i8 97 . 



GARDENING. 



35 



A CORNER OF THE SHOW HOUSE AT MR. F. L. AMES 



HEATING fl SMALL OREENflOUSE. 



I have built a little greenhouse 12x18 

 and have yet to put in a heating appara- 

 tus. Will it be best to set the boiler down 

 in a pit or can it be set on the ground 

 floor of the greenhouse as I cannot well 

 go down more than about 3 feet. What 

 boiler would be best to heat such a house? 

 I have my glass butted and screwed down 

 with strips. Is that all right? Also 

 please tell me something about putting 

 in the hot water pipes. Subscriber. 



There is a difference of opinion about 

 the question of sinking the heater in a pit 

 or keeping it on the surface, but the great 

 preponderance of opinion, including al- 

 most all practical men, is in favor of put- 

 ting the heater down as low as possible 

 within reason. It would take quite a 

 chapter to explain the reasons why, but 

 they are simply this: The quickeryou can 

 get the circulation the sooner will the 

 water be back to the fire to be warmed 

 up again. Now the motive power, if it 

 can be socalled, will be just in proportion 

 to the difference between the height of the 

 flow and return pipes. If you could have 

 a peqiendicular fall of eight feet in your 

 return pipe near the heater your circula- 

 tion would be rapid and perfect. If your 

 flow pipe went away from heater hori- 

 zontally and returned the same, having 

 for a drop only the difference between the 

 outlet in heater of flow and return, your 

 circulation would be miserably slow. 



Three ft. will do but put heater down as 

 low as that. 



You can help circulation by letting the 

 flow pipe be a 2-inch run along the wall 

 just below the glass; at the farther end 

 drop down under the benches and return 

 with three l^-inch or two 2-inch pipes; 

 that will keep a 12 ft. house up to 50° in 

 the coldest weather. The flow can be 

 fastened to the posts or wall with hook 

 plates and when painted white is not the 

 least unsightly. The returns can also be 

 fastened to the wall one above the other, 

 or if not convenient that way, can lay 

 horizontally under the bench on a pier. 



The most important part of the plan is, 

 are you going to let the flow pipe rise to 

 its highest elevation over the heater, there 

 tap it with a small pipe ('2-inch will do) 

 to let air escape at all times, and from 

 that point descend till you enter heater 

 again. One inch drop in flow in the 18 

 ft. is just as good as a foot, and one inch 

 drop back in the returu. If you adopt 

 this plan, which uptodateis the simplest, 

 most satisfactory and the least trouble 

 to watch, in fact all round the best way, 

 you will need a barrel or some vessel 

 holding a few gallons of water elevated a 

 foot or so above the highest part of your 

 heating pipes. When there is water in 

 that barrel your pipes must be full. The 

 small ',2-inch pipe to let out air can run 

 up and empty into top of the barrel. You 

 will have no kicking, thumping or pet 

 cocks to watch; all the watching will be 

 to see that there is water in the barrel, 



which we will call the feeding cistern. 

 The butted glass with strips and screws 

 is all right. Wsi. Scott. 



The Flower Garden. 



TAB SPRING fLOWER GARDEN. 



The displaj* of spring flowers depends 

 largely on the number of bulbous plants 

 we grow. They are the first fl >wers of 

 spring and great is the variety of them. 

 We think there are no flowers so beauti- 

 ful and the majority of them any one can 

 grow, as they only require to be planted 

 and left alone when they will send up 

 their charming flowers, some of them 

 while the snow is still on the ground. In 

 the cottage garden here bulbous plants 

 form an important part in the make-up 

 of our garden. The ground is alive with 

 them in endless variety, and our annual 

 display of spring flora is a sight long to 

 be remembered. 



Among the choicest bulbs we grow are 

 the narcissi. We grow them in long 

 borders, planted in clumps, one variety 

 to each clump. Most of them are hardy, 

 with the exception of the polyanthus sec- 

 tion and with us these are tender. The 

 jonquils prove quite hardy, but some 

 years they do not flower so well as thev 

 do others. The large flowering sorts, 

 such as Emperor, Horsfieldii, Sir Watkin, 

 etc., are all perfectly hardy and are the 



