February 28, 1867. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTICDLTURB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



167 



the better the wood is ripened early in the autumn, the better 

 will they force in winter and spring. 



Securing a Regular Heat by Hot Water, and Making the Most 

 tf Fuel. — Of course the furnace-man must learn what every 

 fireplace can do, and the best mode of managing it. The 

 eomplaints that come to us are chiefly from those who have 

 hot water for small houses, and who either have not enough of 

 piping, not enough of expansion room, have too powerful a 

 boiler, or do not regulate the consumption of fuel by banking 

 np, or the right use of the damper. The complaints are much 

 the same as those which have been partly met in answers to 

 correspondents. A says he will have out his hot-water ap- 

 paratus and go back to a flue for his little house, as the con- 

 sumption of fuel is doubled, and his house is generally too hot 

 or too cold, as the fire burns so quickly, and then when it is out 

 the pipes cool quickly. There is B, whose supply-cistern is con- 

 stantly running over, and to keep the pipes full there is con- 

 stant water-carrying. Tlien there is C, who in a small pit has an 

 air-pipe at the highest point of the water-pipes, and several times 

 at night he has just escaped a scalding when walking on the 

 pathway, 2 yards behind, as the boiling water was thrown 

 ont in jets, as if from a garden engine. Now most of these 

 evils arise from a greater and a brisker fire than is necessary. 

 It is right to learn from every quarter. A paragraph has been 

 going the round of the papers, telling how Mr. Warren, the 

 celebrated author of " Ten Thousand a- Year," saves fuel, and 

 obtains more heat in his room, by simply placing an iron 

 plate on the bottom bars of the fireplace, the chief use of 

 that plate being to prevent air passing to the fuel directly from 

 beneath. The peculiar advantage of that plate is, that it will 

 become hot, and therefore help to thoroughly consume the fuel 

 next to it. With the exception of the heat from the plate, the 

 same saving of the fuel would be obtained by first allowing the 

 ashes and cinders to accumulate at the bottom to the depth of 

 an inch or so, so as not to permit of air passing up through the 

 bottom bars, the ignition being kept up by the front bars only. 

 We have long acted on this principle, and have gone farther, by 

 placing a brick at the back of the fireplace, so as to keep the 

 fuel more to the front bar.", and so throw more heat into the 

 room. Thus, the fire-place in the range in the room in which 

 we are wi'iting is 14 inches long by 9 inches wide, and that 

 might be required at times ; but during the coldest days of 

 this winter the space for the fuel was screwed up to 9 inches in 

 length, and a large brick was slipped down behind to throw the 

 fuel more to the front, and, as a rule, the bottom bars were 

 not cleaned out, except at lighting-time, and soon became 

 filled up. 



Now, just as in a fireplace it is desirable that no more fuel 

 should be used than would heat the room, so it is desirable 

 that no more firing should be used below a boiler than would 

 give the heat required ; and then there is the damper in 

 the chimney to regulate the draught. In addition, however, 

 to the damper and the shut, regulated ashpit-door, much 

 may also be done by regulating the draught of air, if any, 

 through the fire-bars. " D." has just told us that in one of the 

 keen frosty nights he had his house right at 11 o'clock p.m. 

 put on a good fire, as he expected a cold night, went out at 

 2 a.m., found his house far too hot, and then at 6 a.m. the pipes 

 were cold. Now, by the use of the damper, ashpit-door, and the 

 regulation of the fire-bars, there would be no difficulty when 

 used to the furnace to keep something like a uniform heat in 

 the pipes all night. It is necessary to clear these bars, remove 

 •linkers, &c., on lighting, and this may be required once or 

 twice before banking up for the night, if very coarse material, as 

 breeze and ashy cinders, is used ; but when a continuous uni- 

 form heat is wanted for the night, and there is already enough 

 of heat in the pipes, flue, &c., then much may be done by 

 patting the fuel down over the bars before adding more, in- 

 stead of poking it np, and opening vents for letting more air 

 in to supply rapid combustion. In the latter case the fire will 

 speedily burn out, in the former case the fire will bo all right 

 in the morning, after giving out a continuous moderate heatall 

 night. With such pimple precautions there need be no over- 

 heating — no wasting and jetting of next-to-boiling water, how- 

 ever small the place to be heated, if by cistern or otherwise 

 room is left for the natural expansion of water by heat. — E. F. 



J. Backhouse & Son, York. — Catalogue of Aljtine Plants and 

 Hardy Perennials. 



COVENT GARDEN MARKET.— FEiiRCABY 27. 



Severe as the wc.ither was in the early part of the year, the market 

 pardens furnish ua with plenty of the ordinary out-door vegetables. 

 Those of a superior character are supplied in sufficient tjuantitiea to keep 

 prices stationary, and consist of good Coniish Broccoli and a superior 

 sort from the Channel Islands. Forced vet^etables conaiat of Kidney 

 Beans, Sea-kale, AsparaRus, and Aah-loaved Kidney Potatoes. Pears 

 comprise Xe Plus Meuris, BemTe de Kance, and Easter Beorrti. Th« 

 Potato trade is rather heavy. 



VEGETABLES. 



Artichokes each 



Asparagus bnndle 



Beans, Kidney, per 100 



ScarletRun.^ sieve 



Beet, Red doz. 



Broccoli bundle 



Brus. Sprouts i sieve 



Cabbage doz. 



Capsicums 100 



Carrots bunch 



Cauliflower doz. 



Celery bundle 



Cucmubers each 



pickling .... doz. 



Endive doz. 



Fennel bunch 



Garlic lb. 



Herbs bunch 



Horseradish . . bundle 



8. d. s. 



6 too 



10 



4 







8 



S 



6 



S 











2 



3 



8 



S 



4 



Leeks bnnch 



Lettuce per doz. 



Muslirooms .... pottle 

 Mustd.& Cress, punnet 

 Onions. . . . per bushel 



Parsley per sieve 



Parsnips doz. 



Peas per quart 



Potatoes bushel 



Kidney do. 



Radishes doz. bunches 



Rhubarb bundle 



Savoys doz. 



Sea-Kale basket 



Shallots lb. 



Spinach bushel 



Tomatoes.... per doz. 



Turnips bunch 



Vegetable Marrows dz. 



Applea i sieve 2 



Apricots doz 



Cherries lb. 



Chestnuts bush. 10 



Currants ^ sieve 



Black do. 



Fips doz. 



Filberts lb. 



Cobs lb. 



Gooseberries ..quart 



Grapes, Hothouse, .lb. 6 



Lemons 100 5 



d. 



0to3 











IS 







FRUIT. 

 d 





 





 10 



Melons each 



Nectarines doz. 



Oranges 101) 



Peaches doz. 



Pears (dessert) ..doz. 



kitchen doz. 



Pine Apples lb. 



Plums \ sieve 



Quinces doz. 



Kaapberries lb. 



Strawberries lb. 



10 Walnuts bush. 10 20 



TRADE CATALOGUES RECEn^ED. 



F. & A. Dickaon & Sons, IOC, Eastgate Street, and Upton 

 nurseries, Chester. — Catalogue of Nrw and Select Agricultural 

 Seeds, d'c. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Landscape Gardener— Storing Appi.es and Pears {An Old 5ti&- 

 scrib^r). — We should not ventui'o to recommend as '• the best landscape 

 gardener in Yorkshire," any one whom we happened to estimate so super- 

 latively, but we kuow of none. If you refer to our No. 271, page 425, pub- 

 lished on the 5lh of last June, you will find a lengthy answer relative ta 

 storing Apples and Pears. 



Brown Patches on a Vine i Gia^^aump).— Most probably it is one of th« 

 species of scale (Coccus). Paint the f^tem and branches with a creamy 

 mixture of soft soap and flowers of sulphur, as often detailed in our 

 columns. The spotting of the berries probably arises from the roots oj 

 the Vine having descended into an unrjenial subsoil; if so, lilting tba 

 roots to near the surface, and keeping this well mulched and watered in 

 summer, will be the best treatment. 



Microscope (.-1 Young Botanist). — The microscope referred to would 

 answer all your purposes as a botanical microscope. The specimens to 

 be examined need no preparation. Apply to any dealer in second-hand 

 optical instruments. 



iNSECTTvoRons BiRDS FOR New Zeaiand (A. BX — We believe that they 

 are the soft-billed birds which are there in request. Starlings, wrens, 

 wagtails, fly-catchers, hedge-sparrows, &c.. would be acceptable. We 

 shall be obliged by mformaiion on this subject. 



Camellias (C. ilTaJor).— Either M. Van Houtte or 11. Verschaffelt, both 

 of tihent, could supply you. There is no firm of Langelier in Jer3ey now. 

 If you send fourteeu postage stamps with youc address, and order "The 

 Gardener's Year Book," you can have it free f lom our office by poet. It 

 contains the names of nurserymen throughout Europe. 



Planting Potatoes (A Pota G-roirer).— On your "hungry sandy soil,'* 

 we think 2 feet between the rows and 18 inches between the sets wolild 

 bo sufficient. 



Potting A'^aleas (J. H. H".).— It would be well to defer potting the 

 plants until the flowering is over, for if you repot now it is probable that 

 the plants will not flower so well as if the operation were deferred. In 

 potting tho ball should not be disturbed; merely remove any loose fioa 

 along with the drainage. The soil you purpose using will answer well. > 



Putting Fuchsias (Jdim).-'The plants should be turned out of the 

 pot.-;, jiud most of the old soil shaken away. You may then pot them in 

 seven-inch pots, and in a few days afterwards cut them in closely. When 

 the pots are full of roots shift the plants, before the roots become much 

 mntted against the sides of tho pots, into those inches in diameter, and 

 in the same manner transfer to 11 or i3-incb pots, whichever size you 

 prefer. You may grow the plants to the height you propose this season, 

 pinching the shoots well back to make them bushy. 



Hyacinths done Blooming iIdcvi].^You may plant out the pot Hya- 

 cinths in a warm open border after bloomii:g, provided you harden 

 them well off. 



Applying Lime and Salt (C C. EUwon).— The mixture may bo sown 

 over the ground planted with fruit trees of any kind ; but it would destroy 

 the leaves of Strawberries, Cabbages, and Lettuces if it fell upon them. 



