Mi 21, 1355.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



485 



K - America ; one an eastern weak trailing bush 

 *i£i T mmdensis; the other a western tree, supposed 



iTthe Bame species. To these a Mexican sort was 

 K *xaL lome vears since by Prof. Schlechtendahl under 

 *F\£r<£ Taxus globosa. Of the latter we have 



.u^. Knecimens which seem undistinguiehable from 

 "Sithered by Mr. W. Lobb in Oregon (No. 219), 

 * from a Californian specimen, for which we are in- 

 2yed to Mr. Murray, and which we suppose to be his 

 fTJsdlcyana. They are certainly very different from 

 ie common T. laccata, and we presume should also be 

 SitiDjnnflhed from T. canadensis, but we doubt their 

 distinction from each other. The subject is, however, 

 one that demands further examination. 



M. Carriere in his new work throws no light upon the 

 m. but adds a 



•juestio 

 probably 



"Taxus Boursieri," which is 



MODE OF HEATING ADOPTED AT PORTH- 



GWIDDEN, NEAR TRURO. 



By the Rev. T. Phillpotts, F.H.S. 



The accompanying plans and sections refer to a 

 forcing-pit, Orchid-house, and cutting-frame, erected at 

 this place, under my own direction, early in 1850. 

 Their success has been so complete in all points that I 

 plate the details at your disposal, that others may, if 

 tkey think fit, profit by my experience. Real useful- 

 ness rather than display has been my object, and I lay 

 no claim to novelty or invention beyond what a practical 

 rather than a scientific adaptation or modification of 

 the plans of others, avoiding as far as possible their 

 defects, may deserve. 



Without discussing other systems, their merits and 

 diaerits, I will only say, that I have for many years 

 paid much attention to the best method of constructing 

 and applying heat (especially bottom heat) to horticul- 

 tural buildings. The Tank system and the Polmaise 

 have both been tried by me at different times (under 

 the personal advice of Messrs. Rendle and Meek), 

 honest!)- and without any prejudice ; but after the ex- 

 penditure of a good deal of time, trouble, and money, I 

 have arrived at the conclusion that an apparatus con- 

 sisting of hot water in pipes, with open troughs con- 

 nected with them, affords the simplest and cheapest, 

 because the most certain and efficient means of heating 

 I bave yet seen. The range consists of— 



1. A forcing pit,* 42 feet by 8 feet, divided into three 

 compartments A, B, C, of three lights each. 



2. An Orchid-house of the same length, 1 feet wide, 

 in two divisions. 



3. A row of striking frames on the north side, to 

 which heat may be given at pleasure. 



The whole was put to work at Easter, 1 850, when 

 pit A was planted with Cucumbers (Cuthill's black and 

 aoora white spine I find the best), and since that time 

 *e nave had a constant supply of the finest fruit, which 

 has in every instance at five successive exhibitions 

 wned off the first prize. 



Pit B was filled with Vines in Pots, which were 

 npened and succeeded by Melons. In December a 

 ran lot of Vines was introduced, which produced the 

 ™»t crop of 

 grapes (in pots 



lever saw. Som 

 tf the 



CISTERN 



TROUGS 



e 



pots had 



many as J4 



** 15 bunches, 

 well • ' 



coloured. £ 



■ x »ere cut 



J^V and J U n e , 



antTnn 1 ?i eS - Whieh were most °f them only 15 months old, 

 Aere *. !c removal Melons were planted, of which 

 hag J??* (b ?P*- 29) a good [crop, nearly ripe. Pit C 

 of whiri. } ' r, P ened off a fine early crop of Melons, one 

 ocietv^ ob * lncd the Bronze Medal at the Botanic 

 occnnL exh,bltl0n in the Regent's Park. It is now 



The wfc 8 i a . C °° l pit > with P ,ants of various kinds. 



~ D01e w heated by a single 24-inch ribbed boiler 



» and Healey's pattern (they have in my 



R 



« f Burbidg, 



LUFFER 

 BOARDS 



*&*m SDo l a R ' Roller for Blind ' 



? of *• ic£ lawla n x ew, y ™pw«« (0 one by getting 

 ptei1 ty the Si *' Perfect command of heat is 



?** Do nraiciA r Vester firs-doors and dampers, which 



7 **** with i me : thev are admirable, and may 

 *fler. .. J^t any boiler. The setting of the 



I^^ended by Messrs. Burbidge and 



5SU*{« th ^8 fect 7 M n i l3 k 6 ^ f S e i Wide ' but in thedrmwingl 

 i*** ***** now iil'j r fi " d 1 have such a superabundance 



^**"*ntl can tut J? J? 6 extr * width - This is the only 



n su £gest, after a fair trial. 



as 





Healey, is a great advantage ; the fuel does not come 

 m contact with any of the iron work, every inch of 

 which is, however, exposed to the action of the heat, 

 and a system of slow combustion, regulated by dampers 

 and by a flue, which descends a little before it goes off 

 to the stack, economises fuel to a most surprising degree. 

 The pipes are 4 inches in diameter, and 1 foot from 

 centre to centre. The open troughs are cast with a 

 pipe at each end to fit into the sockets ; they are 6 feet 

 long and 9 inches wide at the top ; depth 4 inches, with 

 a shoulder cast in each rim to enable us to cover them 

 with common slate, when less moisture is required ; if 



perature must not be lowered too much by the admission 

 of external air. while, on the other hand, it must not be 

 dried by artificial heat To obviate this difficulty, you 

 i will observe an air chamber between the two buildings, 

 which has its opening at a lower level, near the ash pit ; 

 from this chamber several small drains open into the 

 pits, &c. 6 inches above the floor, with gratings of 

 (about 6 inches square) perforated zinc. From these a 

 constant supply of fresh air in small and broken quan- 

 tities arises, so that no strong draught is created ; and 

 this, passing over the surface of the pipes, under which 

 it enters, loses its chill, while the open troughs supply 







I. Forcing Pit. 



II. Orchid House. 



III. Striking Pit. 



[Observe that the pipes are below the external ground level ; the entrnnce is by steps of slate, over the cross pipes, 



descending at once to the floor level. The shelves of the Orchid-house and the soil bed in forcing 



pits are formed of slate, supported by brick piers.] 



a 



very dry heat is wanted, a little sand " strewed it with moisture 

 °ver the slate keeps all tight. The heat is regulated 

 not by expensive cocks or valves, which contract 

 the flow, and are liable to get out of order, but by 

 series of cast-iron cisterns which supply the place 

 of elbows, and being cast with one, two, or three sockets 

 of the same bore as the pipes, may be plugged off with a 

 common piece of wood, with a little cloth wrapped 

 round it, so as to check or entirely cut off the supply 

 from any part which may not need it. 



Scale l r 8th. 



B r Boiler. 



South. 

 TT, Open Troughs 



But the most perfect system of heating would be vain j 

 without good ventilation night and day. If my theory 

 is correct, the air of plant houses of this description 

 should be in direct proportion to the light, the moisture, 

 and to the heat. This is best attained (where the quan- 

 tity is easily controlled) in a small house, for the tem- 



; these are constantly open, but may 

 be closed if necessary. There are also ventilators iu 

 the front and back walls, and at the top of the Orchil 

 house. It will be perceived that the ridge piece is 

 raised above R, the roof, the south side of which carries 

 a roller for sun-blinds, while the north side has a row of 

 luffer boards, which are opened and shut at pleasure, by 

 balance weights within. The front of the Orchid house 

 is fitted with Hartley's patent rough plate-glass, which 

 answers admirably without diminishing the light ; 



indeed, a blind is still needed for 

 the Orchids in very bright 

 weather. One word as to drip- 

 by adopting the pattern of sash- 

 bar given by Mr. Lyons in his 

 work on Orchids, this is entirely 

 avoided, even when the house 

 is saturated with moisture, and 

 a cold wind blowing without. 



It may be objected that the 

 cold in this neighbourhood is 

 not excessive, the thermometer 

 never falling below 18°, and 

 rarely within 10 Q of that point. 

 I may, however, say that we 

 have never worked to our full 

 power, and my gardener is so con- 

 vinced of the sufficiency of the 

 boiler, that he wishes to heat 

 another range of store pits from 

 the same, which he says he 

 could easily do with little or no 

 increase of fuel. 



With these observations I leave 

 the plans in your hands, believ- 

 ing that with such modifications 

 as circumstances may require 



they will be found practically 

 useful and economical, getting rid 

 in a great measure of the nuisance 

 and uncertainty of dung beds, 

 and doing the real work of the 

 forcing ground in a simple and 

 efficient manner. Such success- 

 ful results can ooly be expected 

 where the gardener not merely 

 understands but loves his busi- 

 ness. It is but common justice to 

 add, that I have the good fortune 

 to be so assisted, and that I 

 highly value the care, attention, 

 and zeal with which my plans 

 have been carried out. 



Note. — I must not omit men- 

 tion of the Cucumber pits erected 

 for Mr. Ludlow, at Heywood 

 House, Wilts, from which I re- 

 ceived much assistance, and, 

 indeed, the first idea of my own 

 range. They failed, however; 

 at first from an excessive 

 moisture, caused, as I believe, 

 by an insufficient supply of 



V V, Ventilators. ^ air# J nave no doubt Mr. 



Crane, the intelligent gardener, has long since remedied 

 this. It may be useful to add that the entire cost of my 

 building, including everything, was 1607. The consump- 

 tion of fuel to keep it constantly working is about 9 tons 

 of culm (price here 145. per ton) per annum.— -From Hit 

 Journal of the Horticultural Society 9 vol. vii., part 1. 



