16 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



May 24, 1006. 



manifolds under the three benches; at 

 the step simply step each return down 

 either with L's or 45 's and carry them 

 to near the main return l)3fore combin- 

 ing them in a manifold. 



The main flow through the houses 

 should be 214-inch, the distributing pipes 

 from it to manifolds 2-inch and the re- 

 turns ll^-inch. There should be eighteen 

 returns to maintain a temperature of 70 

 degrees, six in each of the three mani- 

 foldfl under the benches. If the dwelling 

 is to have four radiators of 100 square 

 feet each, a 2-inch pipe from boiler to 

 first floor radiators will be suflicient, and 

 114 -inch pipes from first to second floor. 

 The return should be the same size. The 

 difference in level should make no dift'er- 

 ence, provided the expansion tank is 

 located twelve or fifteen feet higher than 

 the most elevated radiator in the system. 

 Each radiator should be provided with 

 an air valve, and an air vent should also 

 be placed at the btghest point in the 

 flow pipe supplying the greenhouse sys- 

 tem. The pipe to the expansion tank 

 might be connected to the return lead-,^ 

 ing from the house system to the boiler,'.; 

 and be located in the attic of the house; 



stead of making the bed six feet wide 

 it would be better to make it twelve feet 

 wide. A bed twelve feet wide and fifty 

 feet long can be successfully heated by 

 a furnace connecting with a flue. Such 

 beds are extensively used for starting 

 sweet potatoes and are constructed some- 

 what as follows: 



Choose, if possible, a gently-sloping 

 area with exposure to south and east. 

 Arrange thfi| bed so as to get as much 

 sun as possible. If the ground rises 

 three to three and a half feet in fifty 

 feet, make the floor of the bed level. At 

 the end where the floor is raised three 

 feet or more, build a brick furnace long 

 enough to burn cord wood without saw- 

 ing it, if this is to be the fuel. Make 

 the walls of the furnace eight or twelve 

 inches thick, cover with bricks supported 

 by tee-irons or by a metal plate, and 

 then add a coating of sand at least two 

 inches thick. 



From the end of the furnace carry a 

 terra cotta chimney about twenty feet 

 and allow it to discharge into the space 

 under the floor of the hotbed. 



At> the far end of the bed from the 

 furqiree, which should be about ten or 



William J. Schray. 



but an overflow pipe must be provided to 

 carry off expansion or any overflow in 

 filling the system. L. C. C. 



HEATING WITH A FLUE. 



Could I heat twenty cold frames 6x18 

 by running flues the entire length of the 

 beds and about two feet in from the ends, 

 with a stack at the far end? I want 

 a temperature of from 45 to 50 degrees, 

 to grow vegetables. C. F. B. 



A hotbed for growing vegetable plants 

 can be constructed so as to be success- 

 fully heated with hot air from a flue 

 instead of by fermenting manure. In- 



twelve inches off the ground, erect a 

 board chimney ten or twelve feet high 

 and about 8x8 inches square. Arrange 

 a damper, or lid, over top of the chim- 

 ney to regulate the draft. Provide the 

 furnace with a grate and a good door 

 and arrange the brickwork about the 

 front so as to prevent escaping flames 

 from setting the frame on fire. Make 

 the sides of the space beneath the floor 

 of the hotbed tight, so as to confine all 

 the heat and smoke of the furnace in 

 the area beneath the bed and force it to 

 escape through the chimney. A ridge 

 pole can be provided through the center 

 of the bed and guides for the sash from 

 it to the sides of the frames. Four 



inches of soil should be sufficient if 8- 

 inch or 10-inch side boards are used. 

 L. C. C. 



STEAM OR HOT WATER. 



I am building six new houses on a 

 hillside. They are 22x200. They aver- 

 age ten feet to ridge, and have 3 V^ -foot 

 side walls. The boiler pit is at the 

 southeast corner of the range. The 

 farthermost point from the boiler is 

 350 feet. The houses each have a fall 

 of ten feet from west to east, and are 

 in three groups, two in a group — with a 

 10-foot space between each. I have some 

 2-inch pipe and an abundance of 1-inch 

 pipe which I would like to utilize. 1 

 want to arrange so as to use either hot 

 water or steam. What should be the 

 size of the openings in the boiler for 

 flow and return? The pipes will be on 

 the center and side posts of the houses, 

 as we will use solid beds. We wish to 

 maintain a temperature of 50 to 60 de- 

 grees with outside temperature at 15 

 degrees above zero. C. W. C. 



To heat six houses each 22x200 to a 

 temperature of 50 degrees with hot 

 water will require- 1,350 square feet of 

 radiation for each house, or a total of 

 8,100 square feet. To do the same thing 

 with low-pressure steam will require 1,- 

 050 square feet for each house, or a 

 total of 6,300. On a shifting system the 

 minimum, or steam, basis can be used 

 as a basis for piping the houses. Two 

 boilers with capacity for about 7,000 

 feet of radiation each, with 4-inch open- 

 ings for flow pipes and 2-inch or 3-inch 

 openings for returns will be satisfactory 

 if the main riser is six inches. The main 

 flow pipe for each house should be 3%- 

 inch, and the returns should not be 

 smaller than 1^4 -inch; 1%-inch and 2- 

 inch would be better for hot water, al- 

 though the 114 -inch will be best suited 

 for steam. 



In such a system it will be unwise to 

 rely upon hot water except in early fall 

 and late spring. For this reason it will 

 undoubtedly be best to arrange the pip- 

 ing for steam and use 114-inch and l^^- 

 inch pipe for all returns except the main, 

 which should be at least a 3-inch pipe. 

 Each house can be piped by carrying a 

 3 14 -inch riser from the main flow to the 

 distant end of the house and there di- 

 viding it into three 2-inch branches to 

 feed manifolds which shall in turn sup- 

 ply ten 114-inch returns. L. C. C. 



UNDERGROUND CONDUITS. 



Florists have often deplored the loss 

 of heat resulting from the inefficiency 

 of the old systems of underground steam 

 and hot water transmission. It is not 

 uncommon in mid-winter to see the 

 ground over steam pipes free from snow 

 and even showing green with grass, while 

 there is a depth of several inches of snow 

 on the surrounding surface. 



There is now being placed upon the 

 market a sectional tile pipe conduit, 

 which meets a long-felt want in provid- 

 ing a conduit for pipes running under- 

 ground, which should thoroughly insulate 

 and protect the pipes, and which can be 

 installed for a reasonable cost. This 

 conduit consists of tile pipe made in top 

 and bottom sections; this division being 

 made by cutting half through the shell 

 of the pipe before it is baked, and then 

 breaking afterwards, so that the joint is 

 very much like that made in replacing 

 pieces of a broken plate, the use of neat 

 hydraulic cement making it possible to 



