262 



THE GARDENERS* MONTHLY 



[September, 



wavy, having small serratures and terminating in 

 a short, abrupt point. From the center of the 

 plant arises the inflorescence, consisting of a strik- 

 ingly beautiful oblong cone, or thyrse, having a 

 crimson stalk, or stem, and rich crimson bracts 

 very regularly arranged. The flowers are, when 

 fully expanded, about the same size as the bracts 

 and of nearly the same color, the oblong sepals 

 being much shorter than the closed up straight, 

 erect petals ; as the cone or thyrse remains in 

 perfection for two or three weeks, some idea can 

 be formed of its beauty, the contrast between the 

 bright green leaves and the dark crimson cone 

 being so very striking. Well grown specimens 

 flower freely during the autumn months, or from 

 September to December. 



Propagation is effected by division of the plant, 

 and this operation is best performed just before the 

 the plant starts into growth. In order to cultivate 

 this Bilbergia satisfactorily, it should be potted 

 in a compost of one-half well rotted sods and 

 one-half rotted cow manure, or leaf mould, and 

 also mix a quantity of charcoal (broken fine) with 

 the compost. Use a pot suitable to the size of the 

 plant, and take every care to drain it well. When 

 growing, keep it in as warm and moist a situation 

 as one has at his command, and give a good 

 supply of water; but when in a dormant state very 

 little is required, and at that time a temperature of 

 from 55O to 60^ suffices. In the cultivation of Bil- 

 bergias it is well to remember the fact that great 

 heat and moisture given them, during their season 

 of growth, causes an increase in the size and vigor 

 in the growth of the plant, and consequently an 

 increase in the size of the flowering thyrse; and, 

 whether it is desired to increase the plant or not, it 

 should be repotted every season before its growth 

 commences. Good, strong plants can be obtained 

 of our principal florists at a reasonable price. 



HOT WATER BETTER THAN STEAM 

 HEATING. 



BY SAMUEL PERKINS, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. 



Being deeply interested in anything that apper- 

 tains to the heating or management of greenhouses, 

 I have read closely and studied carefully the 

 different articles submitted by your numerous 

 correspondents. There has been a great deal 

 said in favor of steam as a means of heating and 

 its adaptability to greenhouse purposes; in fact 

 some parties have made very extravagant state- 

 ments, claiming that it required less attention, 

 could be safely left for ten hours, and would save 



at least one-third the amount of coal that would 

 be required by a hot water apparatus. One would 

 think from these statements that all a florist had 

 to do would be to put in steam and be happy. I 

 was much pleased to read in your July number 

 the articles by Mr. Mylius and Mr. Brenneinan, for 

 I consider that they treated the matter very fairly — 

 and being the result of practical experience must 

 naturally be given full credit. They both unite in 

 stating that steam heaters require more attention 

 than hot water — Mr. Brenneman stating that the 

 fire in his boiler must be attended to every fifteen 

 minutes in cold weather to keep up steam. Mr. 

 Mylius does not go so far as this, but still he says 

 that a steam boiler must be looked after at least 

 every three hours in a cold snap. I have spoken 

 to three parties who have steam in their houses 

 and they fully indorse the above statements ; in 

 fact one of the parties after testing a steam heater 

 for two winters has taken it out and put in hot 

 water ; he said he used about the same amount of 

 fuel that he would have used with hot water, and 

 yet the parties that put it up claimed that he would 

 save one-third. 



Now then, let us take Mr. Brenneman's statement 

 in regard to fuel and see how it compares with a 

 hot water apparatus. He says : " Our plant-house 

 consists of 30,000 feet of glass, heated by one 

 boiler of 25 horse-power, having 6,000 ft. of 2-inch 

 pipe, and using about 350 tons of coal." Taking 

 this statement as a standard let us see what hot 

 water would do under the same conditions. Accor- 

 ing to practical experience plant-houses requiring 

 30,000 feet of glass to cover them would require 

 about 13,000 ft. of 4-inch pipe to maintain a tem- 

 perature of 65° when the thermometer outside 

 stood at 20° below zero. I know from practical 

 experience that a hot water boiler of good pattern 

 will not consume more than 36 tons of coal for 

 every 1,500 ft. 4-inch pipe used. Therefore if we 

 use 36 tons per 1,500 ft. pipe and require 13,000 ft. 

 pipe to heat 30,000 feet of glass, we should use 

 about 312 tons of coal. I fail to see where the 

 saving of fuel comes in, for Mr. Brenneman could 

 have saved fuel by using hot water. 



To give some color to my statements I would 

 like to mention two cases to show that I have 

 reasonable grounds on which to base my calcula- 

 tions. In the first place I would mention Mr. Gus. 

 Messeberg, Florist, Flatbush, L. I., he has at 

 present about 18,000 square feet of glass heated 

 by hot water boilers manufactured by Thos. W. 

 Weathered, N. Y., the total amount of coal con- 

 sumed last winter being 1 50 tons. The man attend- 



