December 20, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
527 
the coal, smoke and all, as I have tried to provide for by my new 
furnace ; and secondly by utilising all the heat some way or other after 
raising it. If any good be done by discussing the subject, it is surely not 
by reiterating a set of truisms about clean flues, removing clinkers, &c., 
which probably formed part of the instructions every young gardener 
received the first day he commenced stoking, and which there is little 
chance of his forgetting.— Dugald. 
I quite agree with Mr. A. Young on page 482 in regard to his 
method of stoking. He says there might be three or more boilers in one 
place, and yet all require a little different attention to get them to work 
properly. A great mistake is often made in not having sufficient piping, 
as in that case the fire requires all the draught to maintain the requisite 
temperature ; whereas, if there was more piping, the fire would not 
need to be driven so fast, the water would not need be near so hot as when 
there is a deficiency of piping, and it would not take so much fuel either 
to keep up the heat. I do not agree with “ Dugald’s ” theory of having 
a furnace door at each end of the boiler ; it would, in my opinion, require 
too large a stokehole. I have never found any difficulty in keeping the 
furnace clean with one fire-door. “Dugald” also says, “ Why not have 
the chimney in the shape of a flue through the stove ? ” I should certainly 
object to such an arrangement, as flues are dangerous in case of accidents ; 
the sulphur fumes from them also are also very destructive to plants.— 
G. T. G. J f 
As the subject of economy in stoking is being discussed, perhaps my 
experience in heating boilers and flues may not be unacceptable. Where 
chalk can be obtained at a short distance, store it in a covered stokehole 
to dry, but if obtained in dry weather it may be used at once. In starting 
the fire put as much coal on as is required to heat the pipes or flue, then 
break the chalk in pieces the size of hens’ eggs. Spread the coal evenly 
over the bars, then put on the chalk. The coal must not be disturbed 
from the furnace bars, but keep adding chalk as it burns. I am quite 
convinced there is a more regular heat from chalk than from either coal 
or coke. Fires can be conveniently made up at 10 p.m., but the fireman 
should always be up early in the morning. In bad weather 5 A M. is a 
very good time. In renewing the fire I draw the chalk off the coal, put 
a little more coal on, and start the fire to the heat required, and then 
pour some water on the chalk drawn out of the furnace. When cooled, 
it is sifted, and the lime is very useful in the garden on heavy land. 
What is not sufficiently burnt will do to bank up with. There is one 
thing to observe—be very careful not to choke the back of the fire, which 
should burn to the front as much as possible. Five barrowfuls of chalk 
to one of coal may be used. This I call economising, and I have had a 
fire like a gas retort by regulating the damper and furnace doors. 
Respecting flues, I should have no fear of taking them through a 
house. A first-rate grower of tricolor Pelargoniums and Poinsettias has 
a flue in his propagating house for bottom heat, and the heat is regulated 
by the damper of the furnace chimney. But the flue is well constructed, 
and has a brick rise in every 10 feet. Slates are laid on the top, resting 
two bricks from the flue, and covered with cocoa-nut fibre, in which the 
pots are plunged. Many years ago when I was with Mr. Cuthill of 
Camberwell, he grew many Cucumbers for market. Three ranges of 
pits were heated by hot water. The heat from the furnace was so great 
it induced him to have another pit built, and the draught from the furnace 
afforded sufficient to heat the extra pit through glazed pipes. It was in 
this pit where he grew his famed Lisianthuses. I will state at some 
future time how this good, old, and rare plant can be grown with 500 
flowers.—G. W. Young. 
LATE BLACK GRAPES. 
I was particularly pleased to see Mr. D. Thomson give the Gros 
Colman such a high place in his estimation, more especially as regards 
its flavour. I send you a bunch that was grown in a medium tempera¬ 
ture not quite so high as that for Muscats, hut much higher than 
Alicante and Gros Maroc. The flavour of Gros Colman is very peculiar 
but good, piquant, and this improves by keeping. When well grown it 
cannot but be recognised as a Grape of the first quality. I am very 
strongly impressed with the need of a high temperature for this, though 
I cannot say it improves the colour. This is, however, a wonderful variety 
for colouring in the dark days, say, of November. Just lately I have 
marked several bunches with a few half-coloured berries, and therefore I 
am quite satisfied that even now they are colouring. 
Gros Maroc as you see shows no signs of shrivelling, hut to say this 
and Cooper’s Late Black are the same will upset the calculations of 
many growers. I made the acquaintance of the latter at the last Cale¬ 
donian Show at Edinburgh for the first time, but did not have the chance 
of tasting it. Exhibited as it was there it appeared distinct both from 
Alicante and Gros Maroc. One exhibitor staged both Cooper’s and 
Alicante good, grown in the same house. Gros Maroc sometimes is longer 
in berry than mine, but this is, I believe, a sign of its having more heat 
than I gave mine. I also send a small piece of Alnwick Seedling grown with 
Alicante and Gros Maroc; with me it fails to set, yet shall try again. Do 
you think grafting Cooper’s Late Black has altered its character ? Gros 
Guillaume grown with Gros Colman does well here, though the berries 
are only medium Hamburgh size. This, however, with me is caused 
perhaps by overcropping, as I have cut four bunches weighing 22 lbs., 
leaving still four other smaller bunches hanging. — Stephen Castle, 
West Lynn. 
[Gros Colman is excellent in size, finish, and quality. Gros Mar®c, 
good berries and smooth, but not of high quality ; footstalks shrivelled. 
Alnwick Seedling, well coloured, berries irregular; quality brisk and 
good. Alicante of average size and quality. The examples sent to us 
by Mr. Mclndoe as Gros Maroc and Cooper’s Late Black were un¬ 
doubtedly identical. What is the origin of Cooper’s Black ?] 
EDWARDSIA GRANDIFLORA. 
Amongst the many beautiful plants which English gardeners owe 
to Sir Joseph Banks must be included the above, with several other 
members of the same family, all shrubs of more or less elegance. 
Though usually grown in pots, they have also been successfully grown 
out of doors, and in positions against a wall where they are not too 
exposed they usually escape damage even during the most severe 
winters. When grown in pots a compost of turfy loam, peat, and sand 
—the former in the largest proportion—is required, and in the green¬ 
house and conservatory the plants will grow and flower freely. 
Edwardsia grandiflora was originally known as Sophora tetraptera, 
under which name it was figured in the “ Botanical Magazine ” in 
1791. In the remarks accompanying that a tree is mentioned which 
was planted against a wall in the Apothecaries’ Garden, Chelsea, by 
Mr. Forsyth in 1774. This, it is said, grew strongly and flowered most 
abundantly, but the plant was protected with mats in severe winters. 
The leaves are very neatly pinnate, having eight or nine pahs of small 
pinules, which are whitish on the under surface and green above. The 
flowers are of a peculiar yellow hue, the calyx being darker and some¬ 
what brownish. 
Edwardsia chrysophylla from the Sandwich Islands has flowers of a 
similar shade of yellow and somewhat similar in form, but the leaves 
have a greater number of pinna? and are of a silvery colour on the under 
surface. 
Destroying Crickets. — I observed in the Journal an inquiry as to 
how crickets can be destroyed, and in reply I may state that when I took 
charge of the gardens here about five years ago the stove was infested 
with them. I obtained some common jam jars, in which was placed a 
mixture of treacle and beer, and the jars were sunk level with the surface 
