September 16, 1836. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
247 
use, if fitted with a cap, they can be closed by screwing on the 
cap provided for the purpose. If the mains are laid side by side 
in the trenches these temporary pipes can be arranged on the 
return, but if one above the other they must be on the How for 
the sake of convenience. Smaller pipes than those named may 
be used, but the size given will allow of an ordinary garden 
hose being attached to the nearest tap and placed in the end of 
the pipe. Considerable care is necessary, however, with these 
temporary feeders when fitted to the flow pipe. It is a very 
general plan in gardens where a large number of houses have to 
be heated to start the fire after the boiler and the pipes on the 
lowest level are full of water. All is safe until circulation has 
taken place round the houses nearest the boiler, but when the 
warm water makes its way to those on a higher level the second 
supply must be stopped, or the pipes somewhere on the mains 
between the supply and where the pipes are warm will certainly 
give way. This is due to a volume of air being driven by the 
cold water towards the boiler (if the pipes decline in that direc¬ 
tion) where there are no means of escape for it, and the pipe 
gives way in consequence. When the supply is stopped, the 
warm water being forced up by the fire at the boiler drives the 
air, which is lighter, before it until it makes its escape at the 
first air tube provided for it The third and fourth supplies may 
continue to feed the pipes until the water has been circulated in 
the houses near where the second was arranged, but they in turn 
must be stopped to insure safety. By this principle when 
houses are on different levels they can be heated as quickly, or 
nearly, as they are filled with water after a good fire has been 
secured. 
Boilers. —In considering the value of boilers of various 
makes it would be difficult to determine which are the best for 
heating horticultural structures or public buildings. It is not 
my intention to single out any one in particular, because local 
circumstances, the level of the ground, drainage of the stokehole, 
and the kind of fuel most readily obtained in the neighbourhood, 
must and should be thought about before any decision is arrived 
at. It is said that cast boilers are better than wrought iron 
ones welded better than rivetted, horizontal tubulars better than 
vertical ones. The claim for the first is because they are less 
liable to incrustation from the use of water impregnated with 
lime than those made of wrought iron. This is perfectly true, 
but the cast boiler is more liable to break through expansion and 
contraction of its parts, especially if made in sections, than is 
Fig. 32 
the case with those made of wrought iron. Welded boilers are 
most reliable. Two common saddles were taken out here that 
had done duty for twenty years They were not of large size, 
but this length of time speaks for the durability of those under 
notice. I do not think, however, that very large boilers can be 
so effectually welded as smaller ones, especially if they are com¬ 
plicated in their arrangements. I have never seen rivetted 
boilers that have been in use the period of time stated above, 
but if rivetted boilers were not durable and reliable they would 
not be so largely made for steam purposes. I have two large 
rivetted boilers capable of heating 20,001 feet of 4-inch piping 
between them that have been in constant work for nearly eleven 
years, and from all appearance they are as good as ever. Hori¬ 
zontal tubulars are claimed to be better than vertical ones, 
because more direct heating surface is brought in contact with 
the fire. 
Boilers, although there are many makes, may really be classed 
under six heads—namely, the common saddle, improved saddles, 
coils, upright tubulars, horizontal tubulars, and those of conical 
shape. The common saddle is still a good boiler, but must give 
place to the improvements that have been effected- Fig 32 shows 
the ordinary saddle boiler, and by its side the waterway back 
and patent bars of Messrs. F. & J. Mee. Fig. 33 shows the 
boiler complete, with the back and bars referred to, and as 
worked by this firm in the late boiler contest at Liverpool in 
connection with the Royal Horticultural Society’s great Show in 
Wavertree Park. This boiler gained the highest award in the 
contest in the c'ass for 2000 feet of 4-inch piping, and therefore 
very little needs to be said in its favour. It is necessary, how¬ 
ever, to say that the plate can be removed from the waterway 
bars for the purpose of cleaning out any sediment that may 
settle in them. This does away in a large measure with the need 
of sluice pipes in the ends of the boiler. The water bars are of 
wrought iron, and specia'ly mide for the purpose, their dura¬ 
bility being beyond question. The ordinary cast fire bar in large 
boilers only lasts one season. The hollow bars I have examined 
after being in use for eleven years were perfectly sound, and 
only removed because the boi'er had worn them through corro¬ 
sion, caused by water falling on it through the brickwork. The 
back and bars can be placed to any existing boiler, and the 
power they add to a boiler was proved in Sefton Park at the 
Liverpool Horticultural Association’s Show, when the bars and 
back were worked separately. The back can be added to any 
orDoubleActing Wrought Iron Saddle3oiler. 
Fig. 33. 
common saddle boiler without the bai*3, which alone adds mate¬ 
rially to its heating power. This boiler must be set in bi ickwork, 
and will burn any kind of fuel. Another advantage is that a 
very deep stokehole is not needed. 
Mr. Joseph Bramham, 104, Da'e Street, Liverpool, has kindly 
lent me a block of his saddle boiler and waterway back. Fig. 34 
will show the two connected. It differs slightly from the one 
previously described, as will oe seen from the engraving. This 
sadd'e is a special ma e, being wider and less in height than the 
common saddle, which gives a greater direct heating surface. 
This arrangement is good where coke is used for fuel. Fig. 35 
is “Bramham’s Allerton Priory,” a terminal end saddle with 
four flues. As will be observed, very little heat can be lost by 
such a boiler, for directly it strikes the waterback it is turned 
through the two lower flues, and is compelled to pass through 
the other two before it reaches the chimney. If properly stoked 
no heat need be lost, and the boiler will practically consume the 
whole of the smoke. To the front will be observed the cap, 
which is a small boiler instead of the usual brick arch usually 
employed between the front and the boiler. The return pipes 
from this cap are connected to the la r ge boiler on each side, 
while the flow pipe from it is carried into the main flow from the 
large boiler. Some may think there is very little economy in 
such an arrangement, but I can prove from experience that such 
is the case. I have these caps to my large boilers, and frequently 
Fig. 34. Fi !?- 35 ‘ 
when working the flow is perfectly hot. This Allerton Priory 
boiler will burn any kind of fuel, and really only requires brick¬ 
work to the front and for the back fine ; thus the main body ot 
the boiler can be left bare. It can be bricked to prevent radia¬ 
tion or coated with some non-conducting material, as previously 
described for the mains. The “Gold Medal ’ boner is very 
similar, but has only three flues—one large one, through which 
the heat passes afier leaving the furnace, and then returns 
through two smaller ones to the chimney. There are several ot 
these boilers very similar in construction—for instance, the 
