Jrty 26, J866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTtinE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



7■^ 



So much for oue aide of tbo house. You will rpp that no 

 iron rods are required for the other siiie, on wliich the BheetK 

 have simply to he pliieed iikin^ the line a b, their upper BideH 

 resting upon the edge of the nheetB of the other side of the 

 house, leaving ahout un inch overlap as under. (Ste_/i(;. li.J 



a. Glass. 



Fig 8. 

 b, Ground. 



However, before meddling with the side a b, wc must first 

 properly fix the side c i) as follows : — At the point m {fii/. 2.) 

 about opposite the iron rod c, and close to the edge where the 

 glass meets the ground, insert perpendicularly into the soil the 

 smaller half of one of the bent wires in such a position that by 

 pressing it down to the angle the longer half shall lie close 

 along the lower edge of the glass pointing in the direction 

 of D iriy. 7.) 



Fig. 7. 



Now gently raise the longer end of the wire w till you get it 

 in the position of the dotted line x. 



For ventilation I have nearly a dozen modes all in use 

 to-day, within view of my desk, and, except in large houses, 

 none of them adding one penny to the expense. When you 

 recognise the immense power of the bent wires, some of these 

 modes will at once occur to you. Meanwhile spare me the 

 naming of them till I hear your opinion of the main plan of 

 erection. 



I may say in advance of objections that I have never lost a 

 sheet of glass from wind or frost, my only loss occurring from 

 incautiously liandling the wires before I knew their power. It 

 properly fixed they never slip. Of course the overlap at the 

 ridge should, in windy situations, face the mildest quarter. 



I have given measurements, but after a little practice they 

 are very immaterial. I stick my rods and wires in any way 

 to a few inches, and make them accommodate each other by 

 raising or lowering as seems required. 



The fixing of the gables will best illustrate what I meant in 

 a former letter by metallic reflectors. The backs of my 

 lean-to are sheets of glass, upright, with the metallic reflector 

 (of which further if you wish it) coating the surface. This acts 

 as a substitute for a low brick wall, and I have a theory that 

 solar hgbt has properties iu relation to vegetation when 

 reflected «.s lii/lit very different from those of solar heat ra- 

 diated from substances that have absorbed it. 



I feel quite sure that using four-feet brick walls as a back, 

 cheap sheets of very large glass might be specially made to 

 render Peaches frostproof, hut this is travelling a little out of 

 the region of my own practice. — \Vm. McGowas. 



A NEW HEATING APPARATUS. 



During our brief visit to Washington, we stopped for a few 

 minutes at the garden of the Agricultural Department, which 

 is in charge of Wm. Saunders, Esq., one of the most accom- 

 plished of American horticulturists. Since our last visit 

 here, a new propagating-house has been erected, combining 

 advantages in the way of heating desired by Mr. Saimders, that 

 are at once efficient and economical. 



It is well known that the old mode of flue-heating has been 

 iu a great measure superseded by the hot water system. One 



great drawback against its more general introduction, is its ex- 

 in'iisc. Boilers and pipes an! c(>stly. particularly so since the 

 advance in the price of iron ; frequently it costs more to procure 

 and (it uji the apparatus, than it does to build the houses, and, 

 after all, there is a great waste of heat passing off at the chimney. 



For producing what is technically known as bottoni-heat in a 

 )>ropagating-ljed, there is no way of distributing wiirmth over 

 tt large surface so equally and economically as through water. 

 The conducting power of water gives it the superiority in this 

 respect, while it must be admitted that so far as economy of 

 fuel is concerned, the old flue has the advantage. To combine 

 the two modes has long been considered a desideratum, and 

 this seems to be done in a very effectual manner in the house 

 alluded to. The house is about 80 feet in length, divided by a 

 partition across the middle. In one end is a ]m>pagating-bed, 

 '3!> feet by 8} feet. The other end is fitted up with staging for 

 pots, the object being to heat the bed without heating the 

 atmosphere further than will be provided by radiation from the 

 surface of the bed, while the atmosphere of the other portion is 

 lieatcd by a flue. 



The furnace is placed opposite the middle of the house, and 

 has also some peculiarities of construction, which we did not 

 have fully explained, but our attention was attracted to the 

 simple mode of heating the water in the tank wliich underlies 

 the bed. Within a few feet of the furnace, a small piece of 

 bent four-inch )iipe is inserted with two arms, one of which is 

 the How and the other the return. This ])ipe altogether is 

 about 1.5 feet iu length, 9 feet of which lies in the flue ; and the 

 heat, as it passes this pipe, is Bufficient to maintain an average 

 temperature of 110° in the water, with moderate fire. If required, 

 we understood that it could be raised to 120° with ease. Th<' 



shape of the pipe is as shown in this sketch, the bent portion 

 being in the flue, which is represented by the horizontal lines. 

 The simplicity and cheapness of this arrangement is manifest. 

 Any plumber can make the boiler (for such it really is), and 

 any labourer can fix it in its place. Its cost can always be 

 readily ascertained, being little more than tlie cost of so many 

 feet of three or four-inch pipe. It can also he extended, and 

 several tanks heated from the same fire. A side tank 40 feet 

 by 2 feet is iu this case warmed by a small piece of two-inch 

 pipe, let down through the top of the same flue that contains 

 the four-inch pipe above DIustrated. — (Surgo Journal.) 



VINES FAILING— RED SPIDER. 



We have an old vinery heated by flues. We formerly had pro- 

 digious crops of Grapes from a double set of Vines, half planted 

 outside, and half in, those inside against the back wall. Some 

 time ago we changed our gardener, and as the old Vines were in 

 a bad state, and had not home well lately, we thought it right to 

 replant the house, which was done, putting double the number 

 of Vines in the outside border, and leaving the old ones inside, 

 to continue bearing until the young Vines were strong enough 

 to fruit. Last year we had a very good crop on the old Vines, 

 but this year all the Vines had the red spider, and the young 

 ones much the worst. Our new gardener says it was owing 

 to the flues being so close to the openings where the Vine.s 

 come in, and wants to have the flues lowered a foot all round 

 the front of the house ; but before we have this done, I thought 

 I would ask your advice, as the old gardener always obtained as 

 good Grapes as to size and quality as any iu the neighbour- 

 hood. The Vines come into the house just 10 inches above 

 the flue. The Grapes were started last year the middle of 

 .January.— F. W. S. 



[It is just possible that were you to lower the flue you might 

 much iujm-e the draught. The hot weather has been much in 

 favour of the red spider this season, and it will easily obtain 

 the mastery if not combated with a little sulphur, and plenty 

 of moisture. Ten inches is a good distance for the Grape 



