, it does heat nicely and no 
mis lake. Large Pelargoniums, Cinerarias, and Chinese Primulas, 
Roses, and Deutzias, have been brought into the conservat ory to 
m,.ke room elsewhere. A Pcach-liouse crammed with bidding 
pi;..its has been nearly cleared to enable it to be brought on, 
the plants being brought into the late vinery standing thick in 
boxes. A number of these boxes, containing Alma and Flower 
of the Day, have had the plants transferred singly to small 
60-pots, and these have been put into a vinery, wdiere the heat 
averages 50°, wdiere they will remain until they make nice roots, 
and make room for something there that needs more heat. Straw¬ 
berries are in the same place close to the glass. The Yeibenas, 
transferred to 48-pots out of 60-pots, have grown so vigorously 
since that means must be had for topping them for cuttings, as 
I always prefer these to the spring-struck. 
A Eig-pit has been thoroughly cleaned, and the trees washed 
with soap and water in case a scale or anything else should 
escape, care being taken not to rub the young shoots too hard 
where the embryo fruit can be seen, though not larger than 
small pin-heads. This house will not be pruned until the buds 
break ; but as frost will be excluded and a little heat ere long given, 
many things may be kept and forwarded before the Fig foliage 
darkens the pit too much. When the woodwork partly painted 
is dry, another house may be emptied, that that likewise may be 
thoroughly cleaned. Dwarf Kidney Beans have been potted, and 
others sown in boxes in a pit averaging from 55° to 60°. Sea- 
kale and Rhubarb have been good, but we must economise a little 
until we take some more roots up. The Sea-kale was covered 
with a couple of inches of litter out of doors, but even with that 
there is no getting into the ground. Mushroom-beds have been 
cleaned by sweeping over with a hair broom. One spawned a 
fortnight ago has been earthed up with an inch and half of stiff 
loam, kneaded down well, beaten firm, and then sprinkled 
with water, and a clean spade drawn firmly over it; so that 
the surface is first as smooth, and, ere long, as firm as a barn 
floor. Beat down another bed, consisting of tree leaves below 
and some six inches of longish straw and horse-droppings shove. 
We prefer horse-droppings, but as I have only the dung of four 
horses to meet all requirements, I must be content with making 
the most of them. As Mushrooms are pretty well a daily affair, 
1 make only small beds at a time, and in general these rre not 
more than from ten to fifteen inches deep. They do net bear 
very long, but by the above mode we generally have a bed 
coming in before the other goes off. My Mushroom-house is a 
shed with a pathway down the middle, and a hot-water pipe 
below it, and two beds on each side, one on the ground, and one 
in the shelf form. In one of the ground departments we grow 
most of our early Sea-kale, Rhubarb, blanched Turnip tops, Ac. 
Asparagus this season is not so fine and productive as usual, 
which I attribute partly to the wet, dull, cold summer preventing 
the buds being well matured. Potatoes in pots have been 
earthed up, and a score more pots filled. These are very useful* 
When the tubers are about ready, they will be sure to be at the 
sides of the pot; so that by turning the ball of earth out care- 
fully, you can prick out the forward tubers, and put the pot over 
the ball again without injuring the smaller ones.—R. F. 
KIDD’S NEW SYSTEM OF HEATING AND 
PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS. 
I have now permission to say that the new system of 
heating by.hot air has been invented by Mr. Kidd, for 
the Marquis of Breadalbane, at the Stud House, Hamp¬ 
ton Court. To keep it separate from Polmaise we must 
give it some name ; and as Mr. Kidd’s own name carries 
as much force and influence in anything relating to 
sound, practical gardening as any name on our list, it is 
the most telling name that I can think of. Mr. Kidd is 
favourably known to most readers of The Cottage Gab- 
deneh as the author of the plan for striking cuttings in 
water—that is,. cuttings of Yerbena and other soft- 
wooded plants in an inch of water, or less depth, and 
half an inch of sand at the bottom of the water. But, 
of course, if the propagating-pan is so much deeper, more 
sand or more depth of sand may rest at the bottom, which 
is merely to steady the cuttings, and to keep them from 
tumbling about; and, of course, also, if the saucer is 
too shallow to admit of the proper bottom of sand, the 
cuttings will root just as well in the w ater itself. Of all 
the simple modes of propagation, this in water seems 
the cleanest cut, and the fairest for the fair, and for all 
who wish their cuttings to do fairly with the smallest 
trouble to themselves or those about them. 
But the Kiddean system of heating is much more 
simple and less hard to learn than that of striking cut¬ 
tings in tea things, and, probably, it will turn out In the 
end to be the next best step to strike cuttings with after 
the Waltonian Case. Mr. Kidd writes thus :— 
“I Q your article on my system of heating in The 
Cottage Gaedeneb, you have left nothing for me to add, 
farther than to state that it is quite perfect with me, and 
is so simple that a child might be taught in five minutes 
to understand it. It will require, however, a practical 
head to set it going. I see no bar or any difficulty in 
heating any kind of structure by this system, from the 
smallest pit or greenhouse up to those of the largest size, 
also sitting-rooms and all other apartments throughout a 
country or town residence, and down to the cottages of 
the poor. Indeed, every fireplace which is now in use 
for domestic purposes might be made, by this simple 
plan, to do four times the amount by heated air that it is 
capable of doing by radiation. So you see it is as appli¬ 
cable for the town as it is for the country. But instead of 
writing an article on it as you desired for The Cottage 
Gakdeneb, and more particularly as you have hit the mark 
yourself so nearly, all that is left for me to do is merely 
to answer any inquiries respecting it which may appear 
in your pages, which I shall be happy to do ; but really I 
can foresee no great cause for inquiries. However, you 
may use this letter as you think best.” 
Half the people in this world do really believe as firmly 
as they do the Bible, that when you come to a lord’s 
house or castle, or to that of a duke or marquis, you 
must necessarily see more extravagance and less economy 
than in the dwellings of those who have to contrive all 
means for making both ends meet. Such people will be 
apt to take that view of this mode of heating without 
giving it a thought, because it has been first done for a 
