270 



JOURNAL OP HOBTIOULTDEE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ April 2, 1874 



no more ; and although a large amonnt of heat is unques- 

 tionably wasted in most beating apparatus, no contrivance 

 yet adopted can utilise the whole, and the apparatus must be 

 very defective indeed which allows so large a proportion as 

 stated above to be wasted. As the best contrivances cannot 

 prevent a certain quantity being lost in this way, we may take 

 it for granted that no heating apparatus yet devised is fault- 

 less. One general law, however, seems to apply to such appa- 

 ratus, and that is, where a considerable quantity of piping is 

 to be heated, less fuel is required when it is accomplished by 

 one boiler than by several ; but other things often limit this, 

 as the loss sustained by conveying the heated water through 

 channels that do not want heating, which is often the case 

 where the farthest house in a range requires to be heated and 

 the nearer ones do not, besides, also, the inconvenience where 

 any misfortune befalls the boiler or its connection when so 

 much work has to be done. It is all very well to say that a 

 second boiler has been fixed in reserve to meet such emergen- 

 cies, but there are always pipes, elbows, or connections placed 

 in such positions in a large apparatus that there is a liability 

 now and then of a breakdown when the boiler cannot be used 

 until they be repaired ; therefore, too many houses ought not 

 to be heated from one source alone. 



Of the newer class of boilers claiming the attention of the 

 public I have but little to say, as there are many of which I 

 have not had any practical experience ; but one that was brought 

 before the public twenty-five years ago was, I think, deserving 

 more notice than it has received. It was formed in the shape 

 of a spiral screw, so that the flame in travelling upwards 

 had to traverse a square flue, three out of the four sides of 

 ■which were boiler, the other brickwork. This, from practical 

 experience, I knew acted very well, as also did the old conical 

 boiler ; one that heats portions of the mansion here has done 

 BO for nearly thirty years, and does its duty still in an efficient 

 manner. It has the advantage of being large, and is conse- 

 quently not Uable to the choking-up in the feeding place as 

 small boilers often are. Other boilers have also their advan- 

 tages, but I find the saddle, either in the old or in some of the 

 improved forms, is afcer all the most useful, and consequently 

 the most popular. Many and various have been the supposed 

 merits of the different boilers invented, and which have been 

 backed-up by testimonials from those whose opinion is worthy 

 of notice, yet somehow these boilers fall into disuse, and are 

 succeeded by newer inventions. Many years ago the tubular 

 boiler was the fashion, but it certainly has not in all cases 

 answered the expectations entertained of it, and it is not un- 

 frequently removed to make way for the old saddle again. 

 Other boUers have suffered a similar fate, and at the present 

 time f ome attention has been given to a boiler heated from a 

 fire which also acts as a sort of limekiln. Of the merits of 

 this invention it is difficult to speak, but if I ventured an 

 opinion it would be that its popularity will be of only short 

 duration, as it certainly does not seem adapted for the majority 

 of ca.ses where glass structures require heating, and I shall be 

 much surprised if a year or two do not consign it to neglect, if 

 not oblivion. 



It cannot be said that any mode of heating yet adopted is 

 perfect, for in spite of all the contrivances brought to bear on 

 the matter, a waste of heat always takes place, and to limit 

 this waste to the lowest fraction is the aim of those who 

 attempt the reformation of our boilers. To accomplish this 

 object all kinds of vessels containing water have been sub- 

 jected to the action of fire, and fire has also been used in 

 other ways than in heating water, not the least important 

 being the old flue; and where a cheap house is built merely 

 to winter such plants as want protection from the frost, 

 a flue is the most convenient mode of accomplishing that 

 object. The general mode of heating glass structures re- 

 quired for forcing has for many years been by hot water, and 

 the improvements in joints and the other features connected 

 with the circulation of water seem to be so well understood 

 at the present day, that the principal requirement appears to 

 be a more economical boiler — one that will receive the whole of 

 the heat the fuel is capable of impai'ting without any loss, ( r 

 with the least that is possible, for the nearest approach to per- 

 fection that can be attained will fall short of economising the 

 whole heat the fuel is capable of giving off. When combustion 

 is so regulated as to insure the whole heat of the fuel being 

 directed to the heating of the object, then, and not till then, 

 shall we be able to say that our heating apparatuses have 

 reached that verge of perfection which is the aim of all our 

 boiler-makers ; at the same tune the apparatus should be of 



that simple kind which requires the minimum of attention. 

 How nearly we have arrived at this point in our most approved 

 modes of beating is, of course, one of those matters on which 

 opinions rather than facts too often guide our judgment; in- 

 deed, it is difficult to dissociate the one from the other. Be 

 that as it may, there is no doubt but the various advocates of 

 rival heating apparatuses each claim to have arrived at a. 

 higher degree of perfection than their neighbours. How far 

 they all fall short of fulfilling what is required in this way is 

 for the public to determine, but certain it is there is yet plenty 

 of room for improvement. — J. Eobson. 



AUEICULAS. 



I AM glad to see that " D., Deal," is oaUing the attention of 

 florists back to their old but now almost discarded favourite, 

 the Auricula. To anyone who has a taste for simple beauty a 

 stand of these mountain gems has more attraction than the 

 gaudy beds of flaring colours so much in vogue ; but I fear 

 that Nature herself has set a limit to the number of those 

 who cultivate the Auricula by forbidding its rapid and ex- 

 tensive propagation. It is more than doubtful if the largest 

 grower in the kingdom could supply a customer with blooming 

 specimens of all the varieties contained even in " D.'s " short 

 list. To supply a dozen customers would be simply an im- 

 possibihty. Seedlings alone can be multiplied indefinitely. 



Some thirty years ago I visited that veteran grower, Dickson, 

 of Acre Lane. He complained of the increasing smoke of the 

 locality, and the injury which it did to the plants. His com- 

 post was two parts loam, one sand, one peat, and two old 

 manure {probably cow). This differs somewhat from other 

 recipes, but the real difficulty lies in the different meanings 

 which different persons attach to the word " loam." It may 

 mean anything from the stiffest clay to a soil approaching 

 sand. The thin turfy layer which is found upon chalk downs 

 would probably be the finest soil, not only for Auricula compost, 

 but for most purposes. 



The great enemy of the Auricula is canker. It is with diffi- 

 dence that I offer the suggestion that this probably commences 

 either at the point where the tap-root has been shortened in 

 repotting, or where offsets have been removed and the wounded 

 part has been buried in the soil. Pounded charcoal should be 

 applied to cuts, but I doubt if this is sufficient. The wounds 

 in the stem may be dried and healed before earthing-np, but 

 this cannot be done with the cut end of a tap-root. 



Alpines are pleasing and healthy. Among blues Conspicua 

 is good, but might be better, and with a view to improve it I 

 crossed a flower with the show variety Smith's Mrs. Smith. 

 Among the seedlings two turned out very good. The colour 

 was beautiful, but the paste was yellow like the female parent. 

 The habit of the plants also was quite Alpine. — G. S. 



LIQUID VERSUS SOLID FERTILISERS. 



TuEEE are certain periods in the growth of fruit trees when 

 they do not require stimulants — for instance, when they com- 

 mence making roots in spring, also when the fruit on them 

 is approaching maturity, and in the autumn when the wood 

 should be ripening. On the other hand, during the first 

 swelling of the fruit a little stimulant is generally beneficial. 

 If the stimulant is mixed with the soil the trees, of course, 

 have the chance of partaking of it continually ; if it is appUed 

 with water, then it can be given just at the time the trees fnost 

 require it. When ordinary manure is applied with the soil at 

 the time of planting, the trees grow vigorously for a year 

 or two and bear little or no fruit ; when they become less 

 vigorous and begin to fruit, the benefit of the manure, if they 

 could then obtain it, might do them good, but it is decomposed 

 and become a useless inert mass that rather tends to lower 

 the temperature of the natural soil than otherwise. While it 

 is decomposing it affords warmth and nourishment, but that 

 is generally at the time it is least wanted. Therefore I do not 

 think it is a good plan to mix ordinary manure with the soil 

 iu which permanent trees are planted. 'SVith plants that only 

 remain one or two years in a place the case is different; by the 

 time they have exhausted the manure they are removed, and 

 fresh plants and fresh manure take their place. 



I think it very important to have the soil of the right texture 

 — neither too light nor too heavy and close, but in such a state 

 that it may continue for an indefinite time to admit sufficient 

 air and water. I have great faith in aeration, not by means of 

 perpendicular pipes, but by good drainage and abundance oi 



