Apkil 19, lOOG. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



J 569 



Azalea Firefly Grown in 6-inch Pots, 



Oreenhouse Heating. 



CONCRETE FOR CHIMNEY. 



Is it practicable to build a chimney 

 of concrete and what size would the flue 

 need to be for a place of about 20,000 

 feet of glass? W. E. F. W. 



To put up scaffolding and a frame to 

 build the chimney of concrete, as you 

 would, a wall would be very expensive 

 and then, again, if built of concrete 

 blocks, which are now extensively manu- 

 factured, it would not be as serviceable 

 as brick, for concrete does not stand fire 

 as well as brick. 



You do not say whether it is for a 

 steam boiler or for several water heaters 

 you want to use the chimney. If for 

 steam, I can tell you something definite. 

 Your 20,000 feet will need two thirty- 

 five horse-power boilers, or one of sixty 

 to seventy horse-power to do the work 

 comfortably. Such an outfit will need a 

 chimney fifty feet high and two feet in 

 diameter; that is, a two-foot opening. 



We often see immense stacks built in 

 factories where a large amount of power 

 is used and occasionally see greenhouse 

 steam plants with tall, massive smoke- 

 stacks. Depend on it, the higher the 

 stacks the more economical the fuel bill. 

 If you are using a return flue tubular 

 boiler, the fire will burn and make steam 

 with a smaller and shorter smokestack 

 than is often seen, and that may appear 

 to some as all you want. Not so. With 

 slow draught the flues of your boiler will 

 soon clog up with soot and after firing 

 strongly five or six hours they will fill 

 up, the draught is almost stopped and 

 you are wasting fuel. With a strong 

 draught, such as an ample chimney af- 

 fords, the soot is carried through the 

 flues. The strong draught prevents the 

 soot from resting in the flues. The 

 draught rushes through them and keeps 

 your flues clean. This is why engineers 

 design lofty chimneys. There is nothing 

 tbat beats a brick stack, although, of 

 course, a heavy iron chimney is much less 

 at first cost, but its life is short. The 

 only means of prolonging the life of the 

 stack is frequent expensive paintings. 



W. S. 



BOILER AND PIPING. 



What gives the best heat for growing 

 carnations, lettuce and a general line of 

 other plants, such as geraniums, helio- 

 tropes, etc. ? I have a greenhouse 20x 

 64. The walls are brick and five and 

 one-half feet high, with two feet of glass 

 the full length on the south side. It is 

 ten feet to the ridge. At the center of 

 the north wall of this greenhouse is a 

 brick house 16x22 feet, with a basement 

 of the same size. The basement floor is 

 five feet below the floor of the green- 

 house. Would it be deep enough to ac- 

 commodate a boiler? West of the brick 

 house and adjoining it and the green- 

 house I have now, I want to build an- 



other greenhouse; and bring it out even 

 with the present greenhouse. That will 

 be 22x23. Please tell me how to heat 

 them? It sometimes is as cold as 20 de- 

 grees below zero. I know of two second- 

 hand boilers I can buy. One is for hot- 

 water and the other steam. Which would 

 you advise me to buy? Which requires 

 the least pipe, fuel and attention? Is a 

 house with two-thirds of the roof to the 

 south good to grow lettuce and vegetable 

 plants in? H. L. H. 



For a plant no larger than the house 

 20x64 and the contemplated house 22x23 

 feet a hot-water system will prove most 

 satisfactory, and even if there were an- 

 other house 20x64 parallel with the pres- 

 ent one of that size, I think water would 

 still be most desirable. The cost of in- 

 stalling the piping for water will exceed 

 that of steam by a few dollars, but the 

 cost of maintenance will be less, as the 

 water will require less attention. 



The basement of the brick house is 

 deep enough to accommodate any one of 

 the modern hot-water heaters of proper 

 capacity to supply heat for these green- 

 houses. Do not get a second-hand boiler 

 unless you know it to be a good one. 

 A three-quarter span house with the long 

 side to the south would be satisfactory 

 for lettuce, carnations or roses if prop- 

 erly piped. It is not the kind of heat 

 so much £is tnQt.plro{)er temperature which 

 makes for success in greenhouse work. 

 I cannot estimate the cost of the pipe 

 or the work for you, but can say that to 

 pipe the house 20x64 it will require 

 about 800 lineal feet of 2-inch pipe for 

 60 degrees temperature; in the house 

 22x23 feet 320 lineal feet of 2-inch pipe 

 will be required. To heat two houses 

 20x64 and one 22x23 feet, about 2,000 

 feet of 2-inch pipe will be required. A 

 hot-water boiler large enough to do this 

 work should have a rated capacity of 



Ten Veeks' Stocks Grown by L. J. Reuter, Philadelphia. 



