JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
March 10,1881, ] 
187 
heating capacity. A foot of surface will heat to a given degree 
a pint of water in less time than it would a quart; thus, a boiler 
with 3 feet of surface will heat as much water to say 200° as one 
with 6 feet, the quantity being half in the first case as regards 
the boiler to what it is in the latter. It is the increase of surface 
and the diminution of water space that gives to tubular boilers 
their superiority over those with large waterways—a quantity of 
water to be heated before any of it passes to where it is required, 
and a decreased heating surface ; the circulation is rapid with the 
one, in the other slow. Unfortunately the most improved forms 
of boiler are not made in small sizes suitable for the amateur, and 
in selecting a boiler it is always advisable to have one capable of 
heating considerably more piping than it is calculated to do. 
The saddle form of boiler is still one of the best for small houses, 
especially those forms that have waterway terminal end and side 
flues. 
In regard to pipes, those 4 inches in diameter are the best, as 
they retain the heat longer than the smaller do. The flow pipe 
should ascend from the boiler to the point of return, and the return 
pipe should descend thence to the boiler, so that an air pipe at the 
highest part of the pipes will keep them free of air. Avoid dips, 
they only impede the circulation and diminish boiler power. 
The joints after caulking with tarred rope may be filled up with 
cement. In fixing the supply cistern have it on such a level that 
the flow pipe will not be more than three parts full of water where 
it makes the return, this to allow for the expansion of the water 
and prevent running over at the air pipe. The supply of water 
to the feed cistern should be regulated by a ballcock, and the 
supply from it be either to the boiler direct near its bottom, or to 
the return pipe as near the boiler as practicable, and at its passage 
from the supply cistern there should be a valve to check the water 
from running back into the supply cistern. The pipes may be on a 
level in the house or one above the other, and if they have a rise 
of half an inch in a yard within the house it is ample. To 
regulate the draught of the furnace there must be either a door 
to the ashpit so that the draught may be regulated, or a damper 
in the boiler flue, or both.—G. Abbey. 
TEA ROSES. 
At the late meeting of the General Committee of the National 
Rose Society, when the Crystal Palace schedule was under con¬ 
sideration, a member drew the attention of the Committee to the 
nurseryman classes for Tea Roses. In class A prizes were offered 
for eighteen, and in class B for twelve. It was pointed out by 
the Secretary that these numbers must be altered, because the 
giver of the prizes (Mr. Prince of Oxford) had offered them for 
twenty-four and eighteen respectively. Twenty-four Teas and 
Noisettes ! The number struck me as exceedingly large, and as 
Chairman I ventured to suggest that, though it was not a proper 
thing to look a gift horse in the mouth, yet that surely these 
numbers were too large ; for what member of the Committee 
could name twenty-four good Teas and Noisettes ? A great 
authority on Teas (Mr. Cant of Colchester) supported me by 
saying what I scarcely ventured to hint, although I was thinking 
the same thing—that it was often exceedingly difficult to get 
twelve good Teas in a box, and it would be almost impossible to 
have twenty-four. It was felt, however, that we had no alterna¬ 
tive but to make the alteration desired by the donor, and so it 
now stands. But my object in writing this is to ask your rosarian 
readers if any of them can name twenty-four good Teas and Noi¬ 
settes, nearly half of which would not have been out of bloom by 
July 2nd, the date of the Crystal Palace Show ? 
Several years ago I showed Roses, but some of my friends may 
remember that Teas used to be my strong point, and I believe 
1 may claim without boasting to be one of the first to discover the 
beauties of Catherine Mermet, when neither Mr. William Paul or 
Mr. Robert Baker had it in their collections; and when devoting a 
large part of my attention to Teas and growing all the varieties 
then in commerce, after having built dwarf walls on purpose to 
protect the plants, I have generally had the greatest difficulty in 
E reducing twelve good Teas and Noisettes for a box. Catherine 
[ermet, Alba Rosea or Madame Rravy, Mar4chal Niel, Souvenir 
d’un Ami, Elise Yardon, Devoniensis, Triomphe 'de Rennes, 
La Belle Lyonnaise, and sometimes Madame Trifle—all these are 
good, but how about the rest ? There are plenty of Teas left, you 
say. Yes, but let us look at them. You go round to Niphetos. 
Here 6he is, with drooping head, snow white in colour, and looking 
from a distance lovely ; but lift the bloom up, and you will ten to 
one find her all out of form. Then there is Madame Margottin ; 
in nine cases out of ten she is quartered or of bad form. I can 
only recollect one really grand Madame Margottin at a show, and 
that was exhibited by my friend Mr. Baker at Torquay, and I 
believe wrenched the first prize. Then there is Souvenir de Paul 
Neyron, which is generally too small for a box, and a number of 
lovely yellow and sulphur varieties, which are such poor growers 
•—like Reine du Portugal, Louise Savoie, and others—that very 
seldom can a good bloom be obtained from them out of doors. 
There have been numbers of good new varieties, so I am told, 
but I have only seen one—Madame Lambard—which really attains 
to first-class honours. But now we are flooded with this new race, 
this [belli teterrima causa , “ Hybrid Teas.” Are Mr. Bennett’s 
hybrids and Mr. George Paul’s Cheshunt hybrids to be admitted 
into Tea boxes ? Cheshunt Hybrid has always found a place 
therein, but most judges have shrugged their shoulders as they 
found it amid those dainty beauties, and wished in vain that they 
could turn it out or disqualify the box. But now we are threatened 
with a flood of Hybrid Teas, which, so far as I can understand, bear 
the same relation to Teas as La France does. If these, then, are to 
be admitted into an exhibition stand of Roses we can understand 
the numbers fixed upon by Mr. Prince, although most rosarians 
will, I think, agree with me in deeming that one of the most 
lovely sights of a Rose show—the box of Teas and Noisettes—will 
be entirely ruined. Is it too late to alter this ? If not, I would 
beg the donor of these prizes to consider the matter and report his 
decision to the Committee.— Wyld Savage. 
A SELECTION OF POTATOES FOR 1881. 
Having just made up my list of Potatoes for the coming season 
I send you an abstract of it. All the sorts named are good, but 
they vary much in their distinguishing features ; therefore I have 
attached letters to indicate their strong points. These letters 
afford a justification (good or bad as the case may be) for the 
selection at every point, and will, I hope, be useful to cultivators 
who are not posted up in minute details, x Signifies particularly 
well adapted for exhibition ; t signifies high table quality ; c sig¬ 
nifies that the variety is what we term a “ heavy cropper 
m signifies peculiar adaptability for market culture, combining 
heavy cropping with a strong constitution. 
Ashleaf, t ; Avalanche, t x ; Beauty of Hebron, x ; Beauty of 
Kent, t x ; Bedfont Prolific, t x ; Blanchard, x ; Bountiful, t x ; 
Bresee’s Prolific, x m ; Brownell’s Beauty, x c ; Centennial,#; 
Climax, t x ; Covent Garden Perfection, t c ; Crimson Ashleaf, x ; 
Dalmahoy, t c ; Early Market, t m ; Edgcott Seedling, t x ; Ex¬ 
celsior Kidney, t x ; Fortyfold, t m ; Garibaldi, x ; Grampian, t x ; 
Heather Bell, t x c ; Ice Cream, t x c\ International Kidney, x ; 
Johnston’s Downshire, t c ; Improved Peachblow, x ; King of 
Potatoes, t se c ; Lapstone, t x ; Magnum Bonum, t in ; Man¬ 
hattan, x c ; Matchless, t x ; Model, x ; Mr. Bresee (syn. Peerless 
Rose), t x ; Porter’s Excelsior, x ; Radstock Beauty, x c ; Rector 
of Woodstock, x ; Red Emperor, x ; Salmon Kidney, x ; School¬ 
master, t x c ; Scotch Blue, x ; Scotch Champion, m ; Snow¬ 
flake, x m ; Striped Don, t x ; Triumph, t x c ; Yicar of Lale- 
ham, x c ; Wiltshire Snowflake, t x ; Woodstock Kidney, t x. 
A selection from the foregoing should comprise Myatt’s Ashleaf, 
Beauty of Kent, Bedfont Prolific, Covent Garden Perfection, Early 
Market, Edgcott Seedling, Fortyfold, Grampian, Hooper’s Round 
White, Johnston’s Downshire, King of Potatoes, Magnum Bonum, 
Rector of Woodstock, Schoolmaster, and Triumph. These fifteen 
will make for anyone a really fine collection.— Shirley Hibberd. 
FLORIFEROUS HYACINTHS. 
I shall be glad to know whether any attention has been called 
to the remarkably floriferous character of the Hyacinths this 
season, as after many years’ experience neither my gardener nor 
I have seen them so fine. The bulbs have been sent direct from 
the same Dutch grower for the last twelve years, and I always 
have the same old favourites, as, only seeing them once a year, 
there is no time to tire of their beauty ; whilst I have found that 
with novelties it is price that constitutes the great difference in 
the majority of cases. I have generally had a fine display, many 
of the spikes being really fit for exhibition, but this year they are 
extraordinary, with two, three, four, and in one case six spikes. 
I give a list of some of the most remarkable specimens ; and at 
the same time I would observe that although some of the spikes 
may be said to belong to offsets, in many cases they spring from 
the centre of the bulb, and apparently from the very heart. 
Why do the bulbs never furnish such fine spikes of bloom the 
second season, no matter how carefully they have been grown in 
the interval ? Of course the young offsets can only produce 
weak spikes, and must improve with age. Is it the practice to 
prevent them flowering until they are considered marketable 
bulbs, or are they allowed to flower annually until they have 
attained such distinction ? A few hints might be acceptable to 
