168 



JODBNAL OP HORTiaULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



t Febniary 19, 1874. 



roots, redueo the crop, and displaeo old wood with young; but 

 it the object is to diminish vigour and produce more fruit, go 

 at once to the roots and shorten them. 



In the article on this subject, page 54, second column, the 

 words, " The whole economy of the tree is disordered," should 

 be omitted. — .T. Tatloe, Maesijinjnne. 



BALSAM CULTURE. 



Thehe are few plants grown for the decoration of the con- 

 servatory or show-house that are more beautiful than the 

 Balsam. \'ery pleasing is their combination with other choice 

 plants, being graceful in outhne, with a profusion of soft- 

 tinted flowers relieved by an abundance of delicate foliage. 

 They are easy of culture ; their flowers have a delicate perfume, 

 and where a constant display is requh-ed, they are of great value 

 to the gardener. They should be grown about 2 feet 6 inches 

 to 3 feet in height, and about 20 to 24 inches through, and as 

 vase plants or for the dinner-table they have few equals. I 

 usually sow in the first week of the new year, and about every 

 two months up to .Tune or .July to keep up a succession. A 

 suitable compost is good fibry loam, leaf mould, and old de- 

 cayed cow dung and silver sand. It ought to be borne in 

 mind that few plants suffer more from any sudden change of 

 temperature than the Balsam, therefore the compost should be 

 warmed. It is best finely sifted ; give good drainage ; cover 

 the seeds about an eighth of an inch deep, and plunge the 

 pots in a gentle bottom heat ; then water sparingly tUl the 

 plants appear, when they must be well exposed to light. As 

 soon as they have made their second leaves transplant them 

 into large GO-pots, the pots being first placed in the house to 

 get warmed (if not new, they must be well washed), for the 

 Balsam is very susceptible of injury from damp or cold, 

 although not requiring a high temperature to grow it suc- 

 cessfully. In potting, great care is required to separate the 

 plants carefully so as not to injure the roots, and not to press 

 the sou too firmly so as to bruise the soft stems of the plants ; 

 cover the stem up to the seed leaf. They require to be 

 shaded for a few days tUl their roots get hold, after that 

 shading may be discontinued, and the plants exposed to the 

 air and light. The water applied should be tepid, and liquid 

 manure frequently given them. The more liberal the treatment 

 the stronger the growth. Never allow the plants to want for 

 water, but give it them according to growth. A suitable tem- 

 perature is 72° to 75°, and on sunny days they will take no 

 harm at 80°. 



The bottom branches should be kept pegged down to the sur- 

 face of the puts. As soon as they have tilled the pots with 

 roots they must be repotted. Never allow them to become 

 pot-bound. I pick the flowers off till they are of the size re- 

 quired. The pots must be shifted into a cooler house before 

 being placed iu the conservatory, so that they may not suffer 

 from a sudden change. In the summer plunge them up to 

 the rim in ashes in a pit. Last year I had them in bloom iu 

 February in the conservatory, and kept up a succession to the 

 end of the season. — F. P. Luckhukst, Slill Bank Hall, 



GREEN'S BOILERS. 



In the interest of those who are about to erect or change 

 hot-water apparatus for plant structures, and wish to have 

 the evidence of recent practical tests, we can add our own 

 favourable testimony to that given by the Eoyal Horticultural 

 Society, in its report, on the efficiency of Green's new wrought- 

 iron boiler (saddle-fashion). It should be previously remarked 

 that the boiler sent out by Messrs. Green & Son in 1869 

 and the present boiler are as dissimilar as possible ; the im- 

 provements carried out in the latter constitute it one of 

 the most effective apparatus ever offered for horticultural 

 purposes. 



The large one now at work in our establishment is 4 feet 

 6 inches in length, 4 feet 6 inches in height, and 2 feet 4 inches 

 in width ; heating most efficiently 3393 feet of 3 and 5-iuch 

 piping, part of which is 240 feet from the boiler, and a con- 

 siderable extent of it is 200 feet distant, whilst its present 

 power is such as to warrant in milder weather an average circu- 

 lation of 5 to 800 feet further in extent. This boiler admits 

 of 80 square fset of heating-surface fully exposed to the 

 action of the fire, which acts on four flat water plates across 

 the boiler, each plate being 2 feet in width by 4 feet in length, 

 the collective heat being utUised within the boiler without 

 waste in the flue or chimney, thus heating a greater extent 



of surface than any other boiler yet known to us. Amongst 

 its advantages are the following : — When placed in the usual 

 recess under cover it requkes no brickwork iu setting. In 

 the event of any injury or accident the boiler can be removed 

 by an efficient workman, without interfering with the bottom 

 tubular bars, and be replaced with another in nine hours. 



These very important features have served to displace the 

 upright tubular boiler in favour of the present one, the former 

 being found impracticable to repair within a period of safety, 

 and otherwise involving a very considerable risk and expense. 

 Having had to remove two of the upright tubular boilers in 

 consequence of fracture, and each involves a whole week to 

 replace, it will on comparison be readily inferred that our 

 present boiler is really a boon to horticultural estabUshments. 

 With the upright tubular boiler connected with the same ex- 

 tent of piping we never average more than an intermediate 

 temperature, falling far short of the heat required when most 

 needed ; whereas in our present boiler we find no difficulty in 

 maintaining an average hothouse heat. 



As a proof that Green's boiler utilises the whole heat with- 

 out waste, the flues leading to the chimney are nearly cool iu 

 comparison with other boilers iu full work. The flues formerly 

 requh'ed special precaution to be taken to avert danger by the 

 waste heat rushing along the flues and passing through lofts 

 where hay and mats were stored for convenience ; this risk is 

 now entirely removed by the waste heat being duly turned 

 to its proper account. We calculate that this boiler does its 

 work cleverly and uniformly with two-thirds of the fuel required 

 for the No. 5 upright tubular, which this replaces, and a still 

 further important saving is effected by its fuel not being 

 restricted to coke ; such is the equable power of its combustion 

 that the fire burns equally briskly with a general mixture of 

 clay mixed with cinders or other combustible garden refuse. 

 Having a large bed of extracted clay contiguous we feed our 

 fires with it throughout the day, and bank-up with coke at 

 night. Being formed with water bars, the five chamber is not 

 encumbered with large clinkers, neither is the fuel subject to 

 hanging up as in some other boilers : hence it is far more 

 readily cleaned, and by its equable combustion can be safely 

 left for a length of time without risk of check in circulation. 



This boiler is found superior to any other yet used by us ; 

 its special merits being quick circulation, economy in fuel, 

 sustained power, and adaptation for immediate repair or re- 

 placement under any possible exigency. We have four of these 

 boilers alilie efficient in their working, and we shall have plea- 

 sure in showing the apparatus at work to any gentleman 

 amateur, or gardener. — E. G. Henderson & Son, Wellington 

 Nurserij, St. John's IVood. 



NOTES BY THE WAT.— No. 2. 

 It was a bright frosty morning when I left Lyons on the 

 yth of this mouth (January) and turned my face southward by 

 the railway to JIarseilles. It was not long before the train 

 I eutered the grand valley of the Rhone, not now smiling with 

 I rich verdure and luscious fruits, as I have often seen it before, 

 but shrouded in a garment of white, indicating that for a time 

 nature was dead, only to spring into the renewed life which is 

 sure to follow. The Yine-dressers were busy with their 3erpettes, 

 cutting-out the last year's wood and binding it into little bundles 

 for fire-kindlers. Those of the Mulberries which required 

 pollarding were undergoing that operation. I do not mean 

 the black-fruited Mulberry, but the white, which is grown for 

 its leaves to serve as food for the silkworm ; for, be it remem- 

 bered, we are now iu the region of silk, and here in this fertile 

 valley is it produced in lai'ge quantities all the way down to 

 Marseilles and MontpeUier. 'The trees are just Uke pollard 

 Willows, the object being to obtain as strong shoots and vigor- 

 ous leaves as possible, and this can only be done by cutting- 

 down the large branches and inducing a strong young growth. 

 How the old grey rocky steeps reflected back the bright light 

 of a glorious sun, which accompanied us all the way til! we 

 passed Montelimart ! and then he went down under the hills 

 of Arduche, leaving us in darkness all the way to Marseilles. 

 It is a grand sight, the valley of the Ehone, either in summer 

 or in winter, but in winter especially it looks stern and severe, 

 fenced-up as it is on either side by the rugged and almost pre- 

 cipitous mountains of grey rock ; but these in summer, where 

 terraces have been formed, are smiling with fruitful Vines. 

 The Alps, sensibly near by the cold air they diff'used as we 

 approached them, were covered with snow, which the declining 

 .sun lit with a varied beauty. After passing Orange and Avignon 



