364 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



first object of the stoker should be to acquaint himself thoroughly with 

 the construction of his boiler, and the manner in which it is set. The 

 next thing is to keep it clean. Every morning the furnace should 

 be cleaned out thoroughly : a little timely attention in this way will 

 save much after trouble and annoyance. In starting a fire, take a 

 little pains to do it effectively. Much depends on a few minutes, 

 sometimes, in such cases. Do not add too much fuel at first, but 

 when the fire is going briskly, and it is desired to get up heat 

 quickly, it should be pushed abroad with the fire -hoe, under the 

 surface of the boiler, a little more fuel added, and a good draught 

 allowed until the pipes are as hot as required, when the damper 

 should be pushed in to check the draught, and no more fuel need be 

 added until the fire is pretty well burned down. Unless when need- 

 ful to " bank up " for long intervals, nothing is gained by cramming the 

 furnace full of fuel : a moderate fire, in a thorough state of ignition, 

 is the most efi'ective at all times, and also the most economical. When 

 the weather is steady, and the days bright, as they sometimes are in 

 April and May, no one need fear about a considerably low temperature 

 in the morning in their forcing-houses. It can be amply made up 

 during the day by economising sun-heat ; and no doubt the plants are 

 greatly refreshed by the rest at night and relief from fire-heat, and 

 nothing so soon arrests the progress of red-spider. 



We are not in love with the plan of having one man as fireman for 

 the whole establishment. It is the most satisfactory plan to allow 

 every man to fire his own houses ; he is more likely than any one else 

 to take an interest in the matter, and it is one of the things every 

 young man should learn to understand perfectly. Some superinten- 

 dents insist — perhaps without expecting so much — upon the thermome- 

 ter being kept to a degree at the most arduous season, but he does 

 well who fires to within two or three degrees of the mark. Still, we 

 have known young men, who, for the sake of leisure to follow their 

 studies in the winter evenings, could, by dint of patient experiment, 

 and attention to the out-door thermometer, and the weather, &c., main- 

 tain a long range of forcing-houses almost to a degree for long intervals, 

 night after night, and who had accustomed themselves to rely con- 

 fidently upon their calculations, which were very rarely far from the 

 mark. I state this merely as a hint to those who have such duties to 

 attend to after work hours. We all know that temperatures must be 

 attended to, and young men in charge of hothouses can alleviate their 

 labours by a little careful study and attention in the way I have in- 

 dicated, and promote the interests of all concerned. J. Simpson. 



