132 



HOT-HOUSE. 



[January. 



full play all round the boiler, carrying the flue about forty 

 or fifty feet through the house, that no heat may be lost; 

 attach two pipes to the surface or top of the boiler, if it is to 

 heat right and left, but only one pipe if the heat is to be 

 carried in one direction; distribute the pipe wherever re- 

 quired, giving it an ascent of not less than six inches to the 

 fifty feet, more if it can be done — return the pipe, entering 

 it into the lowest part of the boiler; the greater the ascent 

 and descent the more rapid the circulation. The joints of 

 the pipe are closed by soft hemp rope, firmly rammed up and 

 closed by a mixture of white and red lead made to the con- 

 sistency of putty. These joints are preferable to those of lead, 

 which expand and contract by strong heat, requiring to be 

 hammered up frequently during the season — they can also 

 be very readily taken apart, when removal or alteration is 

 required. It must be observed that air tubes have to be in- 

 serted into the highest part of the pipes at each extremity, 

 and also one over, or near the boiler, for the conveniency of 

 supplying water. If the pipes diverge from the boifer to two 

 extremes, each extremity must be on a level, which other- 

 wise will cause an unequal diffusion of heat. 



Example. — If a house to the right of the boiler one hun- 

 dred feet long has the extreme end of the pipe elevated one 

 foot above the level of the boiler ^ a house fifty feet long to the 

 left must have the same elevation^ otliemvise the heat will be 

 the greatest where the pipe is highest. 



This we consider the most economical method of heating by 

 hot water, and it is by far the most simple— simple indeed 

 in every part, though volumes have been written on the sub- 

 ject. 



Barh Pit. — We consider such an erection in the centre 

 of a hot-house a nuisance, and prefer a stage, which may be 

 constructed according to taste. It should be made of the 

 best Carolina pine, leaving a passage all round, to cause a 

 free circulation of air. The back and end paths may be 

 about two feet wide, and the front three feet. The angle of 

 the stage should be parallel with the glass, having the steps 

 from six inches to one foot apart. 



Where there are some large plants, they may stand on 

 the floor behind the stage, or on tressels, according to their 

 height. 



