■ ^'^.A'^i, 



May 31, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



85 



American bulbs to the S. A. F. conven- 

 tion, and these have afterward been 

 tested by experienced growers. To the 

 Omaha convention in 1898 Mr. Gibbs 

 sent a collection of his products, when 

 he had been at the work only six years, 

 to which the judges, E. G. Hill, Robert 

 Craig and Wm. Scott, awarded a silver 

 medal with the following comment: 



' ' The exhibits include three varieties 

 of narcissus, two of iris, one of Eoman 

 hyacinth, six of Dutch hyacinth, t<vo of 

 crocus, four of tulips, and Lilium candi- 

 dum. The bulbs are all of very fine 

 quality, being solid, heavy, and well 

 ripened and in size comparing favorably 

 with first-class Holland-grown stock. The 

 Lilium candidum deserves special men- 

 tion, as the bulbs are the largest and 

 finest ever seen by your committee. The 

 whole exhibit is extremely interesting 

 and valuable as indicating the possibili- 

 ties of bulb culture in some sections of 

 our country." 



Speaking of this same exhibit at the 

 Ashevillc convention Mr. Scott said in 

 part : ' ' The amount he grows on a small 

 area is simply enormous. T assure jou, 

 gentlemen, that you hardly would have 

 recognized the bulbs he sent as hyacinths. 

 I weighed one and found it to weigh 

 two and a half times as much as an ordi- 

 nary hyacinth would weigh. But the ex- 

 traordinary thing was the Lilium candi- 

 dum ; it was really prodigious ; and we 

 could see by the matured and cut-oti" 

 stems that it did have four large 

 spikes. " 



Oreenhoose Heating. 



VACUUM SYSTEM OF HEATING. 



[A trjnopsis of a paper by Frank A. Slmonds, 

 Grand Itaplda, Mich., read before the Detroit 

 Iflorlsts' Club, March 21, 1906.] 



Heatiog by Hot Water. 



In deciding the question of heat for 

 greenhouse work there are four different 

 systems that may be considered. But 

 of these only two are in general use, 

 steam and hot water. The latter is used 

 either under natural or forced circula- 

 tion, and gives very satisfactory results, 

 even with gravity circulation, although 

 necessitating, as a general thing, sinking 

 the heater below the ground level, which, 

 aside from the expense, has disadvan- 

 tages in hot being as convenient as if 

 it were on the common level. This 

 gravity circulation is also very slow. 

 Another point that is often ignored in 

 such a system, and usually to avoid first 

 cost in installing, is in running the mains 

 too small to secure the best results. Such 

 is only natural, as the excessive size of 

 the mains for such a system increases 

 the cost at an alarming rate. 



When such a system Ls installed prop- 

 erly, and is not too extensive, fairly 

 good results are obtained when a uni- 

 form artificial heat is needed. 



Should it be necessary, however, to in- 

 crease or decrease the temperature on 

 short notice this system is too slow to 

 respond, as the large amount of water 

 contained in the system requires con- 

 siderable time to absorb, from the fur- 

 nace located quite a distance awjiy, heat 

 sufficient to increase its temperature all 

 through the system, while it, at the same 

 time, is radiating heat through its long 

 lines. The reverse is true in case the 

 weather moderates rapidly, or the sun 

 breaks through the clouds and showers 



Macrospeila Tulips from Bulbs Grown in America. 



considerable warmth through the glass. 

 It is surprising how long thi» volume 

 of wateif will retain its heat after all is 

 done to check the fires or the valves 

 closed to stop the circulation. 



Again, in exceptionally cold weather, 

 with high winds and the thermometer 

 outside going way below what was con- 

 templated when the system was installed, 

 and the radiation estimated for, and an 

 extra amount of heat is required to meet 

 such conditions, it is found impossible 

 to increase the temperature beyond a 

 point below that of boiling water, which 

 limits the maximum temperature. 



Forced Circulation. 



With the forced circulation of hot 

 water, while the boiler can be placed on 

 the ground level and the mains can be 

 made smaller and the circulation in- 

 creased beyond the limits of the gravity 

 circulation, the same objections are open 

 to the slow change possible in the tem- 

 perature. The mains being smaller and 

 containing a smaller volume of water to 

 heat or cool reduces this objection to 

 that extent. At the same time, although 

 the water may be kept at a high velocity 

 in the system, on account of its volume 

 it will heat or cool very slowly, and the 

 circulation is unable to compensate for 

 this. The result is that it will be too 

 slow under the varying conditions to 

 meet the requirements. 



I do not want it understood that I 

 mean to imply that the heat in the water 

 cannot be utilized to a better advantage 

 with the forced circulation than without 

 it, as 1 agree with the advocates of this 

 system in this. But 1 do contend, and 

 I believe all must agree with me, that it 

 takes longer to heat a large body of 



water than a small one; and even with 

 the smaller mains and less amount of 

 water in the system the rise in tempera- 

 ture is slow, when required in a limited 

 time. When not needed, even if the cir- 

 culation is stopped entirely, it will re- 

 main hot much longer than desired, es- 

 pecially if other outside influences are 

 giving all the heat demanded without 

 requiring any artificial heat. 



Steam Most Flexible. 



While steam heat has been used with 

 a greater or less degree of satisfaction, 

 according to the plan under which it has 

 been installed, it is certainly the most 

 flexible and easily controlled heating 

 medium yet considered. The ordinary 

 gravity return system usually employed 

 is, if put in properly, a very good sys- 

 tem, although open to the same objection 

 of the low setting necessary for the 

 boiler, or a trap system for returning 

 the water of condensation. There is also 

 the trouble of the coils becoming air or 

 water bound. 



The steam heat usually carried in such 

 a system, being considerably above the 

 atmospheric pressure, is often more than 

 is necessary in moderate weather. One 

 of the principal objections is that a coil 

 must be full of steam, or entirely shut 

 off. If an attempt is made partially to 

 fill the coil with steam in order to mod- 

 erate the heat, that coil gradually will 

 fill with water from the condensation 

 remaining in it, or with water from 

 other parts of the system backing up 

 into it. 



While the heat can be increased to a 

 certain point above boiling water, ac- 

 cording to the pressure carried, there is 

 still a limit to this, as if carried beyond 



