JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[April 21, 1863. 



Pearmain, whiob. bears a very close resemblance to Formosa 

 Pippin was also pretty good; but Court-Pendu-Plat were as 

 fine, both in regard of appearance and flavour, as could be 

 desired. Mr. Hall, gardener to Captain Tyrrell, Fordhook, 

 Ealing, sent Bess Pool, which was rather mellow, but of good 

 flavour ; Cluster Golden Pippin, hard, acid, and without any 

 flavour; Golden Russet, inferior. Those exhibited by Mr. 

 Earley, of Digswell, were Sam Young, Court of Wick, and 

 Cockle Pippin, all inferior in Bize and flavour. The first prize 

 was awarded to Mr. Whiting, and the second to Mr. Hall. 

 Altogether the collections exhibited were not of a high order, not 

 any of the specimens possessing the flavour desirable. The two 

 best were Court-Pendu-Plat and Bess Pool, both two valuable 

 Apples. 



In Class B, four kitchen Apples, Mr. Whiting sent an un- 

 named variety, Royal Russet, and Devonshire Buckland. Mr. 

 Earley sent excellent specimens of Hertfordshire Codlin, Norfolk 

 Beefing, and Dumelow's Seedling ; and Mr. Hall sent Norfolk 

 Beefing, Dumelow's Seedling, and Yorkshire Greening. The 

 first prize was awarded to Mr. Hall, and the second to Mr. 

 Earley. 



For the best dish of Strawberries there was only one exhibi- 

 tion, but a fine one. Mr. Barnwell, gardener to E. Mills, Esq., 

 Bisterne Park, Hants. The sort was represented to be Eeene's 

 Seedling, but it appeared to us to be more like Sir Harry from 

 the great size and very dark colour. The first prize was awarded 

 to Mr. Barnwell. 



Mr. Hill, of Keele Hall, sent five bunches of very beautiful 

 Black Hamburgh Grapes, large in size, and fine in colour, being 

 perfectly jet. These were exhibited as specimens of what Mr. 

 Hill has been cutting ever since the beginning of March. A very 

 nice collection of salad plantB was exhibited by Mr. Terry, gar- 

 dener to Lionel Ames, Esq., The Hyde, St. Albans ; it consisted 

 of Cos Lettuce, Endive, Chervil, Tarragon, young Onions, Water 

 CresB, Celery, Beet, Corn Salad, Long Radish, Turnip Radish, 

 Mustard, Cress, and three young Cucumbers. The Strawberries 

 exhibited by Mr. Barnwell formed part of a very neatly arranged 

 box, containing some handsome Cucumbers and kitchen Apples. 

 He also exhibited three remarkably fine heads of Broccoli, 

 beautiful spring Cabbage, Spinach, and a fine dish of Mushrooms. 

 A seedling Apple of large size was received from W. B. Ty- 

 ringham, Esq., Tyringham, Newport Pagnell. It is a large 

 handsome Apple, roundish, and in size and shape like the 

 Alfriston, and, like it, is covered with tracings of reticulated 

 russet ; but it is of a fine deep yellow colour, and has a blush of 

 red on one side. The eye is small and closed, set in a narrow and 

 rather deep basin. The stalk is very short, almost imbedded in 

 the broad and russetty cavity. The flesh is yellowish, tender, 

 * and fine-grained, and with a very excellent flavour and delicate 

 aroma. This will be useful either as a kitchen or dessert Apple, 

 but principally for the former, and it is said to keep till June 

 and July. It was awarded a first-class certificate. 



Mr. Ferguson, of Stowe, sent a seedling Apple the flavour of 

 which was destroyed by having been in contact with some sub- 

 stance like moss. 



Mr. Turner, of Slough, sent fruit of a seedling Strawberry 

 called President, which had not much flavour. It evidently 

 belongs to the race of Scarlets, and is a handsome-looking fruit ; 

 but the flavour will, doubtless, be improved later in the season. 

 T. B. Horsfall, Esq., M.P., Bellamour Hall, near Rugeley, 

 exhibited a very large bunch of Musa Cavendishii. 



Mr. Ingram, gardener to His Grace the Duke of Rutland, 

 Belvoir Castle, sent a dish of Beurre de Ranee Pears, which 

 were very fine in appearance, but they lacked flavour. 



all intending builders of glass houses would do well to read his 

 article. A heating apparatus capable of warming a house 40 feet 

 long by 15 feet wide is put up for 50*. while the cost for fuel 

 for the winter may be set down at 10s. or 12s., or less, and 

 assuredly these figures are small enough for the most rigid 

 economist. 



In confirmation of the easy and useful working of the flue, the 

 letter of Mr. Harris, at page 223, is equally valuable, and it states' 

 that Pines, VineB, Peaches, and plants can be forced or grown 

 as well in houses heated with flues as with hot water, and as 

 Mr. Harris has had experience in both, he may justly be allowed 

 to have given an unbiased opinion. Contrasted with this is the 

 letter of "J. E. L.," at page 258, who says, with one or two ex- 

 ceptions flues are a dead loss as compared with hot water, as 

 flues are always out of repair, let the smoke out, cause nasty 

 smells, and are accompanied by a dozen other annoyances. This 

 is rather strong language on the part of " J. E. L.," whose after- 

 remarks are also hostile to the old flue, and in praise of hot 

 water. Now, I believe there are few people indeed who would 

 not prefer a well-arranged system of hot- water-heating to the best 

 smoke-flue in the world, were the cost of erecting the two some- 

 what alike ; but I ask " J. E. L." and all others what sort of a 

 hot-water-heating contrivance could be put up even at four times 

 the cost, or £10, which will heat such a house as our correspondent 

 fi " mentions, and be it remembered, that hot-water pipes are 



A PLEA FOE THE OLD FLUE— A GOOD 

 BOILEE ASEJID FOE. 



As the subject of heating horticultural structures is very pro- 

 perly attracting the attention of your readers, I beg to make 

 some further remarks on the matter, and in the present instance 

 I confess that it is as much with the view of eliciting inform- 

 ation as of imparting it to others. Before proceeding further 

 with the subject, I must thank those correspondents who have 

 kindly come forward, and given their opinion on the utility of 

 the old and much-despised flue, as well as the more modern 

 hot water. 



The letter of "E.," at page 211, sets forth in a plain practical 

 way the economy of the flue in places where coal is cheap, and 



liable to mishaps as well as flues, and such accidents are more 

 difficult to rectify. Any one can daub a little clay or mortar on 

 a leaky flue, and it will go on for weeks as well as before, but it 

 takes some time to replace a split boiler, and very often such 

 misfortunes happen at the most unlucky time, as during the 

 period of a sharp frost, or in the early spring forcing time, and 

 the injury and inconvenience need no comment. I once had a 

 boiler that broke down about Christmas, and the new one that 

 replaced it gave way in less than a week after it was fixed, so 

 that altogether about a month was lost, to the entire destruction 

 of the permanent plants in the house. I do not remember of any 

 such mishap befalling a flue in any part of my practice, although 

 at one time I had upwards of twenty flue fires to manage. In 

 saying this I by no means deny the likelihood of accidents with 

 flues, but it is always easy to find a man capable of mending a 

 flue, while the hot-water-pipe man is too often far away, and his 

 operations are of a far more costly character than those in the 

 other case. 



Having given my views in a general form in a former article,. 

 I have but little to add now, excepting to repeat that I am by 

 no means an opponent of hot water ; but when the heat required 

 is simply that sufficient to keep out a frost, or when, say, a tem- 

 perature of 40° is wanted, the cheaper the heating contrivance 

 that will accomplish that object, so long as it is effective, the 

 better it is. Our correspondent " E." has shown that a house 

 40 feet by 15 can be heated with a flue for one-tenth of the 

 sum that would be required for hot water. In his case, there- 

 fore, it would appear that he might have another Bmall house 

 for the amount he saves; at the same time it muBt be borne 

 in mind he lives in the coal country, and Borne little allowance 

 ought to be made for that. A hot-water apparatus is very 

 defective indeed if a ton of coals will not command more heat 

 by its means than by the flue ; and when coals are 25s. instead of 

 2s. per ton, economy in thera is of consequence. I wish in every 

 instance to treat the matter impartially, and will, therefore, state 

 that when the heat wanted is a continual temperature of not less 

 than 55°, and fuel expensive, hot water may be more advisable. 

 This, I believe, I fully explained in my former article, and the 

 merits of flues being admitted by the correspondents alluded to, 

 and as their utility ranks back at least a century prior to hot 

 water, it is likely they may yet continue for a long time in use. 



As " J. E. L." advocates hot water so strongly, perhaps he 

 will give me some advice on the following pointB. Like Mr. 

 Pearson, at page 257, I am far from certain that the best con- 

 structed boiler has been yet before the public, and, accordingly, I 

 am far from being biased in favour of any particular one. The 

 case is this :— My employers are about to erect a new lean-to 

 house 68 feet long by 15 feet wide inside, and as it will be mostly 

 devoted to forcing it will be heated with hot water, but not 

 being connected with the other houses must be heated by a 

 separate boiler. Now, I ask, Which is the best boiler ? Every- 

 one understands the condition which this question conveys ; but 

 I confess being anything but sanguine as to the best-constructed 

 one yet out being any way near perfection. I was once called 

 on to look at a boiler in working order which was said to be 



