^^y: r. 





650 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Febuuary 9, 1905. 



both directions of a furnace with the 

 coal heaped high in the center. It la 

 easy to see that the air flow through a 

 heap of this form will be uneven. It will 

 be greatest at the edges. A great amount 

 of cold air will be allowed to pass through 

 the thin edges. This will act to cool the 

 gases thrown off by the smouldering fire 

 of the deep portion and the best use of 

 the coal will not be attained. 



Figs. 3 and 4 show the two types of 

 wedge firing which are practiced by many 

 firemen. This method has the same objec- 

 tion as the conical style just spoken of. 



No. 5 illustrates what is known as the 

 scoop method. This method is not con- 

 sidered as good as No. 3 or No. 4, but is 

 au improvement over Nos. 1 and 2, pro- 

 vided the center is not too thin. 



No. 6 shows the lever or "pancake" 

 method in which the fire is maintained 

 at a uniform depth over the entire grate. 

 Here the passage of air is nearly equal; 

 the cooling effect is the same in all parts 

 of the furnace. The heated gases are 

 more uniform in temperature and a higher 

 eflScieney is possible than with any of 

 the other types. The depth of the fire 

 that can be carried in any case must be 

 governed by the draught and by the effi- 

 ciency of the dampers. When it is possi- 

 ble a damper control should be employed 

 so as to maintain as constant heat as 

 possible. 



In firing it is well to coal one side of 

 the furnace at a time. Allow the bright 

 side of the fire to burn down to almost 

 a gray color before coaling. Open only 

 one door at a time if the furnace is pro- 

 vided with double doors. Take a small 

 amount of coal on the scoop and spread 

 it evenly over the area to be coaled. 

 When the opposite half has burned down 

 it should be coaled in like manner. 



Two methods of banking fires are often 

 used. In one the bank is made just inside 

 the furnace doors and in the other it is 

 made against the bridge wall. The latter 

 has the advantage that the front part of 

 the grate can be cleaned and clinkers re- 

 moved before the fire is spread. After 

 the fire is spread the back part can be 

 cleaned by raking the ashes through and 

 jumping the clinkers over the fire. 



In conclusion I would say, look out for 

 the waste at the boiler room. Get the 

 best type of boiler; use good but the 

 most economical full measured in results 

 both in temperature and cost of firing, 

 and then fire intelligently. Make the 

 fuel return you seventy per cent of its 

 fuel value in the houses. In order to ob- 

 , tain this, however, the houses must be 

 correctly piped. L. C. C. 



RETURNING CONDENSATION. 



We read with interest the inquiry, and 

 more particularly the answer by L. C. C. 

 on the above important subject, on page 

 r)37 of the Review for January 26, and 

 are rather surprised that a high pressure 

 and an automatic atoam-pump is not re»'- 

 ommended, because we believe that set- 

 ting the boiler on a floor the same level 

 as the greenhouse floor, carrying from 

 thirty to fifty pounds pressure on the 

 boiler, using a regulator on the main 

 steam-pipe near the boiler, reducing ile 

 pressure on your heating system to one, 

 two or five pounds, according to the wea- 

 ther, and using an automatic steam 

 pump to return condensation is the most 

 economical on fuel, most convenient to 

 manage, labor saving and affording the 

 best control of temperature in the houses. 

 We know of one very large establishment 



where three acres of glass were heated on 

 the gravity system. A few years ago 

 they erected another three acres and put 

 their battery of three or four large boil- 

 ers on the same level as the houses and 

 since that the superintendent has done 

 little but cuss the boiler pit of the old 

 gravity system and its extravagance of 

 fuel. 



The high pressure system with the re- 

 ducing valve and automatic pump may 

 be installed in a thousand establish- 

 ments for all we know, yet we are in- 

 clined to think this most satisfactory 

 system is not as generally known and 

 adopted as it deserves. An illustration 

 of how smoothly it works can be seen 

 at the Cottage Gardens, Queans, N. i., 

 at Peter Crowe's, Utica, N. Y., and at 

 the very large LJakeview Rose Gardens, 

 Jamestown, N.Y. 



Briefly, your boiler should be tested 

 to seventy-five pounds cold water pres- 

 sure; that's enough. Then set your 

 safety valve to blow off at fifty pounds 

 and you are more than safe. 



Get a good regulator valve (we have 

 the Mason, manufactured in Boston, cost 

 .$45; another good one is made by the 

 Fester Engineering Co., Newark, N. J.), 

 that will reduce the pressure on your sys- 

 tem to one pound or what you need. We 

 use two pounds in mild weather and 

 never over five in the severest weather. 



The automatic steam-pump wiU cost, 

 for a place of the size described, about 

 $100. The top of the drum or cylinder 

 into which the condensation falls must 

 be a few inches belowi the level of the 

 condensation pipe where it leaves the 

 level of the greenhouse floor. It works 

 smoothly, noiselessly, no wear and tear, 

 and is a joy and comfort. 



Don't think for a moment that keep- 

 ing thirty, forty or fifty pounds on your 

 boiler will use more fuel. Those who 

 liave an opportunity to compare quanti- 

 ties say the high pressure is a saving 

 of at least twenty-five per cent. We 

 cannot judge of that because we have 

 no other system and would never think 



of having any other. Steam at a pres- 

 sure of forty pounds will be hotter and 

 dryer than steam at three or four 

 pounds, and once you have got forty 

 pounds on the boiler it does not take as 

 much fuel to keep it there as sending 

 all you make out through a pipe at low 

 pressure. There is so much to be said 

 in favor of this system that I will "shut 

 off steam" and close by saying that we 

 feel sure that in future there will be 

 few holes dug in the ground for boiler 

 pits to break your necks in descending 

 and labor hard throwing up the ashes. 

 Go and inspect some place where the 

 high pressure, regulator and automatic 

 pump are in use and you will be con- 

 vinced of its many advantages. 



WiLUAM Scott. 



THE OLD-FASHIONED FLUE. 



Not many of the younger generation of 

 florists have had experience with the 

 brick flue, because few have been built 

 within the last fifty years, yet many . 

 were the beautiful exotic flowers and 

 fruits produced with this primitive 

 method of heating. On page 568 of the 

 Review of January 26, T. F. complains 

 of a flue that does not draw satisfactor- 

 ily in a house fifty feet, although it has 

 a rise of thirty inches. A^ your able 

 correspondent, L. C. C, replies, a chim- 

 ney 120 feet long (this means ^ue and 

 chimney) would naturally be slow. We 

 suspect that in building this flue the all- 

 important point has been entirely ne- 

 glected. Within a short distance, say 

 about a foot from the end of the fire 

 bars, the flue should have a quick rise, 

 two feet in three feet, or, better still, 

 three feet in four feet rise. After that 

 the flue can run around to the chimney 

 almost on a dead level, although perhaps 

 a grade of six inches in 100 feet is bet- 

 ter than a dead level. Your rise of thir- 

 ty inches in the 100 feet is of no use, 

 unless you have that quick rise from the 

 fire to the level of the horizontal flue in 

 the house. W. 8. 



CARE OF YOUNG STOCK. 



The care of young stock should now 

 be one of the most important duties and 

 should not in any wise be neglected, as 

 neglect at this season will be reflected 

 in the plant in its whole existence. Re- 

 potting should be strictly attended to so 

 that no check may occur by which the 

 young wood may get unduly hardened. 



Young Beauties are especially sensi- 

 tive to checks of this nature and should 

 be potted just as soon as they require 



it, as if they once get a check of {\iis 

 kind they rarely get entirely over it. 

 To keep thsm growing and also prevent 

 that rank, soft growth it is safest to use 

 half-inch shifts and pack the soil firmly. 

 As soon as the young roots begin to turn 

 brown it is time to repot, as this is the 

 stage where if they are allowed to stand 

 pot-bound, and especially during hot 

 weather, the foliage soon begins to suf- 

 fer, the wood to harden and the roots 

 to lose their freshness and, if they ever 

 do recover, much valuable time is lost in 

 building up the plant. 



Tea roses also should be repotted after 

 each successive growth and should never 

 be allowed to make two growths in the 

 one size of pot. If the first growth is 



