THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 13, i860. 
367 
would introduce Gourds but sparingly; but they might be grown 
between the other plants for a season or two if you confined 
then* roots to big pots, otherwise their gross feeding would take 
all the virtue from the soil of plants you wish to be permanent. 
The paper referred to will give you all the points of culture ; and 
from the tradesman you could get a few of the most useful, and 
also some of the most showy—most nurserymen and seedsmen 
have a considerable variety. You do not say how long your 
fence is, nor what is its aspect; we will, therefore, mention a few 
that may be likely to suit. 
Plants that bloom early in January and February :— 
Cydonia Japonica Chimonanthus grandiflora 
Chimonanthus fragrans Jasminum nudifiorum 
The last blooms all the winter. 
Flowering in spring :— 
Corchorus Japonicus Lonicera flexuosa 
Lonicera caprifolia Rosa Boursoltii 
Magnolia conspicua R. Chinensis (and varieties) 
Flowering in summer :— 
Clematis viorna Rosa Banksias (white) 
Atragene Sibirica Rosa Banksise (yellow) 
Jasminum fruticans R. semperflorens 
Lonicera flava R. ruga 
Glycine Sinensis And many more climbers. 
To flo wer in summer and autumn :— 
Aristolocliia sipho 
Periploca Grseca 
Ampelopsis quinquefolia 
Clematis flammata 
C. Hendersonii 
C. Yirginiana 
Clematis viticella 
C. Sieboldii 
C. ccerulea flore pleno 
Bignonia radicans 
Magnolia grandiflora 
Ceanothus (of sorts) 
If facing east, west, or south, the best strong-growing Perpetual 
and Tea Roses would do well. 
To fill spaces between, tender creepers could be planted out 
for the season, as Nasturtiums, Maurandyas, Lophospermums, &c. 
With more definite information we may be able to do more to 
help you. 
There was an article on hotbed making last week ; and we 
fear we can add nothing to what is there said. Such a pit as the 
one referred to, if three feet deep or so, ought’ to give you heat 
enough for what you propose ; but if you are short of manure, 
the best thing would be to delay setting your bed going until 
about the 1st of March. The trench should also be filled or 
covered over to prevent the heat getting away. We fear the bed 
has been made carelessly, or covered too deep, since you have no 
heat. We think you might heat the one part of eleven feet, so as 
to have bottom heat and top heat too, for less than the half you 
speak of—say a Thompson’s retort or a small conical boiler, and 
two three-inch pipes for bottom- heat and two for top heat— 
between forty and fifty feet altogether. What would you say to 
taking a small flue and return through this eleven-feet part, and pile 
stones, &c., all round it ? On these place gravel, and then sand 
and soil, with means to let up the heat into the atmosphere when 
desirable. It would be cheaper than buying manure, unless you 
want the manure when worked.] 
WOOD PEOPLE, POE CHURCH FITTINGS. 
What objection is there to using Elm for the seats of a church, 
in preference to the foreign Deal, which is so generally used 
now-a-days ? I know that Deal is the easiest to work, but Elm is 
far the handsomest wood, and would last equally long. 
Some years ago I was in the Chapel at King’s College, Cam¬ 
bridge, and it struck me that the panelling-work there was of 
Elm. I have since heard it called “ Chestnut.” Can you decide 
the question, and also inform me if there is any old Chestnut 
roof in existence? I have often heard it asserted by brother 
clergymen, and as often heard it denied by carpenters and 
builders.—A Country Rector. 
[We have consulted a gentleman most conversant with the 
construction of churches, both modern and ancient, and he 
agrees with us in the opinion that there is no objection to the 
employment of Elm for the purpose you mention. He knows 
it to have been so employed without any disadvantage, and 
thinks it is not more used only because it is more expensive 
than Fir timber; 
It has been a very prevalent opinion that the roof of West¬ 
minster Hall is constructed of Chestnut wood, but recent ex¬ 
aminations have proved that it is formed of the wood of the 
rarer of the common Oaks, Quercus sessiliflora, Stalkless- 
flowered Oak. It has recently been discovered even from 
whence the wood was obtained. In the library of Trinity 
College Dublin, is “ Hanmer’s Chronicle,” and it contains this 
paragraph. “ The faire greene, or commune (near Dublin) 
called Osmontowne-greene, was all woode. From thence, anno 
1098, King William Rufus, by license of Murchard (King of 
Leynster) had that frame which made up the roofe of West¬ 
minster Hall, where no English spider webbeth or breedeth to 
this day.” We have never examined attentively the woodwork 
of King's College Chapel, but from our remembrance of its ap¬ 
pearance we incline to think it is of the same kind of Oak.] 
NEW OR RARE HARDY AND HAEF-HARDY 
ANNUALS. 
I now take tune by the forelock, and proceed to give a list of 
the new annuals. In the list below, those marked with an 
asterisk are half-hardy, requiring to be sown in March in pans 
or boxes in heat, or on a gentle hotbed ; to be transplanted in- 
May in patches or in beds where they are to bloom. The hardy 
ones may be sown in the borders or in beds about the last week 
in April, or the first week in May, where they are to produce 
their flowers. Most annuals may have the blooming season 
prolonged by cutting off all the seed-vessels as they appear, and 
also by cutting off the flower-stems when done blooming. 
If the patches of seeds come up thick, let them be well thinned 
out, so as to give each plant its due share of light and food. 
Many annuals if sown in autumn stand the winter, and bloom 
profusely early the following year. Where seeds are required, 
this is the best method to get them well ripened. 
*Ageratum Mexicanum rubrum (Red Ageratum). — Very 
pretty. 
Ampherephis intermedia.— Lilac. 1| ft. Brazil. 
Amblyolepis setigera.— Bright yellow. Sweet-scented. 
2 ft. E. Indies. 
*Anagallis grandieeora Eugenie.—W hite and blue. 1 ft. 
*A. grandiflora Napoleon III.— Rich carmine. 1ft. 
These two are highly spoken of as being very beautiful. 
Calliopsis Atkinsonia nana (dwarf). — Various coloured. 
1 ft. high. A low, desirable, new variety. 
Callirrhoe digitata (fingered).—A neat, elegant plant ; 
rich violet purple with white eye; begins to bloom when 6 in. 
high, and rises to two feet, flowering all the summer; figured in 
Carter & Co.’s plate No. 8. 
Clarkia elegans flore pleno (double-flowered). 
C. pulchella integripetala (entire-petaled).— Rosy-crim¬ 
son, very beautiful; figured in Carter & Co.’s No. 8 plate. 
C. pulchella marginata (margined). — Rosy-crimson, deeply 
edged with pure white. Very beautiful. 
*Datura chlorantha flore pleno (double yellow).— 
Large, trumpet-shaped, golden-yellow, sweet-scented flowers; from 
Texas, growing 3 feet high. May be kept several years from 
cuttings. 
#D. Wrightii syn . meteloides. —Satin-white, bordered with 
lilac ; trumpet-shaped; blooming from July to November. 
Native of Asia, growing 3 feet high. 
Delphinium Ajacis tricolor elegans.— A truly beautiful 
Larkspur. 
*Gaillardia grandiflora (large-flowered). — Crimson and 
yellow. Flowers very large. Height 1| ft. A garden variety. 
Helianthus Californicus grandiflorus (Californian 
Sunflower).—5 ft. Large and very double, orange-coloured and 
handsome. 
Helichrysum brachyrinchum (new everlasting). — From 
New Holland ; grows only a foot high, and has yellow flowers. 
"Ipomcea hybrida marginata (margined). — Flowers various- 
coloured and all margined with white; hardy enough to plant 
out of doors in summer. 
*1. limbata elegantissima. —Flowers with a fine-pointed 
star of rich violet, the rest pure white; blooming profusely; 
exceedingly beautiful. All Ipomceas are twiners. 
Linaria crescia. — Crimson-purple, with orange centre. 6 in. 
high. A garden variety. 
Lobelia gracilis rosea.— A new colour in those low bedding 
plants. Decidedly an acquisition. 
Nigella Hispanica alba (white Spanish). 
