378 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



June 15, 1831. 



a warm, clear sunsliiiie day that swarming takes 

 place,' and, should the sun be obscured by a cloud, 

 the swarming process is most certainly interrupted 

 and they await the moment when it shines forth 

 in full lustre.' It appears from the above state- 

 ments that this is not an infallible guide ; and I 

 have been induced to communicate the circum- 

 stance of my bees having swarmed in weather, en- 

 tirely different from that decribed in his chapter 

 on swariniiij;, in the hope that it may he needful 

 in guarding bee keepers against relying implicitly 

 upon any state of the atmosphere, after the bee.-s 

 have evinced a disposition to leave the liive ; the 

 consequence of which may be the loss of many 

 valuable swarms. 



Your obedient servant, 



Wh. p. Endicott. 

 Danvers, June 7, 1831. 



BLAST ON CHERRY TREES. 



Mr Fessenden — As a preventive of the blast, 

 which has been so injurious to the cherry tree 

 of late, 1 think you may with confid enee recom- 

 ined the application of sulphur and lime water, 

 which has so eft'ectually prevented the mildew on 

 the grape and gooseberry, say two quarts of sul- 

 phur, and three to five pounds of quick lime, to a 

 barrel of water, first incorporating them with a 

 pailful of boiling water. 



The preceding year, we had a large sized tree 

 attacke<l ; the present season, the depredation or 

 blast continued, and to appearance one half of the 

 tree was dead ; when three weeks since it was 

 discovered that four other trees of considerable 

 size were attacked like the former on the north 

 side, I purchased at the Farmer's agricultural ware- 

 house one of Mr Newell's excellent syringes, and 

 applied the wash three times. The difficulty is com- 

 pletely subdued, and from present appearances the 

 tree first named will unuoid)tedly recover, with the 

 loss, only, of a few small limbs. Ifthis experiment 

 should be anuounced to the public and any bene- 

 fit should be derived from it, the gratification will 

 be great to A Circumnavigator. 



June 14. 



Horticulture. 



Proceedings of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society at the an adjourned meeting, held at 

 the Hull of the Institution on the Wth of June, 

 1831. 



The President read the following communica- 

 tion from S. G. Perkins, Esq. giving an account 

 of a second experiment, which he had made with 

 the apparatus for warming his vinery with hot 

 water. 



Bronklinc, June G, 1831. 

 Henry A. S. Dearborn., 



Pres. Mass. Ilort. Society. 

 Sir — Since I had the honor to lay before you 

 the result of the first trial of my hot water appar- 

 atus, 1 have clo.sed my house on all sides, and 

 have made a second experiment with more suc- 

 cess than oil the former occasion, as the water 

 was now heated sooner, by an hour, to the high- 

 est temperature that it attained on my first trial ; 

 for in two hours from the time the fire was lighted 

 the mercury in the boiler stood at 175, and in the 

 reservoir at 154; whereas, on the first trial it 

 took three hours to heat it to these points. In 

 three hours it was now heated to 199 in the boil- 

 er, and 184 in the reservoir, making a difference 

 of 23 degrees in the boiler, and 28 degrees in 

 the reservoir, over and above that which it be- 



fore acquired. — On the first trial the differoDce 

 between the temperature of the boiler and that of 

 the reservoir was from 20 to 24 degrees, and it 

 may be well to remark that the same relative de- 

 grees of heat between the two kettles was observ- 

 ed to exist on the last trial until tlie water in the 

 boiler became heated lo 180, when it became hot- 

 ter in the reservoir in proportion to the boiler, un- 

 til the difference was only fifteen degrees. 



The thermometer was placed in the centre of 

 the house, about half way up the rafters, where 

 I supposed we could ascertain the mean tempera- 

 ture with consiilerable accuracy Here it rose to 



say eightytwo, — making a difference of seven- 

 teen degrees between this and another louse 

 where there was no artificial heat; but wheiethej 

 temperature, in the course of the day, had been 

 at 85 and 90. The reason why the water was 

 heated at the last trial sooner by an hour thm at 

 the first, is that the fire was better made, more 

 steadily kept up, and the external or eveniig air 

 excluded from both the kettles; whereas, you 

 will recollect, on the first trial they wer, both 

 within the immediate influence of it, the kettles 

 were, however, both uncovered during the whole 

 time of heatinoj. 



As the circulation of the water through the 

 pipes is facilitated by having its surface as near 

 the top of the upper pipe as possible witluut al- 

 lowing it to draw air, the kettle should not be 

 filled beyond an inch, or an inch and a quarter 

 above this point ; of course, as a general rue, it 

 is best not to heat your boiler above 185 or 186, 

 as the evaporation would become so great/as to 

 reduce the water in a short time below the bp of 

 the pipe. — By heating to the temperature of 199, 

 as I did in this last trial, I found the evaporation 

 very great, and in the morning I observe! the 

 water stood in the kettles half an inch, or more, 

 below the top of the bore of the upper pipe. 



The heat produced by this system is uncommonly | 

 agreeable, and is said to be congenial 'oall plants. 

 — There is none of that dry, suffocating heat which 

 prevails when a house is heated by a brick flue 

 alone ; — nor any of that extreme moisture which 

 is produced by steam apparatiis; — but a soft, mild, 

 and pleasant wannth is created throughout the 

 house, exceedingly agreeable to respiration. 



To compare the advantages of the hot water 

 system with brick flues, it is necessary to make a 

 calculation of the relative expense which these 

 two modes of heating involve, — and I believe that 

 the following estimate will not vary irvuch from 

 the fact. 



1st. Two kettles of 80 gallons each, cast vii/j 

 the shoulders necessary to receive the pipes, vill 

 cost $21 each, or $42 (JO 



The connecting pipes of cast iron, four 



inches in diameter in the bore, will cost 



60 cts. per foot, say 150 feet, 9{ 00 



Carting : 00 



Iron masters to put them up and cement 



the joints li 00 



Furnace under the kettle, and setting the 



kettles li 00 



Cost of apparatus in house 80 feet long $16(00 

 The cost of a flue, with two furna- 

 ces, covered with 12 inch tile, 

 house 80 feet long.mason's work, $85 00 

 Carpenter, for plank. Cedar posts, 

 I nails and labor to place the flue 

 ' on, at least 15 00 



Extra shed, where you have two 

 furnaces, one at each end of the 

 house 10 00 



-$110 GO 



The hot water apparatus therefore cost 

 in the first instance $50 00 



say fifty dollars more than a single brick flne, or 

 three dollars per annum. Now the water establish- 

 ment once up there is an end to tiie expense.-- 

 But a brick flue, (as every or.e knows who is itt 

 the charge of repairing them.) is a constant source 

 of expense, certainly more than double the inters 

 est on the extra cost of the hot water apparatUB, 

 Again, with the hot water there is no danger of 

 burning or scorching your plants ; but with a bricfr 

 flue you are constantly liable to this evil ; and from 

 the cracks through which smoke issues into the 

 house, it is well known that plants are frequently 

 destroyed. — I have myself this season had three 

 large grape vines much injured by. the hot smoke 

 and air that passed through the cracks in one of 

 the flues in my old vinery ; but with iron pipej, 

 filled with hot water, there can be no smoke, or 

 extra heat introduced into the house. 



The boiler and reservoir are within the house, 

 but the fire place or opening into the furnace is in 

 the shed on the other side of a brick wall, so th»t 

 you have never within the vinery any of that ar- 

 dent and dry heat which is so often injurious to 

 tender exotics when the flue is over heated ; nor 

 are you liable to those chills which often occur 

 from neglect of the fire, and which prove equally 

 fatal to them. With water pipes, a sudden or ex- 

 treme heat cannot be got up ; and at no time, and 

 by no moans can it be raised so as do any injury. 

 The temperature is raised gradually, and is reduced 

 in like manner, and it is never scorching or diy 

 even, like that created by brick flues ; or suddenly 

 changed from one extreme to the other, as is com- 

 mon in that mode of heating houses. In winter 

 or cold weather, the fire must be made an hour 

 earlier in tlie hot water establishment, than maybe 

 irequired where a brick flue is used. This is the 

 only inconvenience attending it, if it be one. 

 If to the cost of the brick flue, as above 



stated, say ' $110 00 



I you add, as a corrective of the dry heat 

 of the brick — a steaming apparatus, you 

 may do it with great advantage to a vine- 

 ry either connected, or unconnected 

 with one of the furnaces which heats the 

 flue. — If it is connected, then the bouse 

 will be steamed, at the same time that it 

 is heated by the flue, — but I am satified 

 from my own experience that steam 

 alone, with any apparatus that has ever 

 been got up in thiscounlry, will not an.s- 

 wer to heat a house during cold weath- 

 er; but a cheap steaming apparatus with 

 a boiler connected with one of the fur- 

 naces of the house, may be put up with 

 advantngo, SO feet long for 50 QO 



$160 00 

 This would make the whole cost of the flue and 

 steamer one hundred and sixty dollars — the same 

 as the cost of the hot water a|)[iai-atus. 



Now if you will look over the various advanta- 

 ges which this last has over t\\efrst plan of heat- 

 ing ; as well as the gre?t saving of expense in fuel, 

 labor, repairs, &c, you will see that there can 

 be no comparison between these two model of 



