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THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Febeuaey 1, 1859. 
storing bulbs, Fuchsias, and all the half-dry plants, in 
winter: it had a large copper, back-kitchen-like boiler, 
and to this a set of hot-water pipes were formerly fixed ; 
and the front wall, facing the north, was pierced, and 
a good piece of it was glazed, to give more light; but the 
sun never entered there. The back wall of this house 
was high enough for any greenhouse, besides facing the 
meridian sun, and so it was that the greenhouse was 
put there. How this was done may be of great use else¬ 
where : a question about something of the kind was in 
our pages, and answered, just as we were in the midst 
of the change. On the top of the wall was a wall-plate, 
to receive the rafters of the old roof, and to this plate, 
and these rafters, we resolved to fix the top of the lights 
for the new greenhouse. Two or three rows of slate had 
to be removed for that purpose, pj u d the roof, trussed, 
as I have said, was then fixed, and the slate made to 
take the same slope and angle as the glass. The lights 
are sixteen or seventeen feet long, and every other has 
the same top, short 'ventilator light, as seen in the section 
(fig. 2), opening outwards and upwards, with a cord 
and pully, Nothing ever answered better. 
But the best part was the next, and that was, to pull 
down a yard of the back wall, from end to end, and let 
in the sun to the dormitory, every part of which is now 
lighted by the sun in full, thus making a double house 
of a lean-to. The way the wall was taken down, was, to 
begin at one end; and, -when four feet of it were open, a 
support was blocked in, to keep up the roof plate ; and so 
on, at every four feet, to the other end. The top of the re¬ 
duced wall was cemented, and it makes the best, or one 
of the best shelves in England, for the Golden Chain; 
but whether that shelf be in the old house at home, or in 
the new one, it would be easier to truss a roof than to 
decide. The bottom of the wall is pierced in three parts 
at the floor level of both houses, and the boiler is in the 
same place, with a new set of pipes ; and, as the air cools 
in the new or old house the soonest, it will pass through 
these bottom openings. The heat in both houses is always 
the same. 
The conservatory roof is fixed to the mansion, as Mr. 
Eyles fixed his new house to the Crystal Palace, and the 
top ventilation is the same way as with him. So that, 
altogether, the Palacers and the Experimentalists were 
working very near to the same scale, and at the same 
moment. We have but one-inch openings where the rafters 
would be, and we have the openings capped. Sir Joseph 
Paxton’s plan is six-inch openings, and the capping to be 
the means for ventilation. I agree with him, that that is 
the best plan for most, or all houses ; and Mr. Macrostie 
agrees with me, that nothing is more easy than to let our 
openings be the same as at Sydenham ; but neither he nor 
I would adopt the trussed girders across the roof, as they 
have it. It is not cheaper than the small-rod truss, in i 
place of the rafter, and it certainly is not nearly so good- j 
looking, or so convenient for training. Each of our rods 
stands nine inches from the glass ; but any distance from 
the glass, for training, may be done by the cross legs 
between the truss - rod and the lights, the rod itself 
being the principal for training up the Yine against; and 
the legs might have one eye, or half T, to let up another 
wire on each side of the truss-rod, in the usual way. But 
for Peach-houses, and for climbers in conservatories, 
it is best to run the wires across the roof, and then 
the truss-rods come in handy to fasten them to. Hoof 
ventilation is, most certainly, best done on Sir Joseph’s 
new system, between the lights, and by having the 
“ walls ” in boards, or in boards and glass, like the before- 
mentioned house (fig. 1). The boarding should be “up 
and down,” not weather-edged fashion, and between the 
“ ups and downs ” ventilation should be given, as on the 
roof. 
Then, to refine tli- thing, and to do it on a philosophical 
touch, run a rod as small as our truss rod along the 
gutter; and get t _e ends of all the caps over the openings 
on the roof to move right and left, by one turn of the rod 
at one corner of the house ; and all the front openings, 
between the up and down boards, the same, by a second 
rod, or by any other move which you may think better. 
D. Beaton. 
SELECT FRUITS ADAPTED TO THE VARIOUS 
LOCALITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
(Continued from page 266.) 
CHESTNUTS. 
We can hardly call the chestnut a British fruit. It is true, 
that in some situations in the southern counties it ripens fruit, 
but that is generally so very inferior to what is imported from 
Spain and the South of France, that no one would think of 
planting the chestnut for its fruit alone. It is as a timber tree 
that it is so highly valued in this country. 
The following are the varieties that succeed bestj but it is 
only in hot summers that they attain much excellence: — 
Devonshire Pkolific (New Prolific).— This is by far 
the most abundant bearer, and ripens more thoroughly a 
general crop than any other. 
Downton (Knight’s Prolific). —This is distinguished 
by the very short spines on the husks, and is not so pro¬ 
lific as the preceding. 
CRABS. 
These are grown mainly for ornament. Their fruit, being 
generally very highly or delicately coloured, contribute to the 
decoration of shrubberies in the autumn ; while their flowers make 
them gay with blossoms in the spring. But there are some of 
the varieties which, besides being ornamental, are also very useful 
for preserving. Of these, the following are the most esteemed :— 
Cheeey Cbab (Cherry Apple; Scarlet Siberian ).— 
Very small, the size and colour of a cherry, roundish 
oblong, flat at the ends, of a bright shining scarlet colour, 
with the appearance as if it had been varnished. Stalk 
very long and slender. Eye small. Flesh crisp, with a 
fine agreeable acidity. Ufted for preserving. September 
and October. 
Rotal Chaelotte. —Medium sized, ovate. Skin of a 
delicate waxen yellow, tinged with red all over, but 
covered with a dark red cheek next the sun. Eye with 
long, pointed segments, and moderately sunk. Stalk 
slender, an inch long. Flesh white, very tender, with 
a fine, agreeable acidity. September and October. 
Siberian (Yellow Siberian). — Small, conical. Skin 
waxen yellow in the shade, and streaked with red next 
the sun. Eye large and protruding, closed. Flesh 
briskly acid. September and October. 
Transparent. —Below medium size, oblate. Skin 
yellowish white, and waxen-like. Eye with very long 
and spreading segments, sunk. Stalk long and slender. 
Flesh translucent, opaline, with a brisk and agreeable- 
acidity. October. 
CRANBERRIES. 
Though these cannot be grown so generally as the other kinds 
of fruits, there are some who, having devoted their attention to 
the subject, have succeeded in forming artificial swamps where 
cranberries have been cultivated with great success. Wherever 
there is a command, and a plentiful supply of running water, 
with abundance of peat soil, no difficulty need be experienced in 
growing cranberries. The two species most worth cultivating 
are the English and the American. 
English ( Oxy coccuspalustris). —This grows abundantly 
in bogs, or swamps, in many parts of England. The fruit 
is the size of a pea, and the skin pale red; they have a 
somewhat acrid flavour and a strong acidity. 
American (Oxycoccus macrocarpus). —Of this there are 
three varieties :— 
