308 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ April 38, 1870. 



speaking of to warm the sides and top of the boiler, the heat 

 communicated by the red-hot fuel on the hollow bars still 

 keeps np a genial heat in the pipes. 



Some gardeners, I believe, object to the addition of the hollow 

 fire-bars to tho saddle boiler from fear of these becoming in- 

 crusted with a coating of lime, which is apt to attach itself to 

 them where hard well water is used ; but this could never 

 occur if they used rein water. 



I do not wish to recommend one boiler more than another, 

 insisting only on the advantage of the bars. Peculiar local 

 circumstances compel me to use the saddle construction, be- 

 cause I cannot make a hole deep enough to receive an upright 

 conical boiler. I think it very handy and convenient, and 

 that the more simple the manner in which it is made the more 

 satisfactory it must prove. The draught in the terminal boiler 

 is weakened by being divided between two side flues, and with 

 me the fuel does not burn through the night ; whereas, in my 

 old boiler where the smoke escaped at the end the fire never 

 went out, but could be stirred-up and set going again in the 

 morning. The person who has to attend to a boiler-fire will 

 certainly be thankful for a quick draught, which can always be 

 regulated by the ash-pit door and the damper in the chimney. 

 — A Constant Reader. 



[We are glad you so much approve of hollow water-bars for 

 the furnace of your saddle-back boilers. Our own experience 

 led us to form quite a different opinion. True, clinkers were 

 not so easily formed, but if they were when the fire was strong, 

 they were always troublesome and dangerous to dislodge, and 

 in a low fire when so much heat was not wanted, the hot-water 

 pipes used as bars became eo cool as greatly to retard even 

 slow combustion. It is but right, however, that both sides of 

 a question should be stated. The absorption of heat by bricks 

 in a furnace is not all loss, as that heat is given out again.] 



LAWN MOWERS. 



" Archameaud," at page 277, gives an account of the new 

 Archimedean lawn mower, which, I think, is calculated to mis- 

 lead the inexperienced about the requirements and capabilities 

 of what should coDstitute a good lawn mower. I think 

 " Archambaud" commits a mistake in asserting that the fine- 

 mess of construction of our English lawn mowers necessitates 

 the grass being of a certain quality. Surely he does not mean 

 that they will not cut any particular variety of grass, and as 

 to the bents, &c, I think the American will have no advantage 

 over the English lawn mowers. 



I have no doubt the Archimedean will cut longer grass than 

 most other machines, but that I do not count as being of any 

 advantage, as every gardener knows it is bad policy to let grass 

 get long before cutting, as it injures the fineness of the sward 

 more than anything else, neither does it save the labour that 

 some might be led to think it did. I think the rollers of our 

 lawn mowers are preferable to the skid or sole of the Archi- 

 medean, because, of course, the skid must slide on the uncut 

 grass, and being narrow must press it down more closely than 

 the rollers that are all the width of the machine ; besides, there 

 must be less friction with the roller than the skid. 



An important feature is claimed for the Archimedean — 

 namely, that by going over the ground two or three times a 

 very heavy sward may inch by inch be reduced ; but what 

 about the grass collecting? " .fi echambacd " says, "When it 

 is abundant it is easy to have it swept up." It may be " easy," 

 but, unfortunately, with most of us gardeners we should be- 

 grudge the time unnecessarily wasted in doing it, and wish the 

 machine were a collecting as well as a mowing one. In very dry 

 scorching weather, when the grass cut would soon dry up and 

 not be seen, then it is, I think, an advantage not to have a col- 

 lecting-box on the machines, as all go much lighter and easier 

 without one than with one. 



With me the whole question is, which of the different ma- 

 chines cuts the grass with the least labour ? I have a lively re- 

 collection of twenty years ago, when I and two others had to 

 work one of Budding's lC-iuch machines; now it would cut 

 almost anything, but if the one steering did not mind to keep 

 a uniform pressure on the handles, or if the two pulling gave a 

 sudden jerk, woe be to the Bward — I warrant every particle of 

 green disappeared in a moment. This was cutting with a 

 vengeance that no machine of the present day could surpass. 

 But what labour there was lost in the pressure of regulation, 

 which affixing front rollers saved. The next improvement was 

 making the machine much lighter, and another was putting 



more knives or cutters in the cylinder, so as to reduce the|ne- 

 cessity for such high speed. Budding's machines with five 

 cutters had to revolve about thirteen times in a yard ; Green's, 

 which are what we have in use here, with nine cutters, revolve 

 about seven times in a yard. Now, if the principle of low 

 speed of cylinder be correct, then the Archimedean must be 

 wrong, as it, with only two cutters, muBt have to revolve at a 

 very high speed to keep it from ribbing the grass. 



I am fully aware of the importance of having proper garden 

 assistants in the shape of the best machine and tools. Perhaps 

 there is none which admits of more diversity of choice than 

 the lawn mower ; as it is the most costly of all our implements, 

 it is that which we ought to be the most careful in selecting. 

 My object in writing thiB is neither to praise nor depreciate any 

 particular machine, but to caution the inexperienced from 

 being led to purchase any novelty without its first having had a 

 proper and fair trial, and this can only be done by comparing it 

 with others under the same conditions at the same time. The 

 proper authority to do so would be a body like the Royal Hor- 

 ticultural Society. I think it is a matter in the gardening 

 wgrld of sufficient importance to merit their attention. — Hobt. 

 Feathebbtone, The Gardens, St. Ann's Villa, Burletj, Leeds. 



THE GARDENER AND THE COOK. 



It is the custom here to Bend into the kitchen every morning 

 at ten o'clock for the garden orders, but the cook maintains 

 that the gardener himself should go in and consult the bill of 

 fare, which is hung np in the kitchen every morning, and so 

 judge what vegetables are required. I should feel obliged by 

 your telling me what is customary and proper. — A. D. 



"You are so far highly favoured as to have the wants of the 

 day settled at ten o'clock. Such a system prevents great an- 

 noyance and great loss of time in journeys between the garden 

 and the kitchen. As to the matter in dispute between you and 

 the cook, we say that the best plan is for every servant to 

 attend to his own business — that it is the business of the gar- 

 dener to grow the vegetables, and for the cook to select the 

 most suitable for the various dishes. By lists of vegetables or 

 other means the gardener should let the cook know what is to 

 be had. To lay the obligation on the gardener to supply the 

 right vegetables according to the bill of fare is to expect him 

 to be quite up in some of the greatest intricacies of the culi- 

 nary art, as many dishes depend very much on the accompany- 

 ing vegetable for giving them an additional relish. Speaking 

 thus on the common- sense view of the matter, let us add, how- 

 ever, that if an eminent cook was so obliging as to consult us 

 on the suitable dishes of vegetables for a very varied bill of 

 fare, we would snap at the opportunity for increasing our know- 

 ledge in this direction. How is it that the dispute has arisen ? 

 A little courtesy is often more profitable than standing on the 

 mere right of a thing. Mind the advice of Wattie Dickson to 

 the young gardeners he sent out by scores — " Sow thick, thin 

 quick, and keep friends with the cook." — R. F.] 



NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



We understand that the project of establishing a Society fob 

 the Encouragement of Floeists' Flowers has been mooted, 

 the Society to hold its meetings at the Crystal Palace, and that 

 its first object would be to resuscitate the autumn show held 

 there. We may add that the authorities at the Crystal Palace 

 are willing to help the matter forward. 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 

 kitchen garden. 

 This is an excellent time to make a principal sowing of all 

 the late or spring varieties of Broccoli, such as Portsmouth, 

 Sulphur, Dwarf Late White, Knight's Protecting, and Somers' 

 Particularly Late White; the last-named, being a late Broccoli, 

 forms a link between the late spring Broccoli and the hand- 

 glass Cauliflowers. Sow Chervil, Chicory, Hampton, and a bed 

 of Sweet Marjoram on a warm slope. The last is much 

 hardier than Basil, and will do very well in this way. A few 

 Kidney Beans may be put in on a warm border. Make a sowing 

 forthwith of Scarlet Runners; a couple of rows about 5 feet 

 apart, and the sticks from each row meeting overhead as an 

 arcade, have a very good effect, and the plan, altogether, is ser- 

 viceable. Runners delight in a rich soil ; a couple of rows 

 about 8 feet apart, and running north and touth, afford an ex- 



