Much 14, 18«S. ] 



JOrE>'AL OF HOEIICtJUrcrEK A2fD COTIAGB GABDENEE. 



20D 



would be a simple mcxle, and then tou would require a 

 damper to fit the chimney nicely. One of the best to use 

 would be a thin iron plate with two or three holes in the 

 centre, in the line of draught, 6om a quarter to three-eighths 

 of an inch in diameter. Pull out the damper when you 

 lighted your fire, and when the smoke was pretty well gone, 

 put it in home, and the holes would give enough of draught 

 for ooke, and the damper would send back the heat again 

 and again over the stove. "SVe would place the damper high 

 enongti to be reached from the floor. Coke only should be 

 used, and broken. 



is stated in "Doings of the Last Week " lately, you wiU 

 be more safe to keep the blossom back in such a house, and 

 anij use your stove to keep the trees safe firom frost. If 

 you do more it would be advisable never to make the heat 

 higher than 5(f in dull weather, and fixim 45" at night would 

 be high enough, unless you wished to force. In dull autumns 

 a diy heat w5l be useful If the iron plate become very 

 hot you may cover it with brick. The higher the plate is 

 firom the fire-box in moderation the more equally will the 

 heat be diffused from all parts of the stove. — ^E, !F. 



PLA^TTS'G A WASTE SLIP OF LAJNTD— IIODES 

 OF HEATIX&. 



What vegetables or fruits wiU thrive on a narrow slip of 

 ground fronting the north-east, bounded by a house on the 

 one side, and a hedge on the other? Last year my pre- 

 decessor planted it with Jerusalem Artichokes, but I question 

 whether it has returned the seed. 



I should Uke, also, to have a word about a hot-water 

 apparatus that is beginning to attract some attention in 

 your pages — I mean Mussett's. If it is what it professes to 

 be it must be invaluable to small amateurs like myself; but 

 it is quite contrary to the scientific principles laid down for 

 years past in your JoumaL I have been taught to believe 

 by its pages that you cannot obtain more heat out of a fire 

 than there is in it, and that in warming a house by the best- 

 constructed apparatus, much of the heat is wasted. 



How is it, then, that a couple of lamps should be able to 

 warm a whole house, not to say "chapels, churches," &c? 

 For my own part, I have just put up a small house 10 feet 

 by 8, and so little ^th have I in Mussett's apparatus that 

 I have ordered about 50 feet of three-inch pipe, which alone 

 exceeds the cost of Mussetf s. Do you not think you could 

 say something simple and elementary on the subject of 

 heating, which would be a guide to simple folk like me ? — 

 A Eebuxae Subscstbek. 



pLf the Jerusalem Artichokes did not flourish on the narrow 

 strip of ground, fronting the north-east, it must have been 

 owing to the poverty of the ground, or the confined space, 

 soxcoanded by house and hedge, as this Artichoke will thrive 

 almost anywhere. To have it nice this Artichoke should be 

 planted every year, the same as Potatoes : for, though it 

 will Tn.iintaiTi itself in the same ground for a generation, 

 the tubers are not so nice, nor'yet so soft when boiled. Such 

 a place would also do admirably for Ehubarb and Sea-kale, 

 and for Lettuces and salading in summer. As to fruits, it 

 would be a valuable comer for late Strawberries of the 

 Elton or other kinds, and also for Warrington or other late 

 Gooseberries. From such a comer yon might have Gtx>se- 

 berries to the end of October, and good, too, if properly 

 netted or canvassed, to keep wasps and flies from them. 

 CunastB could also be kept there late, and the Double- 

 bearing Baspberry. Late Pears and Apples would also do, 

 but not so weU as the small iiuit. 



We can add very little to what we have said in previous 

 weeks relative to heating small greenhouses in winter. !Xo 

 docibt a little allowance must be made for the enthusiasm 

 of inventors and tradesmen, each of whom may rightly and 

 conscientiously believe that his own particular mode is by 

 &i the best. Every man feels and acts in the same manner 

 every day, though he may do it quite unconsciously. There 

 is a vast difi'erence between a thorough enthusiasm and the 

 lines that approach dishonest misrepresentation; and the 

 older we grow, if we do sober down the enthusiasm a little, 

 we also feel less sceptical as to the thorough belief of the 

 enthusiast in his own representations. Xot so long ago one 



who has had much experience in such matters, candi^Hy told 

 us that such and such idea, if reduced to practice, would 

 pay well, " if sufficiently cracked up." Now, it is quite 

 true that without this "cracking up" even good inventions 

 will be apt to remain the sole property of the inventor. 



In heating there has been little Oiat is really new. A 

 small flue beneath the floor is as simple and as good as any 

 other contrivance. A pipe from a kitchen boiler, if the 

 boiler is close, and the kitchen is on a lower level than the 

 greenhouse, is also a very simple plan. A small iron stov^ 

 especially if the sides are double, or the fiie-box about 

 4 inches from the single side, and a pipe through the roof, 

 is also very simple ; but the fire must be lighted inside, and 

 care must be taken that the sides do not approach red heat. 

 A brick stove is better than an iron one, because the bricks 

 do not become so hot, and they retain heat longer than the 

 iron, but then they cannot be removed like an iron stove; 

 if placed against a back wall they may have plants set 

 on them, or in front of them, in sunmier, or otherwise be 

 concealed. 



We have not tried Mussetfs apparatcs ourselves, but we 

 have no doubt that it and Eiddell's stove and boiler would 

 answer, admirably for small places. In one respect such an 

 apparatus or boiler is better than a mere stove heated by a 

 candle, lamp, or gas — namely, that the iron, being surrounded 

 by water, wiU never become so hot as to be unhealthy to plants 

 by burning the particles of dust, and consuming the oxygen 

 of the enclosed air. It is on this account that we object to 

 the continuous use of any stoves in plant-houses, with or 

 without prepared fuel, where there is not some outlet into 

 the open air to carry off the results of combustion. Such 

 stoves, whatever their name, are less or more modifications 

 of the stove and fuel, without any chimney, invented by 

 Mr. Joyce nearly thirty years ago. Such a stove would be 

 useful in large halls, in passages, &<:., where there is a 

 constant change of air from the opening of doors. In small 

 dose-glazed conservatories they are only less dangerous than 

 frost, and might be used in extremes. In large conserva- 

 tories, or wherethe glazing and the laps are open, such a stove 

 would help to keep out frost, and the continuous admission 

 of fresh air would prevent any or much iniury being done. 

 : The prepared fuel would be an advantage in a small house, 

 and no objection would exist if there were a small pipe to 

 take off the results of combustion, ferther than the care 

 necessary to prevent the sides of the stove becoming too 

 I hot. We have known such stoves used in halls, warehousea, 

 ' and shops with but little apparent bad effects; but then 

 the air is more frequently changed than it is possible to be 

 during a cold night in a dose-glazed greenhouse. Even with 

 [ the prepared fuel we consider such stoves more dangerous 

 : for tender plants than stoves or little boilers heated at once 

 I by lamps, candles, or gas, as, if carefully tended, little that 

 ' is deleterious will be allowed to pass into the house. Even 

 in their ease, however, a small pipe going from the stove, 

 or the funnel above the burners, wiU take but little heat 

 outside, whilst it will insure safety from any effects of 

 combustion. 



We quite agree with our correspondent as to excessive 

 enthusiasm in talking of heating whole houses, chapels, 

 churches, &c., by means of a couple of lamps, a few jets of 

 gas, &c. ; but that is no reason why a couple of lamps should 

 not heat a small hoTise, no larger than a small room, as his 

 own house, 10 feet by 8. It is so well known that a number 

 of jets of gas wUl heat a church that, in severe weather, 

 where there are no other means of heating, the gas is 

 lighted an hour or two before the worshippers arrive. In 

 the evenings, too, the heat from the gas renders the atmo- 

 sphere oppressive, and especially if there is not a sufficient 

 ventilation from the roof. We quite agree with our corre- 

 spondent that only a certain amount of heat can be obtained 

 from a certain amount of fuel, but we scarcely ever economise 

 that heat sufficiently. We wilfully or ignorantly consent 

 that a large amount of the heating power shall be wasted. 

 Xow, in many of these little stoves, with or without hot 

 water round them, an attempt is made to obtain more 

 than the nsual quantity of heat from fuel or flame of any 

 kind, just by preventing it exerting itself much on the 

 external atmosphere. We could not pronounce a definite 

 opinion upon any of these little stoves or boilers, without 

 careftilly working them all at the same time; but our 



