320 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April £3, 1891; 
Homerus lias been a disappointment in one respect, but a pleasant 
surprise in another. It has not, as is customary with it, been the 
earliest of its class, being later than Garibaldi and General I’elissier, 
but it has given better .spikes than I have ever before seen of it. This is 
a very useful light rei Hyacinth for forcing to succeed the Romans. 
Garibaldi is a deep rcl of considerable merit, and this year was the 
earliest of all in bloom. It is a most valuable variety, but unfortunately 
it is dear. Cardinal Wiseman is a splendid rose-coloured variety with a 
truss almost as fine as that of Von Schiller. There were some superb 
examples of it at the great Haarlem Show last spring, and no one who 
saw it could fail to admire its beauty or note its great value as an 
exhibition Hyacinth. Mr. Douglas, Mr. Noakes, and other exhibition 
growers should certainly order it. Solfaterre, a much older variety, is 
noticeable from its warm and attractive colour, and the truss is fairly 
good. 
There has been no dark blue to excel King of the Blues, and should 
one ever be raised it will be a great acquisition. Beautiful in hue, 
perfect in habit and form, it seems possible to look for no improvement 
on King of the Blues, save a greater breadth of tru=s. One c.an pick 
this variety unerringly from hundreds of others by reason of its splendid 
habit, symmetry, and colour. A double counterpart of it on a smaller 
scale is Laurens Koster. Grand Maitre, though very large, is faulty. 
It is a useful rather than a high class medium blue. Masterpiece is 
very dark in colour, almost black, and its dwarf habit and even, per¬ 
fectly finished truss, insure its being picked out by most persons for 
special admiration. Sir Henry Barkly is too loose, and so is Captain 
Boyton. A good Hyacinth should have the spike closely furnished. 
Lord Palmerston and General Havelock are both meritorious dark 
blues. Amongst the light blues it is very hard to select amongst 
Lothair, Lord Derby, Queen of the Blues, and Czar Peter. All are grand 
varieties. Czar Peter has the enormous advantage of being very cheap, 
it can be had for (>d. or even less; moreover, it is excellent in 
form and colour. Lothair has been superb this year. Its breadth and 
massiveness of tru.ss are remarkable, while the size and substance of the 
bells, the dense manner in which they cluster on the spike, and the 
lovely shade o! colour, combine to render it a variety of the highest 
merit. One can only understand its being seen so rarely from the fact 
of its being somewhat expensive. Queen of the Blues, of the purest 
Cambridge blue, is a fitting companion to the King ; and Lord Derby, a 
well known Hyacinth, is equally as good, the beauty of a wcll-growm 
plant invariably eliciting the highest encomiums. Those who can afford 
it should grow them all. Other useful light blues may be mentioned in 
Charles Dickens, Leonidas, and Grand Lilas; and before passing from 
the blues altogether I ought to give a word of deserved recognition to 
the useful and cheap dark varieties. Bleu Mourant, Marie, and Argus. 
La Grandesse is still the leading pure white. It is a lovely variety 
with its large truss, huge bells, and exquisite purity of hue, white as the 
driven snow. La Neige is poor beside it, and Madame Van der Hoop is 
pernaps the nearest to it in merit of the cheaper ones. Blanchard, 
1 hough small, is extreme'y neat and symmetrical, and Grand Vainqueur 
is good and reasonable in price, the same remark applying to Baroness 
Van Tuyll. Snowball and LTnnocence are valuable pure whites, too. 
The latter is very chaste and pleasing. Finest by far of those departing 
fiom the snowy hue of the whites proper, and known as shaded or blush 
w'hites, is Anna, splendidly shown last year in Holland. I have grown it 
in ordinary compost in a 4-inch pot this season, and it has borne a large 
truss with bells more than 2 inches across, of the greatest substance, and 
of a delightful ivory white hue. The plant was greatly admired when I 
showed it at Regent’s Park, and if in ordinary soil and with no special 
attention it is of such merit, it ought to be fine indeed if taken in hand 
by our skilled exhibition growers. The bulb was procured from Ant. 
Boozen & Sons. La Franchise also has a very fine bell, and is deliciously 
sweet, while other blush varieties of sterling merit are Voltaire (very 
cheap and good), Gr.indeur a Merveille, and Leviathan. 
The yellows and miscellaneous shades provide some very attractive 
varieties. Of the former, perhaps Ida, canary yellow, is the most 
popular, and it is undoubtedly very attractive, but King of the Yellows 
has been better with me this year, and the colour is deeper. L’Or 
d’Australie, usually very good, has been somewhat straggling. Orange 
Above All, a variety of Ant. Roozen’s, is as distinct as it is distinctly 
named. Due de Malakoff is a peculiar mixture of rose and yellow, and 
although some prefer a more decided colour, no one finds fault with the 
habit of the p’ant nor the well-formed truss. La Prdcieuse, difficult to 
describe as to colour, something of a lilac shade, is worth growdng, and 
so is the purp’ish mauve variety Haydn, while in the ro.sy lilac Laura 
we have one of the most charming Hyacinths in cultivation. Mr. R. 
Sydenham, no mean judge of beauty and merit in a bulb, picked it out 
as the loveliest Hyacinth in the big Dutch Exhibition last year, and in 
due time it must become very popular. At irresent it is scarce and 
somewhat dear. 
My Hyacinths, numbering about fifty varieties, have nearly all been 
grown on the small pot system of the Dutch growers this year. Many 
of them have been in 4-inch pots only, others in 4^-inch, and none 
larger than o-inch. The results have been in most cases dwarf growth, 
stout healthy foliage, and good trusses of bloom. Mr. Cummins of 
Hackbridge, who grows bulbs as well as Orchids, is a firm believer in 
the small pot plan. The soil is made as firm as possible consistent with 
not making it so hard as to prevent the roots from penetrating it freely, 
and if abundance of water is provided when the pots are well furnished 
with roots satisfactory results may be achieved without elaborate atten¬ 
tion. To amateurs, at all events, it may be interesting to hear that 
excellent trusses of bloom can be had with small pots, an ordinary 
mixture of soil, such as loam and leaf mould, with a good sprinkling of 
sand, and the protection of a few rough boards for a few weeks while 
the pots arc plunged in cocoa-nut fibre refuse. Luxuriant growth and 
a too early maturity are checked by the conditions indicated. Dwarf 
sturdy growth proceeds steadily ; healthy, substantial, but not abundant 
leafage slowly developes, and finally the full power of a mass of stout 
vigororrs roots is devoted to the production of a noble truss of bloom, 
well fitted to adorn the greenhouse, the sick room, or the window. The 
fleshy succulent roots will tell their own story of a love for moisture 
if all that has appeared on the conditions that govern the Hyacinth ia> 
its Haarlem home has been written in vain. So use the watering cart 
with a liberal hand, thereby insuring freshness of root, plant, and 
blossom, glossy foliage, rich colours, and a prolonged period of beauty.-— 
\V. P. Weight. 
AREANGEMEXT OF HOT-WATER PIPES. 
The question of saving fuel by the employment of special boilers,, 
new or old, is one that has occupied the thoughts of many besides Mr. 
Hugh Dale (page 280). It would be difficult to point to any particular 
boiler which possesses all the advantages claimed above others, as so 
many circumstances have to be considered, such as method of setting, 
amount of piping attached, and the manner in which the connections 
are made. The houses are often on various levels, and the greatest 
difficulty is caused, not only in regulating the amount of heat required 
in each compartment by the same consumption of fuel, but at times,, 
owing to the faulty arrangement of the hot-water pipes in a particular 
house, the fire has to be driven harder to get up heat sufficient to com¬ 
pensate for the injudicious placing of the pipes. The result is a greater 
consumption of fuel, for which the boiler is erroneously blamed. When 
other houses are added to the number first arranged for, the question of 
whether the boiler is powerful enough to supply extra heat by the con¬ 
sumption of the same amount of fuel is not always considered, and the 
fuel bill is consequently increased. 
The form of boiler is important, and the saddle shape so constructed 
that the full heat from the fire is utilised instead of allowing it to escape 
up the chimney needlessly is one to be recommended to give satisfaction 
but as previously stated, it is not entirely a question of the kind of 
boiler employed, but of local circumstances which either sustain or detract 
from the professed reputation of any particular boiler. The question of 
fuel is under some conditions a serious item in garden management. I 
have tried in a 4-foot boiler of the construction referred to several kinds of 
fuel during the last eleven years, such as coke, anthracite, and various 
sorts of coal—nuts, slack, smokeless, steam, and that for household use. 
The preference is given to anthracite decidedly as giving much the best 
results. To burn this fuel the boiler should be set so that the flues and 
chimney will give a quick draught, but be under control with the aid of 
the damper. A saving not only in the cost of material but in the labour 
of stoking is effected by the employment of this coal in addition to 
maintaining heat in a satisfactory manner. Three thousand feet of 4-incIi 
piping is attached to the boiler ; the houses are of the usual kind, such as 
Muscat and other vineries, plant stoves, Melon, and other houses, some 
of them lofty, and all exposed to east winds, which are much felt in the 
spring. Where many persons make a mistake in burning anthracite is 
continirally poking the fire. This is neither necessary nor desirable.. 
The great point to observe is cleanliness of the fire bars. During the 
afternoon or towards evening, when the fire is low, the bars can be 
entirely freed from clinkers and ashes, leaving nothing but bright fire in 
the furnace. So few clinkers docs anthracite make that no further 
trouble should be experienced for that night in clearing the fire ; the coal 
added will give abundance of heat if left alone, and need little atten¬ 
tion. If cleaning the fire bars and the end of the boiler where the flueS 
join on both sides is neglected, allowing the latter to be choked with fine 
ashes, it is no wonder that anthracite is condemned as useless ; a quick 
draught under such conditions is not possible, and without this stoking 
will be a failure either with this or any other fuel or form of boiler. I 
append the amount of anthracite burnt and its cost for the last two 
years. In 1889 it was 45 tons 7 cwt., £46 10s. 2d.; during 1890,. 
41 tons 6 cwt., costing £48 6s. 2d., neither of which c.an be considered 
extravagant in heating 8000 square feet of glass. 
Regarding the question whether I have made out my case of dis¬ 
tributing the heat equally over the house by a “ network of hot-water 
pipes over the borders ” or not, to the satisfaction of Mr. Hugh Dale, I 
can only say that the permanent welfare of the occupants of the houses 
here so heated and the general working facilities have had careful 
consideration. The network of pipes is regarded as a boon more than, 
anything else for building the stages upon, which have to support 
numbers of plants in pots, such as those required for bedding with 
Palms, Ferns, French Beans, and others too numerous to mention, as- 
we cannot afford to have houses for Vines only. I know from ex¬ 
perience that it is easier to maintain the temperature in an equable manner 
under the method which I described than by the clustering system of 
arrangement. If I have proved that by the spreading out plan Grapes 
can be cultivated with immunity from red spider, I consider I have not 
written in vain, as this pest is the worst enemy Grape growers have to- 
deal with, especially those with limited experience. 
In arranging the pipes in a span-roofed house like that of Mr. Hugh. 
Dale, I do not agree with the plan of having the flow pipes nearest to 
the centre path ; if one flow had been placed close to the front of the 
house and the remainder spread over the border with the return pipe 
nearest the path, the temperature of the house would have been 
