April 11, 18C7. ] 



JOUKNAL OF HOBTIC0LTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



259 



spike from a plant in Qowcr here. As a plant for table decora- 

 tion it is a valuable addition, and for bedding purposes far 

 superior to either Pcrilla or Coleus Verscbaflelti, it having 

 remained bere uniDJured by frost, wben both the others were 

 killed. — Samuel Waits, Gardener, Abcylasncy, Carmurthen. 



HEATING AND UTILISING A HOUSE-OF-ALL- 

 WORK. . 



My greenhouse is a lean-to, 30 feet by 14, and the aspect 

 S.S.W. ; the back wall, lined with brick, is 'J feet i> inches 

 high, the front wall (i feet high ; the roof, rather flat, is fixed, 

 and glazed with 21-oz. glass in squares 20 inches by Ifi. The 

 front lights are all made to open, and there are wood shutters 

 as ventilators in the back wall, three on a level with the front 

 lights, and two others jnst under the top of the wall-plate, 

 each measuring 2 feet inches by 9 inches. There is a door 

 3 feet wide exactly in the middle of each end. The east end 

 consists of 3 feet of stone, with glass above ; the west end is a 

 9-inch brick wall, with 16 inches deep of glass at top. I have 

 hitherto used a Walker's iron stove to exclude frost, placed 

 exactly in the centre of the whole length against the back wall. 

 What I aim at is, to grow Vines with little or no forcing ; to 

 preserve bedding plants through the winter ; to propagate cut- 

 tings, &o. ; and to use, if practicable, the propagating-bed or 

 pit for Cucumbers, possibly Melons, when spring propagation 

 is over. Is the combination of these objects practicable ? 



The present internal ari'angement is as follows : — The whole 

 floor is laid with common flooring-tiles 9 inches square ; against 

 the back wall is an earth-bed 2 feet 6 inches wide from end to 

 end, (except a space of 2 feet (J inches where the present stove 

 stands), kept up by an 18-inch brick wall. Three rows of wood 

 pegs in the wall support three tiers of shelves. The front is 

 thus arranged :^.4. series of brick piers 9 inches square, is 

 built at a distance of 3 feet 3 inches, outside measure, from 

 the front wall, all being open below, which piers support flags 

 about 2J inches thick running the whole length, i'rom the 

 upper surface of the flags, which is 2 feet 9 inches above the 

 floor, is a farther height of 1 foot to the level of the wall-plate, 

 with 20 inches of glass above, making the whole height from 

 the floor to the wall-plate 3 feet 9 inches. Into the brick piers, 

 both front and back, I have built some bars of oue-eighth-inch 

 sheet iron, 15 inches long by 14 wide, so as to project 3 inches 

 on either side of the piers. Upon these, from front to back, I 

 lay cross stays of wood, of course 3 feet 3 inches long, being 

 the width of the flags above, which support a most convenient 

 row of shelves, moveable at pleasure. Under the shelves, on 

 the floor, I store flower-pots, coke, and watering-cans, and 

 upon the shelves, boxes, tools, &c. I should be obliged by 

 some suggestions as to heating. — G. P. C. 



[We should have preferred your greenhouse vinery 14 feet 

 wide, and 6 feet high iu front, to have been more than 94 feet 

 high at back, as the flatness of the roof will render it chiefly 

 useful for summer crops, though also suitable for keeping plants 

 in winter. We think that you wiU have abundance of ven- 

 tilation, and no doubt these openings in the back wall, on a 

 level with the front lights, will be useful, but we would have 

 preferred three instead of two ventilators, just under the apex 

 at the top of the wall, as that will be the hottest place. How- 

 ever, it would be a pity to alter them now after the wall is ' 

 finished, but if }'ou find these two ventilators do not give you 

 quite enough of air in very hot weather, you can take out a 

 square of glass just under the apex at each end, leave them out 

 in summer, and replace them in the end of autumn. You will 

 hardly want this if you grow Cucumbers and Melons in summer, 

 and in that case it will not be advisable to open much the 

 lower ventilators iu the back wall. 



Now, as to your proposed combinations : — 1. Ton may grow 

 Grapes with little or no forcing ; but with little heat we would 

 have preferred Muscat Hamburgh, Koyal Muscadine, and Buck- 

 land Sweetwater, to be joined to the four Hamburghs, instead 

 of Muscat of Alexandria, and Grizzly Frontignan. To ripen 

 the latter well will require more heat than would ripen the 

 Hamburghs. 



2. The house will do admirably for yonr bedding plants. 



3. To propagate by cuttings in spring, and at other times. 

 This would be best done in winter and early spring, if the 

 Tines are iu the house, and you have no desire to start them early 

 so as to necessitate forcing, by having a part of the house heated, 

 and covered with glass, &c, whilst the rest of the house may be 

 kept cool, with plenty of air, to suit bedding plants. 



4. Provided such heat can be given. Cucumbers and Melons 

 can be grown in the same house at the same time with the 

 Vines, where the Vines do not shade. Before the Vines shade 

 they might be grown in the centre of the house, in the eight- feet 

 space left, in pots. Even after the Vines were pretty well 

 established, you might have a narrow frame or box nearly 4 feet 

 iu width set in the middle of the house, with paths 2 feet 

 wide, back and front, and if you threw bottom heat into that, 

 by hot water or otherwise, and covered the glass at night to 

 keep in the heat, you could have early Cucumbers growing 

 there by the time the Vines were budding, and then when the 

 Vines were in full leaf, the rays of light that would pass would 

 serve pretty well for the Cucumbers in early summer, after the 

 glass of the frames was removed. There is often loss, however, 

 in attempting too much, and, therefore, though we would not 

 object to a few pots of Cucumbers and Melons, we would advise 

 making your house chiefly subservient t» Vines, bedding plants, 

 and other greenhouse plants, and having a propagating-bcd 

 heated separately. 



We consider that the Walker's iron stove you now possesg 

 is quite sufficient for ripening late Grapes and keeping bedding 

 plants over the winter, but you cannot well use it for securing 

 heat for propagating-purposes. As you are acquainted with 

 the brick .Irnott's stove and the small boiler used by Mr. 

 Rivers, then you cannot do better than use one of them ; and 

 as you have gone to the expense of the stone platform in front, 

 and wish that to be the base of your propagating-bed, we 

 would advise the stove to stand in front of the house, and 

 there it must be sunk so much that the top of the small boiler 

 is not higher — better a few inches lower — than the level of your 

 stone platform. You must not have the boiler higher than 

 the pipes or tank will be, but as much below as possible. 



You have shown the proposed stove placed near the front o£ 

 the house with a short horizontal pipe, as we always recom- 

 mend for such stoves, and then an upright pipe through a 

 square of plate iron instead of glass, which is quite correct, and 

 better than the other proposed plan of taking the smoke-pipe 

 across the house under the glass, and then out near the back 

 of the house. The additional dry heat thus gained would be 

 anything but real profit ; and if the furnace and ash-pit doors 

 are close, the draught can be so regulated that there will be 

 little loss of heat. But for the pleasure of doing all the stove 

 work inside, such a stove could be placed close to the front wall, 

 and the openings for feeding and ashes might be outside the 

 house. 



There need be no difficulty as to soot collecting in the short 

 horizontal pipe close to the stove, as, if coke or clean cinders are 

 used, little will collect so near the fire. A brush may be passed 

 down the pipe now and then, and the soot may be pulled out 

 easily from the horizontal part when the feeding-door is nearly 

 opposite the smoke-pipe. In all such stoves it is desirable t» 

 have the feeding-door a foot or 18 inches above the grate-bars, 

 and then a small poker must be used, and the hand put in oa 

 lighting. Of course this gives a little trouble. In a recent 

 volume there is a plan of fire-bars which fall down into the ash- 

 pit, and thus allow all to be easily cleaned out, and which are 

 as easily put in their place again. All stoves inside of a house 

 require a little nicety iu management, and as economy in fuel 

 is a great object, the high feoding-doorwe consider in that light 

 to be an advantage ; otherwise there is no objection whatever 

 to what you propose— namely, a high feeding-door, and a door 

 opposite, just above the fire-bars, to permit of easily cleaning 

 out and easily lighting — except the expense of the additional 

 door, and the difficulty of so keeping it close as to prevent 

 more draught than would be required; for after being fairly 

 set going, the economy of such stoves consists in imparting a 

 genial constant heat with the smallest consumption of fuel. 



It is never desirable to make the water boil in the pipes. 

 The fire must be replenished according to the heat wanted. 

 When the heat is strong from a keen draught, the coke or fuel 

 will become mostly incandescent, and when the draught of air 

 is lessened the fuel will remain so a long time before being con- 

 sumed. How the heat rises from the coke to the boiler that formg 

 the top of the stove, would just lead us to tell how the heat riseg 

 from the grate in a kitchen to the large pot or kettle that is 

 placed over it. 



There need be no fear of deficient draught if your horizontal 

 pipe is short, from 1 to 2 feet in length, and then turns upright 

 into the open air ; but if you have the least doubt satisfy 

 yourself by all means, by trying the stove first without the 

 boiler. It would be well to have a cowl over the top of your 

 smoke-pipe outside, to prevent the rain finding its way into 



