250 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ March 26, 1385. 
in its struggle with the Birch, which is rapidly disappearing before it, and 
which now forms forests only where the soil is too poor to support the 
Beech. The earliest forests of the country were mainly composed of 
Aspens, with which the Birch was apparently associated; but as the soil 
and climate improved, the Fir appeared in great numbers and ruled for 
centuries. The first place was then gained by the Ilolm Oak, which is 
now, like the Birch and the Fir, but more slowly, being replaced by the 
Beech. The superiority of the Beech seems to lie in its power of growing 
in the shade of any trees, while other trees are unable to develope in the 
shadows of its own dense foliage .—(Irish Farmers' Gazette .) 
eighteen years since, the joints of which are all as sound now as ever ; 
and if required they could be unpacked much quicker and more safely 
than those made with iron filings. The latter if not very carefully made 
are liable to swell too much and burst the socket, and it is almost 
impossible to take them to pieces without cracking the pipes. I have not 
seen red lead tried for main pipes, where of course the pressure is often 
much greater than in the instance I have quoted. But I have been told 
by several people joints are most easily made or taken apart with india- 
rubber rings, and that they are also very reliable. Hitherto, however, I 
have had no chance to try them.—W. H. Divers, Ketton Hall. 
SNOWDROPS. 
- The profit of Fruit-growing, says the American Cultivator, 
depends very largely on the skill and enterprise shown in marketing. 
Fruit is a perishable product. If the middleman has to bear the wastage 
and shrinkage he will not pay the producer more than the bare cost of 
getting the crop to him. Farmers should be more independent of 
middlemen, and the more liable their product is to waste the nearer 
they should strive to get it to the consumer. Farmers who do this are 
little affected by hard times and low prices. The difference between the 
price of produce paid by the middleman, and by him charged to the con¬ 
sumer, is sufficient to afford a good margin of profit to the grower. In 
fact, as prices were last season, at the time the bulk of fruit had to be 
disposed of, selling it to the consumer direct was, in many cases, the only 
way to avoid positive loss. The farmer who has engaged in this business 
a number of years will have regular customers, and his route will become 
as valuable as that of a milkman near a city.” 
HEATING AND HOT-WATER PIPES. 
Both gardeners and horticultural builders may profit by the sound 
practical remarks by Mr. Bardney on the above subject in your Journal 
of last week. Crowding a great number of pipes together is undoubtedly 
an evil to be avoided, but I think he draws a rather extreme instance, for 
few men would ever think of placing such plants as he names on an open 
lattice stage over such a large body of pipes. Such stages should always 
be covered with thin slates and spar, or ashes, placed on the top to 
retain a little moisture. 
There is no doubt about the economy of having more rather than less 
piping than is necessary to heat a house. In a well-heated house when 
the pipes are once warm a banked-up fire will usually keep them all 
right during the day, as well as at night; but when a fire has to be 
always going there is no mistake about the fuel going too. Mr. Bardney’s 
advice about chambers for mains is very good. These are often buried 
out of sight anyhow as if they never required to be looked to any more. 
I saw a very good, or as I should rather say a very bad, instance of this 
a few weeks ago. In visiting a friend we found great holes dug about 
the houses and yard, with heaps of soil, clay, and bricks beside them. 
Oninquiry we we told that the iron filings were splitting all the joints in 
the mains, and even in some instances inside the houses. On looking into 
some of those holes we could see that the chamber was just wide enough 
for the pipes and no more, and when a leak was found—and the job is to 
find it in some such cases—nothing can be done till the bricks on each 
side are pulled out. I can scarcely say why the joints should split, but 
my friend was of opinion that there must have been some mistake in 
mixing the filings, and that they had put too much in—the socket being 
right full from eDd to end. I do not know for certain, but judging 
by the age of the Vines, &c., these pipes will have been fitted about ten 
years. 
It must be admitted that the small tap usually filled into boilers are 
useless as sludge pipes, and, as your correspondent says, an opening 
nearly as large as the pipes themselves should be pro¬ 
vided. It might be done very simply in this fashion. 
Instead of the usual elbow passing through the brick¬ 
work into the boiler, fix a T piece in the position shown 
in the accompanying sketch (fig. 46), and in the lower 
end of the T at a fix a short diminishing pipe, the end 
of which could be stopped with a plug or cap that 
would unscrew when wanted. This would add but 
little to the cost, and would certainly answer the pur¬ 
pose of a sludge pipe, which cannot be said of the 
taps intended for that.— A Working Gardener. 
Like Mr. Bardney (see p. 226) I, too, was under the impression until 
recently that all valves were useless, or nearly so, for holding back the 
water during a break-down in the apparatus. Unfortunately we have had 
two breakages lately, both near to a junction, between the main pipes 
and a branch ; but on screwing down all the valves in the other houses 
we were able to keep every drop of water in the pipes, except of course 
what was beyond the fracture. Thus we were enabled to refill in a few 
minutes after the repairs were completed, which is a great advantage in a 
case like ours, where several large houses are heated from one boiler. 
Some of our valves have been in six years, the others three years. It is 
perhaps only fair to add they were put in by Messrs. Rendle. 
For packing the joints I like spun yarn, finished with a good thickness 
of red lead putty. I know where there are pipes put up in this way 
“ M. S.” appears to be rather “ mixed” in his estimation of what are 
varieties and species in his interesting remarks upon these charming 
flowers in the Journal (page 227). Some of the names “M. S.” mentions 
are new to me, but as he describes them as some of the “ principal 
forms,” I take it he means forms of G. nivalis. What is G. aestivalis? 
Mention is made of G. latifolius; does “M. S.” mean the one usually 
grown under the name of Redoutei ? If so, I think it deserves specific 
rank. Besides the varieties mentioned by “ M. S.,” I may remark upon 
some others which are known to me—viz., G. cocyrensis, which is the 
earliest of all to flower ; leaves broader than in the type ; flowers rather 
longer; blotches vety pale green. G. lutescens, flowers very delicate- 
looking, with a distinct yellowish tinge at the base of the inner segments. 
G. virescens, very late flowering and distinctly striated or flaked, with 
bright green ; a veritable gem and extremely scarce. I have one now in 
flower, or it is just fading ; the inner divisions are scarcely notched, and 
the green blotches are quite obsolete, but the inside of these divisions are 
striped with pale green ; it is a frail-looking little plant, with rather 
broad very glaucous leaves. The late Mr. Harper Crewe made a speciality 
of these modest early flowers, and well they deserved it, and I hope some 
of our enthusiastic bulbophiles will do likewise ; a marvellous amount of 
interest centres in them. 
I regard the following as species :—G. Elwesii, G. plicatus, G. 
Redoutei, and G. nivalis. Of the last there are many forms, the following 
being the only ones known to myself, viz.:—Imperati (the Italian 
variety), cocyrensis, lutescens, virescens, Melvillei, Sharlockii, and the 
spotless form mentioned above. I think the variety Imperati is the finest 
of all Snowdrops when thoroughly happy ; there is such a substance and 
purity in its long cylindrical buds, and the flowers when expanded are 
very large. G. Elwesii is variable ; in its true character it is very 
distinct, but we are frequently disappointed with it, some of the flowers 
being but poor mimics of the narrow forms of G. nivalis, but invariably 
with the green basal blotches. A happy trio in nature seems to be G. 
Elwesii, Scilla bifolia, and Chionodoxa Luciliae. An imported batch are 
now flowering, and very pretty they are thus associated.— T. 
BRISTOL SPRING SHOW. 
March 18th and 19th. 
Although in some respects scarcely so good as usual, the fifteenth 
Exhibition of bulbs and spring flowers generally, held under the auspices of 
the Bristol Chrysanthemum and Spring Show Society, may still be rightly 
considered a great success. The Victoria Rooms, Clifton, where these 
exhibitions are always held, are particularly well adapted to the purpose, 
and the Committee of practical gardeners, with the new and most energetic 
Secretary, Mr. Polkinhorn, at their head, succeeded in arranging a very 
attractive and generally excellent display. In the course of the meeting a 
presentation was made to Mr. G. Webley, who from the commencement of 
the Society up to last year, or for about sixteen years, has so ably filled 
the important post of Honorary Secretary. It consisted of a solid silver 
biscuit basket, set of silver spoons, and a very handsome album ; and 
another valuable present was subscribed for by various well-wishing friends 
who attended the meeting. The presentation was made by Mr. J. Garaway, 
and on the behalf of the Society expressed their gratitude for the valuable 
service so long willingly given to the Society by Mr. Webley, and which 
was suitably acknowledged by that gentleman. Few, probably, are aware 
of the amount of labour and tact required of a secretary, and we who have 
been “ behind the scenes ” have much pleasure in recording such a substan¬ 
tial recognition of Mr. Webley’s services. 
Hyacinths .—There was a considerable falling off in the number of 
Hyacinths and other bulbs exhibited, and on the whole those staged were 
somewhat below the average as far as the size of spikes and pips were 
concerned, but the colours were unusually bright and good. In the premier 
class, or that provided for eighteen Hyacinths and twelve pots of Tulips, 
there were only three competitors, Mr. Marsh, gardener to M. Dunlop, 
Esq., being a good first. His collection consisted of very creditable examples 
of Hyacinths Grand Maitre, Lord Shaftesbury, Haydn, Queen of the Blues, 
Paix de l’Europe, Queen of Hyacinths, Obelisque, General Havelock, Von 
Schiller, Mont Blanc, King of the Blues, De Candolle, Lord Maucaulay, 
Pieneman, l’lnnocence, Fabiola, General Pellisier, and Lothair; while the 
Tulips—which, like the Hyacinths, were very fresh, sturdy, and even— 
conristed of Imperator rubra, Tournesol, Joost Van Vondel, Vermilion 
Brillant, Murillo, Proserpine, Keizer Kroon, Yellow Tournesol, and Fabiola. 
Mr. W. H. Lintern, gardener to W. Butter, Esq., was awarded the second 
prize for a collection in which only a few Hyacinths were a little inferior ; 
the third prize going to Mr. C. Taggett for another praiseworthy collection. 
There were six exhibitors of twelve Hyacinths, distinct, and with these Mr. 
J. Gastrell, gardener to W. A. Jones, Esq., was successful, having among 
others excellent spikes of La Grandesse, Grandeur & Merveille, Queen of 
Hyacinths, Baron Von Tuyll, Lord Macaulay, Blondin, Marie, and Ida. 
Mr. W. H. Lintern was a close second, and Mr. W. Fox, gardener to Mrs. 
Hurle, was a good third. The best six Hyacinths, these consisting of good 
