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393 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 21, 1858. 
Shilden, Aycliffe, and neighbourhood, arrived at Bank Foot, 
Crook, on Tuesday morning, by “special bee train,” on their 
way to the moors. On arriving at Bank Foot, the second 
fireman of No. 12 engine unloosed the couplings from the 
I carriages, and the engine by some misunderstanding, before the 
breaks of the carriages and trucks could be properly applied, 
ran into some wagons at the foot of the Sunnyside incline. 
Several of the passengers were much bruised by the collision 
about the head and face, and many of the hives of bees were 
i destroyed. It is estimated that nearly £100 damage was 
done. The hives of bees were so much shaken that on their 
arrival on the moors several of the hives were deserted. 
Passers-by at Bank Foot for some time had to be very cau¬ 
tious in avoiding the attacks of the winged industriels , thus 
so rudely driven from their habitations. The passengers re¬ 
turned safe by the evening train. The engineman and fire¬ 
man have been fined .—(.Durham Chronicle .) 
VINERY, CONSERVATORY, AND STEAMING 
APPARATUS COMBINED. 
Having occasion to go to Walton, near Chesterfield, a few 
days ago, I was told that the Rev. J. B. Jebb, of Walton 
Lodge, had recently had a double grapery and a conservatory 
erected on a first-rate principle, and heated by a boiler, which, 
■ when required, would steam Potatoes, or other roots, for 
cattle, at the rate of ten bushels per hour. Curiosity prompted 
me to go and see it, and I examined it rather minutely. I 
will now give you a description of it, as I think it may be 
useful to some of the readers of your widely-circulated paper. 
The grapery and conservatory, I understood, was built by 
Mr. Wells, of Ullesthorp, near Lutterworth, Leicestershire. 
! The grapery is about 39 feet long and 13 feet wide, divided 
! in two,'—one 23 feet, the other 16 feet. It is a lean-to roof, 
without any sliding lights, consisting of bars 2f inches deep 
by II inch, and 11 inches between. The roof is supported by 
five angular iron girders, 1£ inch wide, with scrolls to give if 
strength, running from the front plate to the back wall, and 
it keeps the roof as true out of wind as possible. It is venti¬ 
lated from the wall plate in front, and at the top of the roof 
at the back, and is most efficient; and from its being simply 
a glazed roof, without any principal rafters or sliding lights, 
it makes the house, as it were, light itself. 
It is heated by two rows of 4-incli pipes going round the 
Vine-border, wliich is inside the house, leaving a path 2 feet 
6 inches wide at the back. The pipes are connected with the 
boiler by l-inch wrought-iron tubes, and commence at the 
West end along the front, along the east end and the back 
to within 2 feet of the end ; then return back. This is the 
first house. Then a flow and return pipe goes along, under 
the grating, on the path at the back, and connects with the 
4-incli pipe at the west end of the second grapery, exactly the 
same as the first, with a stopcock to turn the circulation on 
i or off; the inch flow and return continuing to tbe con- 
j servatory, which is about 30 feet from the grapery. Both 
graperies and conservatory can be heated together, or each 
separate. This is done by simply having a fifty-gallon pan, 
j with four flow and four return pipes, and four stopcocks, 
which are necessary to shut the water in the boiler, when 
wanted, to be used for steaming. The boiler is fitted with 
j water-guage and safety-valve complete, so that no accident can 
happen; and as soon as the steaming is done the circulation 
is turned into the pipes ; which, I understand, is very rapid, 
and very economical in point of fuel. The houses were erected 
last May twelvemonth. 
There is a Vine-border inside and outside, with a hollow, or 
pigeon-hole, wall between, to carry the plate, and the Vines are 
- planted inside the pipes in the border; consequently, when the 
air is admitted by the ventilators, it strikes against the hot 
pipes, and becomes rarefied before coming in contact with the 
Vines, which, I understood, were planted when the houses 
w r ere erected : they are Black Ilamburghs and Muscats , and 
two houses of more healthy and robust young Vines will 
rarely be seen. I measured one of the rods, and it was just two 
inches in circumference, the foliage being in proportion.. There 
w r ere several bunches of Grapes in the house which were 
looking well. From the wall being hollow, the roots can run 
outside as well as in. The steam-pipes go through a laundry 
and a wall into the steam cask, wliich is out of doors, and is 
an ingenious contrivance; indeed, the whole together is, I 
think, the best constructed and most economical plan I have 
yet seen, both as regards the erection and amount of fuel con¬ 
sumed.—A n Old Gardened, Doncaster. 
IIARDY CONIFERS AT HAZELWOOD 
CASTLE, NEAR TADCASTER. 
Some four or five years ago, I visited this fine old place, the 
seat of the Vavasour family, and found forming a large 
Pinetum. This season it fell in my way to call there again, 
and I was anxious to see what species of these ornamental 
trees were living and thriving. The soil is a dry, gravelly lime¬ 
stone, rather shallow, and the situation is rather sheltered by 
some tall deciduous trees at a distance. In front of these 
trees they have planted a belt of Scotch Firs and Austrian 
Pines, which thrive well, and will eventually shelter the j 
Conifers effectually. The kinds that have stood the frosts in 
this northern part for five years are: — 
JPinus Benthamiana , growing freely. 
P. excelsa, growing freely. 
P. macrocarpa , very healthy and strong. 
P. Martwegii , growing freely and uninjured. 
P. Sabiniana , not so healthy. 
P. occidentalism doing well. 
P. ins ignis y growing rapidly, and very healthy. 
Picea Webbiana } one tree healthy, another much deformed. 
P. nobilis, growing remarkably well. 
P. Nordmanniana , not in the least injured. 
P. Ceplialonica , healthy, and uninjured. 
P. Pinsapo, very healthy. 
Abies Douglasii. Planted in a deep soil it thrives well, 
where the soil is thin it turns yellow. 
A. Menziesii, healthy and thriving. 
A. Smithiana , fine ; specimens very healthy. 
A. orientalis, thriving well. 
Cryptomeria Japonica. Near the wood this fine tree was 
remarkably healthy. In more exposed situations its leaves 
turn brown in winter. 
Cupressus Lambertiana. A close-growing, tall, healthy spe¬ 
cimen. 
C. macrocarpa, generally considered synonymous with the 
preceding ; but here the difference is distinct enough. It 
has a more spreading character, is equally hardy, and thriving 
well. 
Fitzroya Patagonica, not healthy, but evidently recovering. 
Taxodium sempervirens , healthy, and growing fast. 
Taxus adpressa , strong and healthy. 
Cedrics Deodar a, growing fast, and very healthy. 
Cedrus Deodar a Atlantica , also growing freely. 
Araucaria imbricata. In sheltered places doing well, more 
exposed it loses the ends of the old branches occasionally. 
The rest of the rarer Conifer tribe were mostly thriving, only j 
very few were quite dead. The above, however, may be safely 
planted in a northern climate. 
The gardens here are extensive, and the Yines were bearing 
some fine fruit. In a long house, the Camellia is planted out, 
and is very healthy, bearing flowers profusely every year. 
The gardener, Mr. Conety, is an intelligent, good man, and 
would keep the place in first-rate order; but owing to a do¬ 
mestic calamity, his means are now very limited; still he does 
his best, and succeeds to a considerable extent.—T. Appleby. 
ANECDOTE OF THE ROBIN. 
Many have been the interesting accounts related of the 
robin redbreast, from the time of the nursery tale of the 
“ Children in the Wood” until the present day, and the fol¬ 
lowing short account will be numbered among the anecdotes 
of that favourito little bird. In the garden of the Laurels, j 
at Clewer, near Windsor, a robin comes every day when called 
to be fed. He will perch himself on the hand of the lady of 
the house, and take his meal without displaying the slightest ; 
symptom of fear. Frequently he has flown quite across the j 
garden, and has taken bread out of her mouth. When satis- I 
fled, he perches himself either upon the bench near his j 
