4 THE FLORIST. 



HINTS ON GRAPE GROWING.— No. VI. 

 By a Gardener in the Country. 



The heating of the house will now require consideration, and as we 

 are advocating cheapness and home-spun work, the heating must 

 be viewed in this light. The time of the year when the grower 

 wishes his Grapes to ripen must be first determined ; that settled, the 

 rest becomes plain and easy. We shall leave the early produce for 

 future consideration, and merely remark that foi Grapes ripening from 

 the beginning of July and through the autumn common brick flues 

 will answer every purpose, provided they are built on good principles. 

 But like a penchant for ornamental houses, some people will insist on 

 having hot water pipes. Well, we by no means wish to dissuade them 

 from this : that they are, for some reasons, preferable we know ; but 

 they are, likewise, much dearer, require perhaps more care in looking 

 after, and cannot well be mended (should accident occur) without the 

 engineer ; and we have next to enquire, after all this, whether anything 

 superior in the shape of Grapes can be obtained by them which our old- 

 fashioned flue will not equal. To this, we confess, we are bound 

 (looking at a long array of evidence which has passed before us) to 

 answer in the negative, and we therefore leave hot water pipes and 

 boilers for early Grapes and long purses, and betake ourselves to consider 

 what can be done without them. The great objection to flues is 

 that they do not distribute the heat equally ; that is to say, they heat 

 the house too much at one end, and insufficiently so at the other. Much, 

 however, of this can be corrected by managing it properly when building 

 it. In most cases flues are too large and clumsy ; in no case need they 

 exceed eight inches in the clear inside ; the sides should be built with 

 bricks set on edge, with which a coat of pargetting inside will make the 

 flue 14 inches in width ; 18 inches is ample depth. The furnace frame 

 should have a door for the fuel (a double one is best), 12 inches square, 

 with an ash-pit door of similar dimensions, provided with a ventilator. 

 The interior of the fireplace may be about 18 inches long, well built with 

 fire bricks, and either arched over or covered with Welch burs, to with- 

 stand the action of the fire ; beyond the 18 inches gradually narrow the 

 flue till it reaches within the house, up to which point the sides should 

 be formed with bricks laid flat. The flue should be built on stout 

 slates, or flagging, placed on piers of brickwork ; this will raise the bottom 

 of the flue from the floor, prevent damp, and greatly increase its effi- 

 ciency. The best covers are made of brick clay (no material stands the 

 effect of fire so well) : they will require to be the width of the flue, and 

 may be 12 inches long or more ; we have our own made two inches 

 thick, made in a mould, with a panel one inch deep on the upper surface, 

 leaving a margin two inches wide on each side, and one inch at the ends. 

 Thus when they are fixed the hollow dishes (which are meant to hold 

 water for evaporating when required) have a rim two inches wide round 

 each ; if it can possibly bo done these dishes would be all the better for 

 being glazed. To fix them, place a piece of broad hoop -iron across the 

 flue at each joint, which will " break joint " and render the flue smoke- 



