106 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 10, 1887. 
jury to the boiler, for the metal is certain to burn where the sediment is 
deposited, which results in the many failures and patches that Mr. 
Iggulden has to attach to the boilers under his charge.” Now, I ask 
who should know more about this than those who have spent so many 
weary hours trying to rectify the breakdowns ? It was a good oppor¬ 
tunity for airing a little superficial knowledge, but I should have 
thanked him for some more practical hints. We well knew what 
caused the incrustation, &c ; how to avoid it is the difficulty we have 
to master. “ Thinker’s ” suggestions that, failing soft water tanks, 
petroleum barrels be substituted for storing a convenient supply of soft 
water, no doubt would answer very well in a small way, but unless our 
whole system were overhauled and thoroughly put into sound order we 
should require a most imposing row of these same barrels. 
In nearly every instance that a breakdown has occurred or repairs 
have been needed nearly the whole of the pipes had to be emptied, and 
as nearly 3000 gallons of water are needed to fill them, it will be readily 
understood why I consoled myself for having a good convenient supply 
of hard water at hand. Any method of storing soft water we might 
adopt would necessitate hand labour by pumps or otherwise in refilling 
the pipes, but the hard water reservoir is higher than the supply tank 
of the boiler, and being filled by horsepower manual labour is dispensed 
with. Our case is, I hope, an isolated one, and I mentioned it in the first 
instance to illustrate what it falls to the lot of some few to have to con¬ 
tend with, as well as to confirm what has been previously advanced as 
to the possibility of patching some kinds of boilers. The next boiler I 
have put in here will have some provision made for frequent flushings, 
as it is only by this means shall we be long safe from breakdowns. Not 
only is our spring water very hard, but rain water stored in tanks soon 
becomes nearly as bad. Further, I ask, Is there no sediment in connec¬ 
tion with soft water ? I am of opinion there is ; I could have proved it 
last winter in fact, but it certainly does not so rapidly injuriously affect 
a boiler. In this case much depends upon the circulation in the pipes, 
or whether the rise and fall is rapid or otherwise. 
“ A. W.” justly concludes I am not much in favour of joints in hot- 
water pipes being packed with iron filings, and asks what I would sub¬ 
stitute for the same, especially underground. He evidently considers 
he has asked an awkward question, but it ought to have occurred to him 
that if I did not believe in the rust joints above ground, owing to their 
liability to burst, I should still more dislike burying them in the mains, 
where they would be practically inaccessible at all times. Three or 
four different hot-water engineers have contributed to the work of heat¬ 
ing our houses, and we have three distinct kinds of jointing. Some are 
packed with rope and rusted iron filings, others with roping and Vulcan 
cement, and the rest are what is known as expansion-jointed, indiarubber 
rings playing a prominent part in the latter. Every season several of 
the joints packed with iron filings burst, and that, too, in some where 
only put together about nine years. Tarred roping (for cheapness, I 
presume) being used with the Vulcan cement, this failed to set properly, 
the heat of the pipes mixing the tar with the cement, and “ a weeping ” 
joint follows. If new roping had been used the case might have been 
different ; but as I have been told in confidence that the cement also 
varies considerably in quality, this packing will not be recommended by 
me. The remainder jointed with indiarubber rings has not given any 
trouble whatever, and that, too, during a period of close upon twenty 
years. These expansion-jointed pipes are rather cheaper, I believe, than 
the ordinary pipes, are very much more expeditiously put together, any 
ordinary labourer being competent to do most of the work, "and should 
there be a leakage or crack there is no necessity to employ a mechanic 
and labourer for nearly half a dav (or longer if you do not sharpen them 
up a bit) in cutting out, putting on a collar, and remaking the three 
joints incidental to each repair. These rings are not suitable for con¬ 
necting near the boiler, and here the mixture of red lead, iron filings, 
and sal-ammoniac, as well as socket joints, is necessary. Not only 
should the mains be laid in chambers, so as not to come into contact 
with the surrounding soil or other material used for filling the 
trenches, but they should also be enclosed in'loose felt. Unless this is 
done the radiation is unchecked, and the loss of heat complained of by 
A bcot, on page 29, is the consequence. A few of our main pipes 
are unavoidably exposed somewhat, and these, besides being felted over, 
have an outer covering of old canvas sacking, a stiff coat of paint tend- 
ing to preserve this. Thus enclosed, there is no loss of heat whatever. 
Adversity is a good if not always an agreeable schoolmaster, and during 
the past six years I have gained a good many wrinkles that would not 
nave been possible if in a situation where everything went so beauti¬ 
fully smooth as it appears to do with some of my critical contempo¬ 
raries.—W. IGGULDEN. L 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
rr ^ ho ar ® 1 ° ld enough to remember the great popularity of the 
Hollyhock from the year 18.>0 onwards for some years, and the great 
perfection of the spikes and individual blooms of those days, must often 
.unk with regret that the almost total extermination of that flower 
from the exhibition table as well as gardens was rW t n " AT , i „ 
which attackeil the Hollyhock generally and drove it out of cSIivatlom 
I well remembei the surprise and admiration evoked bv those grand 
varieties, White Globe (to which a first-class certificate was awardlfby 
•he National Floncultural Society in September, 1852), Glory of Chos^ 
nint, Beauty of Cheshunt, and Lizzie, all of which received f.c c’s 
Truli i m f U f U ? fc ’ 1853 ‘ Thcse were exhibited by Messrs. 
-- 1 ’ Cheshunt, but were, I believe, raised by the late Mr. 
Parsons ; and this marked advance on existing varieties in size and 
quality, as well as in form and substance, and enlargement of the guard 
petals, were recognised with great satisfaction by Hollyhock growers. 
Mr. Parsons was a gentleman’s gardener at Welwyn in Hertfordshire, 
and had taken the Hollyhock in hand ; and Mr. William Paul, now the 
senior partner in the Waltham Cross nurseries, was then the junior 
partner in the old Cheshunt firm of A. Paul & Sons, saw these 
grand varieties and bought the stock. But the demand for first-class 
Hollyhocks, even at 7s. 6d. and 10s. fid. per plant, was far in advance of 
the supply, and hard propagation, generally in heat, was resorted to, 
and this was going on from one generation of plants to the other. A 
disease, as insidious and universal as the Potato disease, caused the col¬ 
lapse of many a collection, and the Hollyhock was given up by many 
as a plant which could not further be managed. 
In the summer of 1850 I became strongly impressed with a con¬ 
viction that something should be done to check the very rapid introduc¬ 
tion of worthless new varieties of the various classes of florist flowers, &c., 
annually introduced, and proposed the formation of a National Flori- 
cultural Society, before whose monthly or more frequent tribunals all 
seedlings should be sent. Such a society was soon felt to be a great 
want, and a strong Committee, of which Messrs. Turner, Keynes, G. W. 
Hoyle, C. J. Perry, W. Paul, John Salter, James Veitch, Richard 
Headly, E. Beck, and many others, with the late Mr. John Edwards as 
Hon. Secretary, and all the leading florists of the kingdom accepted the 
Society as a tribunal to be relied upon. The judges were the most 
eminent practical florists of the day, and the good work done by the 
Society was enormous, and it only ceased to exist when the same work 
was taken up by the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. 
The late John Edwards was an amateur florist, and a thoroughly 
practical cultivator, a great personal friend of such men as Charles 
Turner, Richard Headly, and our old florists, and energetic in his 
work as Secretary of the National Floricultural Society ; and although 
the late George Glenny had published an annual garden almanac for 
some years, Mr. Edwards felt that there was ample room for another, 
and in December, 1852, his first “National Garden Almanac” was pub¬ 
lished, and I am now refreshing my memory by looking through the 
old National Almanac in order to be as accurate as I can in what I 
may further write. 
Referring to Edwards’ Garden Almanac for 1853, in an article on 
the Hollyhock, seventy-six varieties are described, so far as being 
tabled under columns, and in that year the late Mr. W. R. Bragg of 
Slough introduced Cream of the Valley and National at 10s. fid. each ; 
Charles Lidgard, Crimson King, and four others at 7s. fid. each ; and 
four others at 5*. each. The late Mr. R. B. Bircham, Hedenham Rosery, 
Bungay, a celebrated grower, advertised thirty of the very finest sorts 
in cultivation, including Parsons’ Joan of Arc, Bircham’s Pourprd de 
Tyre, Chafer’s Sulphur Queen, and Bircham’s Yellow Model, all at 10s. fid. 
each. This was a great year for the exhibition of new seedling Holly¬ 
hocks, thirty-seven new kinds receiving either first-class certificates or 
certificates of merit, or labels of commendation from the National 
Floricultural and other societies. Amongst these were those very fine 
varieties Beauty of Cheshunt, Charles Lidgard, Cream of the Valley, 
Glory, Isaac Walton. Lizzie, Model of Perfection, Pearl, Pillar of Beauty, 
l’ourprd de Tyre, Safranot, Swansdown, Triumphant, and White Globe. 
Many old Hollyhock growers will remember those grand varieties, 
especially those sent out from Cheshunt. Mr. William Paul, who is 
happily still amongst us, published a little book about that time, 1853, 
“ An Hour with the Hollyhock,” which was then a Hollyhock grower’s 
companion. In the National Almanac for 1856, in a paper on the 
Hollyhock, the Editor wrote—“ Long may we be permitted to feast our 
eyes and revive our spirits by the contemplation of such a blaze of 
beauty as was gathered together into one bright constellation at the 
meeting of the Royal South London Floricultural Society held at the 
Cremorne Gardens, August 30th, 1855. The like was never seen or heard 
of before, no, not even in the memory of the “ oldest inhabitant.” As 
regards the Hollyhock, that meeting was certainly without a parallel. 
Ninety spikes and 1000 cut flowers were staged for competition. Then 
follows the names and descriptions of nineteen new varieties raised by 
Messrs. Chater, Paul, Parsons, Roake, and Bircham, all raisers, the only 
one now living being Mr. William Paul. One hundred and twenty- 
three other varieties are also described, comprising the finest varieties 
then known, and in the Almanac for 1856 the late Mr. Bircham adver¬ 
tises fifty-nine selected varieties, including Mr. Paul’s grand varieties— 
viz., Beauty of Cheshunt, Glory of Cheshunt, Lizzie, and White Globe. 
In the “ National Garden Almanac ” for 1857, in an editorial article 
on the new flowers of the past year, we quote “ A few words on the 
Hollyhock, a flower which has advanced in the estimation of the public 
almost unprecedented. An exhibition of the Hollyhock must now 
become an annual institution.” 
In the 1857 Almanack fourteen new varieties are described, nine of 
them being the late Mr. Chater’s seedlings, including Beauty of Walden 
and Walden Masterpiece, two remarkably fine varieties which were 
grown for years ; and at the National Floricultural Society in this year 
twenty-three new varieties raised by Paul, Bircham, and Ward (the late 
Mr. Ward had then become a partner), Chater, Bowler, and Fellowes 
received certificates ; and that seventy new varieties are described for 
the first time, including Paul’s El Dorado, then a grand variety. At this 
time the Hollyhock and Dahlia were indeed p pillar flowers, the latter 
still a popular autumn exhibition flower, and coming to the front again. 
Let us hope that the glories of the Hollyhock may again revive, for it 
