COMMONPLACE NOTES. 



191 



Heating. 



A Fellow asks whether we can give him any hints especially bearing 

 on economy of heating. It is a very large subject, but there are a few 

 governing principles we may mention, such as that the coal, coke, and 

 other fuel he speaks of, should always be burnt separately, not mingled 

 together. The fire should always be kept near the furnace door, so that 

 the flames travel the whole length of the boiler ; if the fire is made at, or 

 allowed to get to, the far end of the furnace, a large part of the boiler 

 surface is scarcely touched by the heat from the flame. The stoker must 

 use judgment and common sense ; on a bright sunny morning he will 

 hardly need to start the fire actively, cleaning out the clinkers and ashes 

 will probably suffice ; whereas on a cold dull morning the fire must be 

 started again into activity until sufficient heat is generated in the house. 

 At night the fire must be carefully banked up the last thing, using fuel that 

 has been broken up rather fine, and putting the finest of all over the* top ; 

 in a good boiler, with good banking up, the heat may be maintained within 

 a few degrees for from 10 to 12 hours. On the other hand, in the day- 

 time it is better to keep a small bright fire by putting on little and often 

 than by using heavy charges of fuel. 



Another Fellow of the Society writes us that when he has a biggish 

 fire and the sun suddenly comes out and the heat begins to run up he 

 covers the fire with lumps of chalk, which at once deadens the heat, and 

 at the same time gives him lime for use in the garden. We have no 

 personal experience of this, as we are far from a chalk county, but it sounds 

 very feasible. 



Canker in Fruit Trees. 



A correspondent, Mr. Thomas Sharp, sends us an account of his 

 treatment of this disease with lysol and top-dressing the roots. He 

 says : " The method is simplicity itself. Cut out the diseased tissue, 

 either in the resting or growing season, and dress the wounds with 

 1 lysol ' — a 6c7. bottle will dress a very great number of wounds. Result : 

 healthy tissue all round the wounds, gladdening the heart of the grower. 

 In addition to the lysol dressing, my trees — growing in poor soil, 

 chiefly sand poisoned with coal ashes — had their roots top-dressed with 

 two inches of compost consisting of about one-third heavy (gault) loam, 

 one-third chalk loam, one- third sandy loam, plus 3 to 4 ounces of 80% 

 superphosphate, and about 1^ to 2 ounces of sulphate of potash per 

 square yard." 



