288 



JOUHNAIi OF HOKTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE QAKDENER. 



[ AprU II, 1865. 



CONSTEUCTION OF A PIKE STOVE. 



Having the intention duving this summer to build a 

 friiiting Pine-stove, the idea has occurred to me, that as 

 the buUdJug of such houses has not been much discussed of 

 late, you might, perhaps, be induced to publish my plans, 

 aad that by this means others who had the like intention 

 might meet me in the same spirit, or, failing these, some 

 one of more matured knowledge would, perhaps, tell me 

 where the weak points in my plans are. Building hothouses 

 is not to be undertaken lightly, especially when there is an 

 intention of deviating from established forms. 



I will try not to enter upon the cultivation of the Pine 

 Apple any farther than is necessary to explain my views, as 



I cannot lay claim to having it at my finger-ends, much 

 less can I point to the prizes I have won ; suffice it to say 

 I am only forming the plans of what is to be my first fruit- 

 ing-house. 



Let us commence with the clear understanding that what 

 I w.ant is a house capable of ripening Pines at any period of 

 the year ; and therefore one in which a summer heat cannot 

 be kejjt up in spite of any weather, I must consider does 

 not come up to my standard. The next point is the cost of 

 erection. This I cannot go into, even if desirable, but I 

 think I can make my idea clear enough without doing so. 

 I will take instead the size of houses requii'ed to give a 



3i- 



3* 



No, 1.— Section. 



: 1351 square ft. 



fixed number of square feet of pit room ; in my plan tliere 

 are 1351. See ground plan No. 1. The house is 50 feet 

 long and 4S feet wide, and in it there are four beds — 

 Two are 44 ft. x 7 feet =308 x 2 =616 '^ _ 

 Two are 42 ft. X 8 ft. 9in. = 3671 x 2 =735 > 



Plan No. 2 is a lean-to 193 feet long by 14 feet wide, the 

 one bed is 187 feet x 7 feet = 1309 square feet. I have 

 given it the advantage of 



a half span, but when the _^ ^^^ 



hack wall is leduced by 

 this means to 8 feet high 

 it is still evident to all 

 that the expense would be 

 too great. 



Plan No. 3 is that of a 

 span-roofed house 100 feet 

 long and 24 wide ; in this 

 there are two beds 94 feet 

 X 7 feet = 658 X 2 = 1316 

 square feet. This house, 

 you will see, I have made 

 twice the length and half 

 the width of mine; and 

 the height, by the dotted 

 line, from the top of the 

 beds to the apex is C feet. 



Thus the choice as re- 

 gards cost rests between 

 Nos. 1 and 3, but I am 

 afraid I must throw out 

 No. 3, because it would 

 be next to impossible to 

 keep up the required heat 

 by 30° or more during such 

 cold windy days as we have 

 had of late. No. I is nearly 

 square : therefore, as the 

 wind only blows on one 

 side at once, it cannot 

 have more than 50 feet in 



it is one that has been much neglected. I have often seen 

 in your paper and elsewhere plans given of houses that are 

 supposed to be good, after this fashion : in a seven-foot pit 

 four rows of four-inch pipes covered with rubble, and above 

 the rubble the pit is filled with plunging material, the 

 bottoms of the pots coming within a foot of these pipes. 

 Now, in a seven-foot pit there is only room for three rows of 



large fruiting plants, so 

 these plants have one four- 

 inch pipe and a third each. 

 Mr. Rivers told us a short 

 time since the heat he 

 supposed he obtained for 

 his pot Vines by standing 

 them on a bare four-inch 

 pipe ; I do not remember 

 it now, but I think it was 

 much more than Pine- 

 growers would like to use. 

 I therefore can only con- 

 clude that by this plan the 

 heat is lost; and I have 

 a very strong opinion that 

 if, instead of these four 

 rows of pipes being buried 

 in the rubble, two of them 

 were put under flags or a 

 four-and-a-half-inch brick 









8i 



3> 



7 











No. I.— GaouNi* Plan. 



length exposed to its action. No. 3 exposes double that length. 

 Again : No. 1 has four spans of 12 feet each, No. 3 one of 

 24 feet. For a 12-fcet Bpan the roof should rise 3 feet above 

 the sides, and for a 24-feet span 6 feet. No. 3 then, in addi- 

 tion, exposes 100 feet by 3, or 300 square feet of roof to the 

 direct action of the wind more than No. I. If any one knows 

 of such a house that can be kept up to my standard of 90" 

 in any weather, I shall be glad to hear how many rows of 

 pipes it has. I am proposing to give mine six rows next to 

 each side, and four rows in each path, making twenty-four 

 rows in all of four-inch piping. 



I will now take the qnestion of bottom heat, and 1 think 



arch, they would 'give a 

 bottom heat of 100 with- 

 out any assistance from 

 plunging material ; but I 

 think there is yet another 

 mistalce— a pipe is not 

 very hot if when water is 

 poured over it no steam is 

 given off; and will not 

 these pipes, if they are 

 hot enough to do any 

 good, from this cause con- 

 tinually tend to spoil the drainage, even if they do no harm 

 to the roots of the plants? — G. If. 



I In accordance with your wish, we will add a few remarks 

 .just as they occur to us. 



1. Your plan. No. 1, consisting of a space 48 feet by GO, 

 divided into four spans, and four beds below these spans, is, 

 we think, new as applied to Pino-beds, but the idea is not 

 new so far as combining different spans, even if each should 

 form a distinct house, as descriptions of such houses at 

 JVIeasrs. Lanes', in previous volumes, would testify. Sections 

 ol similar houses were also given in "The Heating Manual." 

 That, however, does not render your plan less desirable. 



