174 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 26, 1886. 
the crops of Grapes have been much more than doubled the 
first season; but one must suffice for the present. In a 
suburban garden near London stands a solitary vinery occu¬ 
pied with very old Vines. The Grapes borne during the last 
four or five years have not been worth looking at. The 
Vines were regularly spurred on the orthodox plan. Last 
autumn the gardener was advised to change his plan and 
cut out the weak laterals entirely, shortening the stronger 
as recommended above. He sent for his adviser last 
week and pointed with pride to a houseful of Grapes, cer¬ 
tainly thrice the weight of last year’s crop, and of far better 
quality. The man is quite proud of the Grapes and so is 
his master, who had made up his mind that the Vines were 
worn out and would bear no more fruit. Instead of that 
being so there is an abundant supply for the family, and 
more than they can consume. Nothing whatever has been 
done to effect this gratifying change beyond the change in 
pruning, and thus the improvement has been brought about 
without the expenditure of one extra penny in management. 
Gross-growing or unduly exuberant Vines, with their 
roots deep down under a walk or lawn, absorbing water with 
“ nothing in it,” may be made to bear far more and better 
Grapes by a change from the close-spur method of pruning. 
Such Vines do not start “kindly,” but push stubbornly and 
weakly, the roots bemg in a cold medium; but eventually, 
as the soil is slowly warmed by a few weeks or months of 
sun, the growth becomes almost rampant. You may pinch, 
pinch, pinch, but still they grow; but the base leaves are 
poor, through the stubborn start, and the buds in their axils 
thin and pointed. The growths above are stronger, the 
foliage better, and the leaves bolder. To prune such Vines 
closely is to prevent their bearing. Instead of training 
laterals a foot apart or less along each side of the rods, then 
spurring them in winter, it is far better to have the laterals 
3 or 4 feet asunder, training up these young canes to the 
main rods, or where they can be disposed so that the sun 
can act directly on all the leaves, taking out the points of the 
shoots when 5 feet long or so, and then remove about a 
fourth part of their length when the leaves fall. In that 
way such Vines will bear well that under close pruning are 
practically barren. Care is necessary in disbudding the 
following spring, doing this liberally and making due pro¬ 
vision for the maturation of further growths for the following 
crop. “ But such Vines may be improved by lifting them 
and making new borders to be filled with surface roots,” say 
the close pruners. No doubt. But there are not infrequently 
impediments in the way which the gardener is powerless to 
remove. He is not permitted to do as he wishes, so must do 
as he can ; and he will act wisely in trying a different style 
of pruning if he cannot get Grapes “ on the spur.” 
A few years ago some twenty-years-old Vines were lifted, 
and the roots spread near to the surface in a new border; but 
there was one Vine perhaps a hundred years old. The roots 
went “ straight down ” quite below the bed of the new 
border, which was made nearly 3 feet deep. The owner 
would not have the old Vine disturbed. It started later than 
the others, but before the summer was over the growths 
extended more persistently than any. The raised Vines, 
with roots near the surface of the border, and short-jointed 
wood and medium-sized leaves like stiff brown paper, near 
the roof, could be spurred to any extent, and never failed 
to produce excellent Grapes; but the old Vine pruned simi¬ 
larly was a complete failure; yet with young canes trained 
in as above described as many Grapes were obtained and as 
good as from any Vine in the house. 
Judging from the habit of pruning on the orthodox 
method regardless of the condition of Vines, it would seem 
as if gardeners thought more about the appearance of the 
rods in winter than anything else; but nine out of ten of 
the owners of Vines want Grapes, and the cultivator who 
produces the most and the best gives the greatest satisfaction, 
and is in a far better position than he who prunes as he 
imagines in the “proper” manner, yet produces compara 
tively inferior crops.— Experientia docet. 
HEATING BY HOT WATER. 
[Read before the Members of the Preston and Fulwood Floral and Horticultural 
Society, August 7th.] 
MAXIMUM DENSITY OF WATER. 
Water presents the remarkable phenomenon that when it 8 
temperature sinks it contracts to 4° Centigrade or 39 2 Q Fahr., and as 
it contracts it increases in density. For instance, a quantity of water 
at 45° Fahr. is heavier and less in bulk than the same quantity at 
50° or 60 9 Fahr. At a temperature lower than 4° Cent, or 39 2° 
Fahr. water expands and decreases in density till it reaches the 
freezing point. The point 4° Cent, or 39 2° Fahr. is called the point 
of maximum density of water. In winter, owing to exposure to the 
cold air, the temperature of lakes and rivers falis. The cold water 
sinks to the bottom, and a continual succession of currents is formed 
until the whole has a temperature of 39 2° Fahr. The cooling still 
continues on the surface, but these surface layers, which are now 
below 39 2°, are lighter, and so remain on the surface, and ultimately 
freeze. Water used in practice seldom reaches the point of maximum 
density. If it is drawn from water mains, which are placed below 
the surface of the ground 2 feet 6 inches, it will rarely be found 
lower than 45° Fahr. 
Circulation. —All who have poured warm water into a tank of 
cold know that the former rises to the surface, because it is lighter, 
or in other words is forced to that position by the greater weight and 
density of the cold. On this principle the water when heated in the 
boiler rises to the surface and makes its escape into the flow pipe 
provided for the purpose. The space in the boiler is refilled by the 
water from the return pipe. The colder or heavier the water in the 
return pipes the more rapid is the circulation. The pipes and air 
taps being satisfactorily arranged, circulation will not fail as long as 
heat is applied to the boiler, and the water leaves at a higher 
temperature than that at which it re-enters. But if it were possible 
to raise the temperature of the water throughout the whole arrange¬ 
ment to 212° Fahr.—that is, the boiling point of water, circulation 
would cease and the generation of steam take place. It is impossible 
to accomplish this in large or moderately large arrangements, 
because the water is cooled by radiation and the transmission of heat 
to the houses or various structures to be warmed in its transit through 
the pipes, and therefore re-enters at a much lower temperature than 
when it leaves the boiler. But when the boiler power is excessive 
and the water only travels a short distance it is possible to raise the 
temperature of the water in the return pipes to 212° Fahr. 
The pipes and boiler to commence with should be full of water 
with 1 or 2 inches standing in the supply tank, not more. When the 
volume of water increases by the application of heat it will rise con 
siderably in the supply tank ; in fact, it will expand about one- 
thirtieth of its bulk ; if the tank be small or nearly full of water to 
commence with it is certain to flow over. To prevent this, when the 
heating apparatus is large an overflow pipe should be arranged in the 
supply tank to carry away supeifluous water into the nearest tank, 
water spout, or drain. 
The difference between the low and high pressure systems is that 
in the former the water in the pipes very seldom exceeds 200° Fahr., 
while in the latter water is heated and circulated at a temperature of 
300° to 400° Fahr. There are difficulties and dangers attending this 
system, as well as that of heating by steam, and as they are not 
applicable for heating garden structures they need not be further 
discussed. 
The Stokehole. —In the arrangement of a heating apparatus, the 
selection of a position for a stokehole should be fully considered 
before the erection of horticultural structuies are contemplated. The 
stokehole is often an after thought. It should be the fust, for it must 
be easy of access for the conveyance of fuel by a horse and cart in 
all large arrangements. Wheeling ihe fuel for some distance during 
several months of the year entails considerable labour and adds 
materially to the expenditure. It should also be in such a position 
that it can be readily drained, if this is necessary, for nothing can be 
more disagreeable to the stoker than water in the tire hole. Undrained 
or badly drained stokeholeg, and they are not a few, means the re¬ 
moval of the water by manual labour, which is costly, and must be 
avoided in all well-arranged schemes of heating. In the worst 
localities where draining is impossible it is important that a suitable 
boiler for the purpose be selected, but this must be referred to again 
when considering ihe estimate of various boilers. For the sake of 
appearance the position of the stokehole should be considered. 
Nothing mars the beauty of a garden more than a stokehole in its 
centre, for it proves an eyesore to all who frequent the houses. The 
principle, however, upon which the pipes are to be arranged must 
determine in a large measure the position of the stokehole. 
