350 THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION, September 1, 1857. 
you not dependent as a burden upon others, may enable 
you, like tlie good alderman whose name I have before 
mentioned, to have to give to him that needeth, and thus to 
* lend unto the Lord.’ ” 
QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 
TANK EOR HOT WATER. 
“ I am about erecting a tank 11 feet by 3 feet. Will you be 
kind enough to give me directions howto proceed? It will be 
raised 2 feet from the ground. I am told that, if bricked and 
cemented, the cement will crack with the heat; but I tbink 
it an erroneous view. I should prefer three-inch pipes to pass 
through if not too expensive, connecting the tank with other 
pipes in an adjoining greenhouse, 16 feet by 18 feet, 6 feet 
high in front, and 12 feet at back. What size boiler would 
be required, say of Thomson’s retort? I have one by me, 
12 inches by 14 inches and 3 inches deep, with flow-pipe rising 
from the middle of the top. How should it be set to obtain 
the greatest exposure to the fire ? ”—T. Wickham. 
[You will have noticed what has been said in previous 
articles, “ Pipes versus Tanks.” As you contemplate both 
we have nothing to say against your plan further than that 
many would be contented with one. We presume that your 
tank is to be always heated, and the heat to pass through 
it before it reaches the greenhouse. The circulation of 
the tank, therefore, must be perfect in itself, and stop-cocks 
must regulate the circulation from the pipes in the tank 
to those in the greenhouse. There is no danger of 
the tank cracking under ordinary treatment if supplied 
with water. About six inches are deep enough for anything. 
It matters not whether you raise it to that height or two feet 
from the ground. The greater the quantity of water the 
longer will it be heating. You would require at least eighty feet 
of three-inch pipe in your greenhouse, and the pipes to be 
on the same level as those in your tank, with an air-pipe at 
the farthest end. One of Thomson’s retorts would heat 
that for you. The one you have will be small enough, and 
to make the most of it the fire should be made to play 
under it and all over it, which any bricklayer that has ever 
set a washhouse copper will manage for you.] 
CUTTING DOWN CHIRONIA DECUSSATA.— 
SHIFTING MEYENIA ERECTA. 
“ Will you inform me whether Chironia decussata may be 
cut down after flowering, as it has grown long and straggling ? 
“ Meyenia erecta. —I have a nice little plant of this, but 
have been told that it is very apt to shed its leaves with 
every change of place, such as from a stove to a greenhouse, or 
vice versa. Is such the case, and could it be safely sent to a 
Flower Show ?”—W. 0. D. 
[You may safely cut back your Chironia , but let it get 
dryish first, and do not overburden it with water until the 
young shoots are coming freely. 
The Meyenia may be safely moved this month, but you 
should inure it to a natural atmosphere by degrees. Few 
plants will bear moving from a damp, hot stove all at once. 
They should be placed in a cool, airy position for some 'days 
before moving is contemplated.] 
GRAPES SETTING BADLY. 
“ In a span-roof vinery with one four-inch pipe, round which 
the water is occasionally turned at night, and always from 
March 1st, only, however, from five in the evening until 
eight or nine next morning, as it is borrowed from the 
bottom heat of an adjacent Melon bed, I have a few White 
hrontignan Vines trained rod fashion up every third rafter: 
these are ‘bad setters,’ though prolific enough. I am 
anxious, by amended culture, to remedy the evil if possible. 
At breaking time the house is kept tolerably moist, and the 
temperature is far removed from that of a cold vinery. On 
that account, too, I ventured upon a Muscat, and hoped that, 
by breaking them as late say as March 1st, they might be 
coaxed to set better than they have, at least this year, when, 
the water having been a good deal turned on all the winter, 
they began to move in FebruaTy. Any hints on the qiuestio 
vcxata of these Grapes, ‘bad setting,’ will oblige. The j 
borders are good—made after the most approved fashion 
with a combination of lime rubbish, hassocks, rubble, manure, i 
and not too deep : subsoil well drained. A Barbarossa Grape j 
has set magnificently, though a shy bearer.”—J. S. L. 
[You will no doubt succeed better the longer you are in 
starting your house, as thus you will have the natural sun 
heat to assist you. We have thus set Muscats and Fron- 
tignans freely in a late house, where little or no artificial heat ! 
was given until the Grapes were showing their fruit. You ‘ 
must try, however, to be able to put heat on in dull, cold ■ 
days, especially when the Vines are in bloom. At that i 
time they should seldom be below 65° at night, and 70° during j 
the day, though we have seen them set well at 60° at night, 
with a rise of from 10° to 15° during the day. As the Bar¬ 
barossa has set well we should imagine there could be no 
difficulty with either of the other two. With Frontignans 
we seldom use any expedient; but with the Muscats, and 
especially in cool houses, we draw a dry hand over the 
bunches when in bloom.] 
CULTURE OF THE TEA PLANT. 
“ I was induced, from a remark in Fortune’s work on his 
tour to the Tea plantations in China, to purchase a Tea 
plant last spring, and after my repotting from the nursery 
in the same kind of compost as my Camellias, and placing 
it with them in making their young wood, it made very 
little growth; but it has got so full of a dirty black, I suppose 
an insect, that I am at a loss to know how to manage it, and 
shall be much obliged to know what I can do to grow it 
clean and healthy. If all the Tea plants in China are 
infected like my plant our Tea would be very scarce and 
high in price. 
“ My Tiger Lilies came up this spring with fine strong 
heads, and I expected to have had good flowers, but they 
are very small. The two roots have been two years in the 
same spot. What can I do to improve them?”—M. F. 
[When we used to grow the Tea plants we found that 
Theaviridis was the hardier of the two, and did best in deep 
pots or planted out; and, with the exception of liking shade 
rather more, it thrived in the same treatment as the Camellia. 
The Thea Bohea is altogether a smaller, bushier, and rather 
more tender plant, and though not disliking a little shade, 
yet it ought to stand near the glass, for if not the leaves 
will become dirty and yellow. In your case the only remedy 
is to wash the leaves with soap water and a sponge, and then 
syringe over or dip the plant in clear water. Attend to the 
conditions mentioned above, see that the drainage is all 
right, and water as the plants need it. The Thea viridis 
used to stand in several places round London with little or 
no protection. We fear either that the soil in which your 
Lilies are growing is exhausted, or that they have suffered 
from want of water. We have known them do many years in 
the same pot if top dressed yearly and supplied with manure 
waterings. In your case the following treatment might be 
desirable:—As soon next season as you observe the bulbs 
moving, shake the earth from them, or nearly so, and repot 
into fresh soil, using rich fibry loam and peat, and placing 
the bulbs about the middle of the pot. This will permit of 
frequent earthings up as the stems grow, which will greatly 
strengthen them.] 
PEACHES NOT MATURING. — SUCCESSION OF 
STRAWBERRIES. 
“ Will you explain the cause of some Peach and Nectarine 
trees failing to mature their fruit ? They were planted 
eight years since inside the house; when planted, turfy loam 
and dung were added to the original soil, which was light 
and chalky, resting on chalk. The border is from fifteen 
inches to eighteen inches deep; drainage good. I cannot 
raise the border, on account of the hot-water pipes being close j 
on the surface of the border. The trees grew vigorously for j 
four or five years after planting, but are now on the decline. 
Some fruits shrivel on tbe trees; others are not good j 
flavoured; some do not ripen; the trees are not over cropped; j 
