April 2S, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
331 
without doubt in a very short time clear the first outlay by the consumption 
of less fuel. This subject is not new, for when practising twelve years 
ago at Newton Hall, Stocksfield-on-Tyne, I remember a very large boiler, 
used for sawing timber, grinding mortar, threshing corn, &c., being 
coverel with the composition mentioned, or a similar one. I never 
entertained any idea of its adaptability for boilers used for horticultural 
purposes until two and a half years ago when I found the boilers and 
pipes covered with it when engaged at the same operation, as stated by 
your correspondent, at the International Maritime Exhibition held at 
Tynemouth. I wish to thank your correspondent for giving the address 
of the firm who can supply this composition, I will make inquiries 
about it. 
I am the more in favour of this composition if it will prove lasting, 
because I do not believe in setting boilers in a mass of brickwork or 
boilers to which brick flues are necessary for working them properly. I 
prefer having the heat and flame rising from the fuel playing on the 
boiler instead of heating bricks half the time, thus utilising the heat for 
the purpose for which it is required. I have three boilers only ; two are 
capable of heating 10,000 feet of 4-inch piping each, the other 2000 feet, 
and the main portion of them are bare, therefore the composition in 
question would, I daresay, prove invaluable. I hope, however, before 
long to be able to test the matter for myself. 
The use of indiarubber rings I did not advise, because I frequently 
saw them leaking in one of the largest nurseries in the kingdom some 
years ago. In another nursery the rings had been used, and I am under 
the impression that the joints were afterwards caulked with iron filings. 
I believe no rings are in use in this nursery at the present time. They 
might not have been adapted to the socket, but about this I cannot say. 
I have had some experience with them near the boilers, and I did not 
think it right or wise to write favourably of a system that I had proved 
imperfect. Perhaps “ Thinker,” or someone else will state how long the 
ring3 will remain watertight on mains constantly in use. This I 
do not know, and shall be pleased if anyone will furnish the desired 
information. 
In turning to Mr. Lynch’s letter, page 267, I must say I am equally 
surprised with his communication as he appears to have been with mine. 
Joints properly made with iron filings are not only safe but more lasting 
than joints made by any other material. The “ hemp rope” and patent 
putty, used largely by a “foremost firm,” will last only for a certain 
number of years before the joints require repacking. This conclusion is 
not arrived at barely from my own experience, but I am familiar with 
several establishments in which the joints have been packed as described, 
and they have given constant trouble and annoyance, and found occupation 
scores of times for fitters to repack them. Little faith can be enteitained 
in the lasting properties of these joints, or how is it that they are not 
repacked again with the same material ? I have seen and had experience 
with joints made with a variety of material, and none is so safe and 
lasting as those made with iron filings, sal ammoniac, and a small 
per-centage of red lead mixed with the other two ingredients. If the iron 
joints have failed for a series of years, made by the “foremost firm ” Mr. 
Lynch has in view, my contention is that they have not been properly 
made. I have here thousands of feet of piping, independent of the mains 
recently packed, and the majority of the joints have bean in use from 
twenty to forty years, and I do not believe one single joint has ever 
leaked or bursted ; in fact they have never done so since I have been 
here, and there is no trace that such has been the case previously. The 
joints in question will be just as good as they are to-day at the end of 
another fifty years, provided they are not allowed to rust. I am no fitter, 
but I do not hesitate saying that I could with the ingredients referred to 
above make joints that would last in perfect condition longer than the 
pipes themselves, giving both exactly the same treatment for preserving 
them. If provision is made for expansion by the use of valves there is no 
fear of iron joints breaking through the expansion of the metal. When 
iron joints leak after they are made it is due either to laziness on the part 
of the man entrusted with the operation, or the properties of the metal 
have been destroyed. Too much sal ammoniac with the filings will burst 
♦he joints even if the provision for expansion referred to has been made. 
I should much like to know from Mr. Lynch how long the joints he 
recommends would last with safety on mains constantly in use.— 
Wm, Bardney. 
BOX FOR EXHIBITING ROSES. 
If none of your great Rose men has seat you anything bc'ter for the 
information of “ X. K.,” who inquires about the “ best possible box for 
exhibiting twelve Roses” perhaps the accompanying sketch (fig. 60) 
placed in the hands of an intelligent country joiner may aid in the pro¬ 
duction of a fair goo l b >x, but as to its being the]“ best possible ’’box, that 
I am afraid mu->t rest more with the skill of the country joiner than with 
the writer. Tue box should be 2 feet 2 inches long, 1 foot 6 inches wide 
(outsile measure), and not more than 5 inches deep. The outside of the 
box should be of 1-inch deal, and on the inside edge must be fixed a 
narrow neat healing about three-eighths inch wide by half an inch deep. 
The cover should be of the same length and width as the box, and 7^ 
8 inches deep, it being made of half-inch deal will fit on to the box,the bead¬ 
ing keeping it in its place. One inch below the level of the beading a 
half-inch boar l should be fixed and holes made at regular distances for the 
tubes, the end ho'es being 3 inches from the inside of the beading, and 
6 inches from centre to centre. The back and front rows should also he 
3 iaches from the edge, having 5 inches between them and the centre row. 
When the tubes are pi aced in position the box should be covered with 
fresh green moss up to the level of the beading. A handle should be fixed 
in the centre of the cover for convenience of carrying, and this cover may 
be fixed on the box by means of a stout leather strap through the handle. 
The box must of course be painted of a lively green colour, and if 
varnished over the paint will look all the better.— R. Inglis. 
FRENCH BEANS. 
Referring to the note from “ B.” at page 289 on the one-sowing 
system of French Beans. According to my experience, in cold backward 
districts where frost in June is severe enough to ruin many fields of Potatoes 
is not an unprecedented occurrence, his system could not be depended 
upon. In order to insure a crop a second sowing at the end of May is 
therefore advisable in such districts. A third sowing in the middle of 
June, besides being useful for late supplies, is found equally useful by ex¬ 
hibitors for the autumn shows. In favourable seasons the quick growth of 
the plants from the sowing results in crisp succulent beans, which usually 
find favour with good judges of vegetables. 
“ B.” mentions good management, but does not this include an intelli¬ 
gent study of the climate in which gardeners practise, particularly in 
connection with the culture of the more tender vegetables grown in the 
open garden ?—D. Mackie. 
DAFFODIL SIR WATKIN. 
Writing in the Manchester City News respecting this Daffodil, Mr. 
W. Brockbank remarks as follows :—“ I gave an account last year of the 
origin of this grand Daffodil, which was brought out by our townsman, 
Mr. William Pickstone, after having been cultivated at his estate, Maes- 
Fig. 60.—Box for exhibiting Boses. 
mynan, near Caerwys, for many years, until he became possessed of a 
very large stock of it. No Daffodil has ever before produced such a 
sensation amongst florists, and its early promise is now being amply 
fulfilled, as it stands pre-eminently the finest of all the Incomparabilis 
section—a peerless Daffodil. On October 18th, 1884, a letter appeared, 
signed by William George, Brook Street, Chester, stating that it was an 
old type of the Giant or Mountain Daffodil, improved in colour and sub¬ 
stance under cultivation, and that the same type could be found in many 
old gardens throughout North Wales, and also in its wild state in at least 
two counties, and had been known to exist there over forty years, and 
that this Sir Watkin was an old foundling under a new name/ Very soon 
after this letter appeared, two of our lerding seedsmen offered me bulbs 
of this wild form, which were expected to turn out to be the real Sir 
Watkin, and they were prepared to supply the^e bulbs by the thousand 
at a very moderate price. Similar offers were abroad, so that the 
opportunity was pretty widely known, and no doubt many took the risk 
and ventured to order. A few bulbs were presected to me as samples 
and for trial, bat as I had a good stcck of the true Sir Watkin, I found 
on comparing the bulbs that they were much smaller, and I therefore 
declined to purchase a quantity. The name of the per on who was thu 3 
offering bulbs was then given to me, an l I lost n > time in communicating 
with him. He had the subject well mastered, ani gave a very plausible 
account of the Daffodil as he knew it to occur in wi d Wales, and he was 
quite ready to supply bulb3 in any quantity. I took down his narrative 
and made a bargain by which he undertook to accompany me to the spot 
this spring, and I undertook to respect his secret and to see that he 
benefited if he could really prove the truth of his statement. 
“ The time of blooming is here, Sir Watkin is in his glory, but his rivals 
prove to be mere common Pseudo Narcissus a3 it occurs wild in North 
Wales. The man himself is not to be found. It may be true for all this, 
but at present the whole affair looks like a cleverly laid scheme for 
trading profitably upon the fame of the grand new Daffodil, if buyers 
could be found willing to take the risk. There i«, however, a very solid 
foundation for Mr. George’s statement that Sir Watkin was descended 
from the Great Mountain or Giant Daffodil, well known in Wales more 
