Jane 23, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



be as good ai ever, the boiler last another ten years, and the owner 

 would not be pestered with hydrogen smells, nor see his Vines 

 drooping and scorched with fire-damp and a crazy flue, after 

 wasting £47 or more, enough to build the owner a moderate- 

 giied greenhouse. 



We had a boiler put in in 1835, and though old and worn 

 it was not useless when it was removed to mate way for a 

 larger, and the pipes were as good as ever — they had never 

 cost a penny in repairs, and they did not need any after twenty- 

 seven years wear and tear, neither can they be distinguished 

 from new pipes. I mention this boiler and pipes in justification 

 of my statement, for some people have an idea that boilers are 

 soon worn out. 



In heating a number of houses hot water is without an equal ; 

 but having given the cost of heating five houses by flues I will 

 heat them with hot water by way of comparison. 



The range is 180 feet by 18, all of them kept at a high tem- 

 perature; costing for heating with flues £47 10s., and £26 10s. 

 in fuel annually. 



£ 9. d. 



Boiler 20 



Doors and frame 3 3 



1400 feet of four-inch pipe, four pipes in front, tiro at 



back, and two along each end 70 



Branches, elbows, syphons, connections, and valves ... 24 

 Boiler-setting, preparing-for, materials, chimney-build- 

 ing, &c „ 4 3 6 



Pipes, fixing with materials 27 



£14S 6 6 



We have the sheds heated by the connection-pipes, plants in 

 some, Mushrooms in others, potting-shed as nice as possible, 

 and all arranged so that one can be heated at once or them all, 

 separately or together ; and a couple of pipes run under the 

 tanpits so as to keep the beds warm. All this is done with the 

 fuel of one fire, saving annually the fuel of eight fires, and doing 

 the work as well again, without blowing-up anything or robbing 

 ourselves of sleep, of which it is said, " Sis hours is enough for 

 a man, seven for a wsman, eight for a fool ;" but I recom- 

 mend the fool's portion for every one. Also by carrying the 

 connecting-pipes along the sheds you will do away with bothies. 

 That is worth more than all the good hot water ever did ; for 

 I estimate inventions nothing unless they give less manual labour, 

 and are more economical, and conducive to health and comfort. 

 Bothies are repositories for weary liinbs, cause unhealthiness, 

 breed disease and demoralisation, and are altogether unfit for 

 human habitations. The sooner under-gardeners are driven out 

 of them, and a comfortable house provided with a thorough 

 draught in an open situation, the better it will accord with 

 the objects by which they are surrounded, and the more con- 

 ducive will it be to the owner's interests and the inmates' social 

 and moral advancement. 



Owing to our saving the fuel of eight fires we nett £21 4s. 

 yearly, which will in seven years amount to £14S Ss., thereby 

 clearing the cost of the apparatus in that period ; but with a 

 crazy set of flues the real expense attending them is only fairly 

 beginning. 



Now, coals may make a difference — that is, their cost, in 

 speaking of the relative merits and defects of flues and hot water. 

 Where a range of houses is heated by flues and fuel is cheap — 

 say 2s. 6d. per ton, it may not be wise to take out the flues and 

 replace with a hot-water apparatus ; it may not be more eco- 

 nomical, but it will be better and far more garden-like. A man 

 upholding flues appears to me to be similar to a thrasher con- 

 tending there is nothing like a flail to thrash corn — he had rather 

 do the work of a horse or a steam-engine than allow his mind 

 to move with the age. 



Jus tone point more and I have done for the present. "Where 

 the houses are wide apart, it is more economical and satisfactory 

 to heat them with flues than hot water." In a case like that 

 the boiler works at a disadvantage, heating a greater length of pipe 

 outside the house than within. But with that drawback I con- 

 tend hot water is the cheapest and best in the longrun; for 

 instead of using four-inch flows we use 1^-inch wrought-iron 

 pipes, and the same for returns — tha* is, all the connections are 

 lj-inch, costing G^d. per foot, increasing the heating powers of 

 the boiler one-third, promoting a quicker circulation, and giving 

 a very satisfactory result. We have sis houses heated on this 

 principle ; and instead of employing 1200 feet of four-inch 

 piping we have but 800, the remainder are lj-inch ; bo that we 

 have a boiler with little work, and capable of putting limbs on 

 to plants where we have flues taking them off by wholesale. 



I hope to see the flues brought down to their proper level, the 

 rubbish-heap, soon ; and by using lV-iueh connection-pipes to 

 heat more houses, than can be done in the ordinary way. I may 

 say the work is done better by 1^-inch connections than with 

 four-inch. — Gr. A. 



HAKDY PAL1L 



Cr/ETT/BE OF CTAJTOPHYEIUM JIAGNIFICtril. 



WrtL you tell me the name of the Palm which stood out last 

 winter at Kew ? It is very much like the Latania borbonica. I 

 was round there in October, and all the Palms were then taken 

 in except this one. 



What height does the Cyanophyllum magnificum usually 

 attain in its native clime ? I grew one here 11 feet high, 

 having leaves 26 inches long and 13 inches broad. The stem 

 was 2 inches in diameter. I never saw one so fine before, 

 and so said all visitors. It is cut down now, and a very 

 nice walking-stick made with the stem. If you think it was 

 unusually fine, I could tell you how it was grown, as it had a 

 peculiar treatment. — A Yor/XG G-aedexf.b. 



[The Palm you mention is Fortune's Chusan Pahn, Chamaerops 

 Fortunei of Hooker, formerly called C. excelsa in English 

 gardens. At Kew it requires the protection of a mat in severe 

 weather j but in Her Majesty's garden at Osborne it has hitherto 

 stood unprotected. 



Certainly we never saw Cyanophyllum magnificum so lofty as 

 you mention, nor the leaves so large. These are usually about 

 24 inches by 9 at the broadest part. We shall be obliged by a 

 statement of your mode of culture. — Eds. J. of H.] 



LILIUM GIGA^TETTM CULTTjEE— DISA 

 GRANDIFLOEA. 



Haytitg been successful in growing the Lihum giganteum, 

 the culture which I have followed might be useful to many of 

 the readers of The JorEifAi, of Hostictjlttjee. 



I have had this season two bulbs in a fourteen-inch. pot, each 

 of which has sent up a flower-stem 10 feet high. One stem had 

 thirteen flowers and the other twelve, and beautifully sweet- 

 scented. 



The growth was commenced the first week iu February in a 

 cold pit, no heat applied at any time — merely protection from 

 frost. The soil I used was one-half the top spit of a meadow 

 well pulverised, the other half peat and sand well mixed together. 

 When fairly in growth I gave water in abundance, and liquid 

 manure, not strong, about twice a-week. I believe that if the 

 pot had stood in water about an inch or so above the drainage 

 in the pot it would have been more beneficial to the plant, 

 for, this being of quick growth aud gigantic stature, requires 

 water in abundance. 



I have a plant of Disa grandiBora, a sucker from one which 

 was sent here from M. Schiller, of Hamburg, last April twelve- 

 month. It is now nearly 12 inches high, and it seems to be 

 forming a head at the top. Do you think it is likely to flower? 

 As I have not seen any other Disa I am at a loss to know. 

 The plant is healthy and growiug fast. If it shouli bloom I 

 will, if acceptable, send you a few lines as to how I have pro- 

 ceeded with its culture.— J. Eastwood, Gardener to S. Nathan, 

 Esq., Didsbury Lodge, Manchester. 



[We think the Disa is progressing properly. We shall be 

 obliged by particulars of its culture. — Eds. J. of H] 



TiTEW BOOK.;; 

 The In-door Gardener. By Miss Mating. London : Longman 

 and Co. 

 We regret to see by this title-page that Miss Maliug again haa 

 changed her publisher. This is the fourth or fifth time within 

 about twelve months, and such deficiency of permanency is 

 usually indicative of an author being either unpleasant to co- 

 operate with, or that his works are not profitable; or, as in 

 some instances, that these disagreeables have a combined influ- 

 ence in causing such changes. If the other productions of Hiss 

 Maling have had a small sale, for the present volume we cannot 



