January 4, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



15 



ously, di"op the colder particles of water, to be iu theii- turn 

 seut bouudiug ou their errand of warmth ; and anything that 

 attempts to contravene this law of gravitation will be rebelled 

 against by the elements concerned with uumistakeable violence 

 and persistency. Clearly, then, the outlet for the water, thus 

 lightened and charged ^\-ith its freight of heat, should be at the 

 highest part of the boiler ; and that by which the cold water 

 is to ran in and dowii, to take its place, should be at the 

 lowest point. Boiler-inventors and manufactui'ers recognise 

 this important part of the matter, and always place the flow- 

 pipe at the highest, and the return-pipe at the lowest, point of 

 boilers. 



Great importance has been attached by many to the neces- 

 sity, or at least the gi'eat desnabilitv, of ha\"ing the boiler fixed 

 at a veiy much lower level than the pipes ; and also to the 

 necessity of lading all the flow-pipes ou the inchne the whole 

 length of the house to be heated. The importance, too, of 

 having the .retirrn-pipes ou a considerable decUue, has, iu our 

 opinion, been vei-y much over-estimated. It is eutnely un- 

 necessary to form deep, damp stokeholes, in order to sink the 

 boiler to a level below the main body of the pipes, as is so vei*!," 

 frequently met with. And as to having the pipes nuauing at 

 an incline after starting from so liigh a level, we consider it 

 entu'ely unnecessary. Indeed, one of the most efficient heat- 

 ing-apparatus we ever superintended, started from about a foot 

 above the level of the boiler, and ran down a gradual decUne 

 into the boiler. Iramediatelj' the water enters a hothouse 

 it begms to part with the heat absorbed from the fire, gets 

 colder, increases in specific gravity as it speeds in its way back 

 to the boiler again, and a downhill career is most natural to it 

 as soon as it leaves the highest point of action, where its heat 

 is the gi'eatest. Practically, we have never found much 

 ihffereuce when the pipes went the whole leugth of the house 

 on au incline, or on a dead level all the way round till it 

 came near the boiler and dropped into the return-opening 

 of the boiler. Indeed there is httle fear of a good chculation, 

 provided the pipes do not at anj' point descend and rise sud- 

 denly, and most especially that at any point they do not dip 

 below the level of the return-opening into the boiler. We 

 have had the working of apparatus where pipes, descending 

 perpendicularly, crossed under a walk and rose again perpen- 

 dicularly to heat another range of 80 feet of glass ; but at 

 none of the points were the pipes within a couple of feet of 

 the level of the return-opening into the boiler. This im- 

 desirable arrangement worked pretty well until hard firing became 

 necessary, when the result was that the water was thrown out 

 in plunges at the supply-cistern. Such an arrangement should 

 always be avoided ; for if it start from the warmest part, it 

 must be forced work for the hottest water to go downhill, and 

 it is equally so to send it ujihill cold. 



There is another eiTor frequently committed iu arranging 

 the route of the water. Suppose, for instance, a boiler fixed 

 at one end of a house of say 80 or 100 feet long, as part of the 

 work allotted to it. As m the case of span-roofed houses, it 

 may be desuable to have three or four rows of pipes aU roimd 

 the house. Now it is not uncommon to find two rows called 

 the flow-pipes taken all round the house to near the boiler, and 

 there to start back with other two on the same route into the 

 return-opening of the boiler. This is gi™ig the water a long 

 jom-uey, and the return-pipes will be found comparatively cold 

 by the time the water gets back by the same route to the 

 boiler. Now, if instead of this the whole four pipes be con- 

 nected with the flow-pipe, and go round the front and end of 

 the house on a level, and start along the back ou a decliue to 

 the boiler, and there plunge do«-n the di'op-pipe into the 

 return-openmg of the boiler, it wUl be found that wiule any 

 portion of the pipes may not be quite so hot as at the be- 

 ginumg of the two flow-pipes iu the former case, there will not 

 be any portion of them nearly so cold as the last portion of the 

 retuiii. We do not say that this is the best way to conduct 

 the water ; but we have proved from experience that the 

 aiTangement indicated is the better of the two named, when 

 the pipes are, from any necessary conditions, laid all round the 

 house in this way. 



The supply of waste water to the boiler and pipes is often 

 placed anywhere that looks most convenient ; but the proper 

 place is to attach the supply to the retm-n-pipe somewhere 

 near the boiler. Fixed to the flow, it will be frequently plunged 

 out by the upward tendency of the hottest water. It is also 

 very uudesu-able to leave the supply cistern to be kept fuU 

 either by pouring iu water from a pot or by turning a tap, 

 which is often neglected. There should always be a cistern 



suppUed by the action of a ball-cock, and then the anxiety 

 connected with the neglect of supply does not exist. 



A great many methods of supplying moisture to the atmo- 

 sphere of hothouses in connection with the heating apparatus 

 have been adopted — such as zinc troughs placed on the pipes, 

 troughs cast ou the pipes themselves, a flow of water running 

 in an open gutter, rising out of the flow at one end and drop- 

 ping into the return at the other. We have tried all these, 

 and more besides. The best we have tried is, first, to fix a 

 flat-bottom open trough, 2i inches deep, and 6 inches wide, 

 the whole length of the pipes iu front of the house ; this 

 trough to have no connection with the hot-water pipes beyond 

 resting on them at a level. In the centre of this trough is 

 fixed a 2J-uich-iu-iUameter rain-water pipe, jointed with Port- 

 land cement — the best of all joint-cement. This rain-water 

 pipe is connected with the flow-pipe as it leaves the boiler, and 

 with the retura-pipe at the other end of the house. I3oth 

 ends of the trough are made water-tight round t)ie rain-water 

 pipe. At the middle of the house a brass tap is fitted into the 

 close-pipe which fills the trough, and can be adjusted to let 

 water sufficient escape into the trough to just keep it full, and 

 the small pipe neaii.y immersed m water. The supply to the 

 boiler being of coiu'se ou the retm'u-pipe, is spoken of aheady, 

 and by means of a ball-cock. This is the most satisfactory 

 steaming-apparatus we have ever tried ; it is simple, requires 

 next to uo attention, and the water heats regularly the whole 

 leugth of the house. Iu open 'gutters without the small pipe, 

 we have always found a glut of steam at one end, and next to 

 none at the other, iu long houses. The arrangement, besides, 

 is equal to another row of 4-inch pipes. 



Space forbids us to say much of boilers. We have worked 

 couicals, cannons, single and triple retorts, saddles, upright 

 tubulars, cruciforms, ifec. ; and we have some at work yet very 

 much the shape of a butcher's pickling-tub. The last-named 

 are perfectly absui'd, of coiu'se, holding nearly as much water 

 as all the pipes. Some of the others named are good. The 

 upright tubidars are very powerful, but expensive, and requu'e 

 deep stokeholes. Upon the whole, for cheapness, efficiency, 

 and safety of coustniction, we give the palm to Meiklejohn's 

 cniciform. Various materials are used in constructing boilers, 

 such as cast and malleable uou and copper. The latter is 

 expensive, but marvellously effective, durable, and safe ; and 

 in our own case, we are superseding others with them, and in 

 simple single retorts, 6 feet long by 2 feet in diameter over all. 

 For amateiu's, who only requhe to heat small houses, we know 

 of nothing so efficient and cheap as Meiklejohn's amateur's 

 retort. Foiuteen years ago we lieated a late vinery 63 feet 

 long with one of these, and it is yet doing its work well. As 

 to valves for stopping and regulating the flow of water, we 

 have had numbers in use, but we consider Messenger's patent 

 valve the most efficient, simple, and least likely to be out of 

 repau' of auy we have tried. — |T7it' Gardener.] 



THE GLADIOLUS. 



JrsT a few words in respect to the queiy put by " Stiff 

 Soil," page -185, and the answer it has called forth. 



It appears to me that the main fault does not he in the HI- 

 health of the bulbs, although I admit that it is impossible for 

 diseased roots to produce good spikes of bloom. I should ima- 

 gine that "one of our gi-eatest EngUsh growers" would avoid 

 sending out bulbs that were unhealthy, and, if such were the 

 case, it is possible that he was not aware of it. 



It seems that the uiexperieuced, and the experienced as well, 

 have got hold of an idea that the Gladiolus is subject to au 

 incurable disease, and this idea being strengthened by some of 

 oiu' piincipal writers, I fear it will be a long time before it is 

 eradicated. I do not beheve such is the case. My experience 

 tells me that bulbs planted iu soil which has previously had 

 thick cb'essings of manure, decay and die prematurely ; but 

 that when planted in a moderately rich soil, and when coming 

 into bloom, stimulated with wealc liquid manure, they rarely 

 show any unhealthy symptoms. The Gladiolus is like any 

 other bulb, the older it gets the more exliausted is it, and the 

 quality of the flower of course decreases with the degeneration 

 of the plant. Let this idea of hereditary disease be destroyed 

 iu the minds of the pubhc, and this genus of plants will yearly 

 become more popular, and be much more extensively grown. 



I expected the price of the Gladiolus bought by " Stiff Soil " 

 woirld be questioned, but not one single word do his advisers 

 say about it. Probably the bulbs grown were low-priced varie- 

 ties, and if so, how is it possible to expect them to throw up 



