IRON AND WOOD ROOFS FOR STOVES, &c. 
6 J 
is situated at a great distance from coal mines ; and in all my arrangements with 
respect to hot water, I have always contrived to have the body of water in the pipes 
which run through the house, as it is there that the gardener requires a permanent 
and lasting heat ; this it is that induces me to advocate the use of three and four 
inch pipes. Moreover, there are great objections to the use of small pipes, varying 
from half an inch to two inches, particularly when the boiler (as is the plan of some) 
is formed of a series of pipes ; in such case their interior becomes in course of time 
furred up from the incrustation formed from the deposition of the various earthy 
matters held in solution by the water, which naturally causes an accumulation of 
alkaline earths, &c. &c, which in time closes up the water way. I have thus 
freely expressed my opinion on the demerits of pipes of small calibre ; but it must not 
be thence inferred that I shall err on the other extreme, as that would be attended 
with much sacrifice of fuel to the proprietor and great inconvenience to the gardener. 
For if boilers and pipes capable of containing unnecessarily large quantities of 
water are used, there will be a great waste of fuel before any heat is communicated 
to the house, and perhaps a valuable crop of fruit or plants may be lost, through 
the gardener not having a proper command of heat, in order to prepare against 
those alterations in the weather so frequently sudden and unexpected in this 
changeable and uncertain climate. I have found in the course of my experience and 
observation, in the months of October, November, and December, more especially, 
but with less frequency at all seasons of the year, that up to the hour of twelve 
o'clock at night rain may fall in torrents, and the gardener may naturally 
conclude that during the night no fires will be required, either for the greenhouse 
or conservatories, but how great must be his trouble and surprise to find in the 
morning 8° or perhaps 10° of frost ! Now this trouble and inconvenience I have 
frequently experienced ; therefore, for the benefit of all parties, and the protection 
of plants, &c, I beg to repeat here the opinion I have already given, that for an 
apparatus to answer all purposes, boilers of medium size, with water ways not 
less in any part of the boiler than three inches, and not more than four inches, 
will give the gardener sufficient command of heat, and afford him an opportunity 
of protecting the perishable property committed to his care without subjecting himself 
to reproach, which is too frequently unjustly heaped upon him for loss of property 
through circumstances over which he could have no control. For to limit a gardener to 
means when much is expected, can only be compared to setting a man to dig who has 
neither legs nor arms. Having then explained my objections to pipes of too large or too 
small dimensions, I shall, in concluding these observations, offer a few suggestions re- 
lative to the formation of the furnace, and the apparatus generally, as a guide to persons 
who may not have had quite so much practical experience as myself. And among the 
first to which I shall draw the gardener's attention, with all hot- water apparatus, it is 
necessary for his own convenience, and for the benefit of his employer, to see that the 
mechanic or person who fixes the apparatus supplies a proper-sized furnace door, which 
should not be less than one foot square, for the convenience of cleaning out, light- 
