THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, December 20, 1859. 
177 
adopt, and the one I would recommend, is to raise plants from 
seeds, as they are always much stronger, and the bloom-stalks 
much longer, and produce more blossom than do the plants 
raised from offsets. 
The seed may be sown as soon as it is ripe, or in autumn, in 
pots or boxes filled with light soil, which should be placed in a 
shady situation in the open air until bad weather sets in. They 
should then be placed in a cool frame, and every opportunity should 
be taken in fine weather to draw off the lights. Early in spring, 
when the plants begin to show the least symptoms of weakness, they 
should be removed to some warm, sheltered spot in the open air, 
and be protected from the sun and heavy rains. As soon as 
sufficiently large to handle they should be pricked out into a bed 
of prepared light soil, and shaded, &c., as before recommended; 
and, should the weather prove very hot, watering must not be 
neglected. 
As soon as the leaves turn yellow in autumn the plants should 
be transplanted in a kind of raised nursery-bed, which should 
be in the warmest place in the garden. They should be placed 
from six to eight inches apart either way, and should always be 
removed with great care; for if in transplanting the roots get 
bruised they emit a milky juice, which runs freely and weakens 
the plant. It is also requisite to cover the crowns of these 
plants at least with half an inch of soil, and likewise to protect 
the beds in severe very wet weather, as the roots, when young, 
are very liable to rot. 
The plants will require no further trouble, except occasionally 
watering and keeping them free frqm weeds, until the following 
autumn; and by this time many of them, if well cared for, will 
be strong enough to bloom the following summer. The strongest 
roots should then be selected for pot culture, and those likely to 
blossom planted where they are intended to flower, or kept in a 
cool frame through the winter and planted out in the spring; 
the latter is the plan I always adopt, it being much the safest. 
The remainder of the plants not likely to bloom I again 
plant into a nursery-bed, at a foot apart, where they remain 
until removed to the blooming quarters. This being the third 
season, the plants will be very strong, and will amply repay the 
cultivator for his trouble. 
It is advisable, if you wish to save seeds—which in order to 
keep up a succession of strong-blooming plants a little should be 
sown every autumn—to put a few plants of both the white and 
blue varieties in some very warm place where they can be pro¬ 
tected from the wet when in blossom. I have always found this 
seed preferable to the seed saved from the plants grown in pots 
which have been placed under glass. 
I may here remark, where the Campanula is planted in the 
open borders it is requisite to protect it in the winter by placing 
old tan, or such like material, over the crowns. — Edward 
Bennett, Osberton Sail. 
PROTECTING COLD FRAMES WITH LEAVES. 
CLOSE-GLAZING THE ENDS OP GLASS-HOUSES. 
I place a single piece of old carpet on the glass ; then a cover¬ 
ing of boards, mado to fit close and quite cover the top of the 
frame; and when the weather becomes severe I make a wall of 
leaves all round the frame, and as high as the top of it, about 
nine inches thick. This remains all the winter; and when 
necessary I cover the top of the frame also with leaves, the quan¬ 
tity used being regulated according to the weather; and for t he 
last four years I have found eight or nine inches thick of leaves 
on the top of boards and carpet to keep the glass quite free from 
frost. 
I uncover every morning as soon as safe; but on the very 
coldest, sunless days it is necessary to lay a mat on the glass, 
and cover up again early in the afternoon. If the glass gets 
frozen with a mat on it is better to cover up again till another 
morning. 
I place a heap of leaves as near the frames as convenient; and 
they are easily put on with a fork, and taken off again with a 
rake. I clear them all away from the frames in March, and do 
not find the wood more injured than if it had been fully exposed 
all winter. I use any old boards I can get; but shutters made 
of white deal, and painted, would be light, cheap, and durable, 
with proper care. 
In the frames I keep Cinerarias till the pots they are to bloom 
in are filled with roots; bedding Calceolarias, and all kinds of 
bedding plants that will bear a little confinement and damp. 
I also will say a few words about the glazing of the east and 
west ends of plant-houses. I have under my care two houses 
used exclusively for plants—one has the back and end walls of 
brick, and the back roof is slated. The other is a lean-to, and, 
except the back wall, is chiefly composed of wood and glass. 
The former house is heated by a flue, and the latter by hot water 
in four-inch pipes. Both answer very well; but in severe frost, 
when there is a strong north-east or north-west wind, which is 
not uncommon, so much cold air gets into the last-named 
house through the laps that it is almost impossible to keep 
it at a temperature of 40° by night. I am of opinion that 
if the east and west ends were glazed air-proof, like dwelling- 
house windows, and Hartley’s rough plate glass one-eighth of an 
inch thick were used, the two evils of a cold house and a great 
fire would be in a great measure prevented, as I find no incon¬ 
venience except darkness from the end walls of the other house; 
and it is easily kept at a temperature of 40° to 45° on the coldest 
nights. If the ends were made air-proof provision might be 
made for ventilation by windows on hinges, and made to fit well. 
Of coimse the cost would be considerably more; but less fuel 
would be required, and accidental breaking would be very little. 
The house with ends of brick and roof of slate has been under 
my care more than ten years ; the other was built in 1851. They 
are nearly equal in size,—viz., 27 feet by 14 feet, and 30 feet by 
15 feet.— Thomas Oxley, Spondon, near Derby. 
MANURES IN A. SMALL COMPASS. 
As an appendix to the “ House and Town Sewage,” we will 
give a few details re ative to other manures which are very avail¬ 
able, being small in bulk and readily obtained. 
Liquid Manure. —Liquid manure is the most advantageous 
form in which fertilisers can be applied by the gardener to his 
crops. It is the most economical, most prompt, and most effi¬ 
cient mode. The manure is presented to the roots in one of the 
only forms in which the roots can imbibe food, and the manure is 
spread regularly through the texture of the soil. If, instead of 
digging in stable manure, each crop were watered occasionally with 
liquid manure, the produce would be finer and more abundant. 
“ I have often employed with decided effect, in my own garden, 
for Yine, Peach, and standard Apple trees, liquid manure, pre¬ 
pared either by mixing one part by weight of cowdung with four 
parts of water, or the collected drainage of the stable and cow¬ 
house. It has been found advantageous to plants cultivated in 
stoves to apply even a liquid manure, composed of six quarts of 
soot to a hogshead of water; and, although this is a very un¬ 
chemical mixture, yet it has been found by Mr. Robertson to be 
peculiarly grateful and nourishing to Pines, causing them to 
assume an unusually deep, healthy green ; and, for stored Mul¬ 
berry, Yine, Peach, and other plants, the late Mr. Knight, of 
Downton, employed a liquid manure, composed of one part of 
the dung of domestic poultry and four to ten parts of wafer, 
with the most excellent result.”— C. Johnson on Fertilisers. 
Git ano Liquid Manure. — Ten gallons of water will readily 
dissolve, or keep suspended in a state of minute division, about 
50 lbs. weight of guano. When applied to plants not more than 
five ounces should be added to that quantity of water. If it is 
made stronger, it injures or kills the plants to which it is applied. 
Sheep’s-dung, if employed for making liquid manure, should 
be a peck to thirty gallons. 
When cowdung is used, boiling water should be first poured 
upon it, as it is apt to be full of destructive larvae. 
Sulphate of ammonia , and any other salt of ammonia, must not 
be used more than a quarter of an ounce to each gallon. 
The rule applicable to all these liquid manures is— Give it 
wealc and often. 
Rape-cake. —We have given an analysis of this refuse of 
Rape-seed at p. 158, from which it is apparent that, though in¬ 
ferior in fertilising constituents to guano and night soil, yet it 
is very valuable as a manure. It is most efficacious on clayey 
soils, and in moist seasons. It should be reduced to a fine powder 
and sown thinly in the drills with the seed. We have found it 
very valuable when so applied with Turnips, Peas, and all flower- 
seeds. 
Cabbages are particularly benefited by having their roots 
dipped into a thin paste, made by mixing powdered Bape-cake 
with water at the time of inserting the plants by the dibble. 
Rape-cake powder is extremely disliked by wireworms, and 
other insect-vermin which prey upon the roots of plants. It 
repulses these marauders if mixed with the soil about the roots. 
