330 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 28,138 . 
acted upon, there arc a few things to be observed in order to prove con¬ 
clusively whether the advocates of water in the ashpits are right. 
(«). An equal amount of the same kind of fuel to be employed. 
(b). The temperature of the water in the boiler to be the same at the 
commencement of each experiment, (c). The atmospheric conditions 
to be the same. (d). The water in the ashpit to be within 2.' inches of 
the bottom of the fire bars. By this means we would learn if more heat 
was imparted to the water in the boiler when the fuel was aided by 
steam. 
In returning to Mr. Bardney’s remarks, he asserts that combustion 
by the aid of steam and atmospheric air are essentially the same. To 
this I take exception, and if I adopt his tactics it may elicit a little in¬ 
formation on the subject. We know that the only element obtained 
from atmospheric air which aids combustion is oxygen, and that 
from water we get two elements—viz., oxygen and hydrogen, and that 
two-thirds by volume of steam is composed of the latter gas. Now will 
Mr. Bardney tell your readers what becomes of the hydrogen obtained 
from steam when employed as a supporter of combustion, and at the 
same time show why there is no economy in fuel ? 
With regard to Mr. Burton (page 2G6), he seems to feel the dulness 
of my perceptive faculties in not being able to grasp his meaning in 
reference to the amount of water evaporated by a furnace pure and 
simple. As to the ashpit I hired for illustration, no leakage could be 
found in it. and the experimental results deduced were considerably 
at variance with the statement of your correspondent. Mr. Burton 
would have us believe that carbonised vapour does convert iron into 
steel. I pointed out to him that even although it did, the steel was as 
susceptible of oxidation as it was before its conversion ; and I would 
tell your correspondent now that the presence of carbonic acid gas will 
very much hasten the rusting of his fire bars instead of preserving them, 
and I may also add that no reliable authority can be found to support 
the idea that iron is not oxidised by the action of steam. One of the 
best authorities in the University of Edinburgh writes : “ Iron is a 
rather expensive fuel, and, besides, the oxygen of the atmosphere burns 
the fire bars quite as well as the oxygen of the steam.” If Mr. Burton 
really desires to know the amount of oxidation which takes place on 
his fire bars his means of doing so are simple. Let him take out one of 
them, cool, clean it from all rust and ashes with a hard brush, and then 
weigh it; then by returning it to its former position and allowing it to 
remain for a month or other reasonable period, and again by taking it 
out, cooling, cleaning, and weighing, he can ascertain what it has lost in 
that time. 
Mr. Henry J. Pearson’s remarks are applicable to owners of villas 
who can only boast of a greenhouse, and who seldom require a fire to 
keep the temperature in it at what is desired. In this discussion it has 
been plainly shown that water is one of the products when hydro-carbon 
is burned, and therefore the effect upon the boiler is the same when 
steam is employed. But we all know that the boilers are protected to a 
certain extent from the action of steam by the thin coating of uncon¬ 
sumed carbon which we see deposited upon them. His remarks addressed 
to gardeners about the furnace doors are foreign to anything I have ever 
seen, as in no one case have I ever heard of anyone “ opening them to 
cool the pipes.” Surely your correspondent has made a mistake in this. 
We all know that more perfect combustion is obtained by allowing a 
certain quantity of air to pass in by the furnace door, as carbonic oxide 
would escape up the chimney unconsumed, which consequently means a 
waste of fuel when no air is admitted by that channel. 
None of those who have been able to get their ashpits made water¬ 
tight have a word to say against them, but quite the reverse. This fact 
cannot be without its weight in influencing those who are having new 
boilers fixed.— J. Riddell. 
CULTURE OF CALLAS. 
These have become almost indispensable in most garden®, as 
they are such great favourites with the ladies for house and church 
decoration, botli as plants and cut (lowers. Fortunately they are 
easily grown in large quantities where space is available, and may 
be had in succession from October until June by starting them on 
for flowering as required. 
To grow them to the best advantage they should be planted out 
as soon as all danger of frost is over, say about the end of May. 
Choose a piece of retentive ground, if possible, as they naturally 
grow with their roots in water on the banks of rivers, &c., and a 
rich moist loam suits them best. If such a position is not available, 
trenches should be formed as for Celery, 3 feet apart. Dig in 
plenty of decomposed manure, and plant them about 18 inches 
apart, having previously divided them into the size required. If 
they are to flower in (1 or 8-inch pots the following winter they must 
he separated into single shoots, and if for larger pots they need not 
he divided, only they must be p anted farther apart in proportion. 
If it is required to increase the stock every small shoot will soon 
make a flowering plant if liberally treated. 
If the summer is a dry one they should be mulched and well 
soaked with water occasionally, as the chief thing, in order to get 
them to flower well the following winter, is to encourage a strong 
growth during the summer. As soon as frost is expected, or about 
the middle of September, they should all be taken up and potted, 
preserving the fibres as much as possible, and using good rich turfy 
loam without any addition whatever. Place them in a cool house, 
and if the weather is bright shade them from the sun and keep 
them well syringed untd they recover from the effects of removal, 
after which they should have all the light possible. Many of them 
will be showing flower when lifted, and may either be gently 
brought forward as soon as estiblished, or retarded as may be 
desired. 
To flower them well in winter requires a temperature of 55° to 
00° as a minimum, and a good light position. They should have 
plenty of liquid manure as soon as the pots are full of roots, and 
must not be forced too quickly, or the flowers will be small and 
thin. Those wanted for a succession of flowers should be kept in 
a temperature of 40° to 4o°, and if a trifle lower occasionally they 
will take no harm if frost dees not actually reach them. Their 
chief enemy among insects is green fly, which is very troublesome 
at times, and must be destroyed in the usual manner. Red spider 
will also sometimes attack the oldest leaves, and if it does it rapidly 
spreads and disfigures them, but the leaves can easily be sponged 
with water and softsoap. 
This plant is ornamental if planted out early in spring at the 
edge of a lake in a warm position where the roots are just covered 
with water. It flowers well then all through the summer ; in fact 
this is the only way to see the plant to the best advantage. If it is 
left out all the winter the frost will only kill the plant to the 
surface of the water, and it will spring up again all right the follow¬ 
ing summer. I remember seeing a good plant some years since in 
Battersea Park which had survived several winters, and was then 
in a flourishing condition, and possibly it may be there still ; but if 
swans are kept they will sometimes eat the leaves as fast as they 
grow.— W. H. Divers, Ketlon Hall , Stamford. 
CULTURE OF SCARLET RUNNER BEANS. 
The last week in April is a good time to make the first sowing 
of this indispensable vegetable. The usual practice is to make 
several sowings of Runner Beans between the end of April and the 
end of June, and to afterwards support the haulms with sticks 
from 5 to 7 feet high, and to stop the shoots at that height. The 
best results, however, are not obtained by following that practice, 
as I will presently show. In these gardens I plant two rows of 
Runner Beans, between GO and 70 yards long each, in drills 3 or 4 
inches deep, and 8 feet apart, and running east and west. The 
(li st planting is, as already stated, made the last week in April, and 
the second two months later in front (south) of the first row. As 
soon as the plants appear and have had a little soil drawn up to 
them on each side, the sticks, from 12 to 20 feet long, are stuck 
firmly in the ground 1 foot apart on each side of the same, and are 
then braced together by a line of Bean sticks fastened longitudinally 
on the upright sticks at G or 7 feet from the ground by means of 
cross-ties made of tarred string. Instead of stopping tbe runners, 
as is generally done, with a view to hastening the formation of 
pods, they are allowed to grow uninterruptedly, and so cover their 
allotted sp ice, thereby prolonging considerably the supply of Beans, 
inasmuch as the individual plants yield a succession of Beans until 
cut away by frost, the finest Beans being on the top. Our two 
rows of Runner Beans thus grown are, when in flower, greatly 
admired by gardeners and amateurs, as being a capital example of 
the ornamental and useful combined. In consequence of the rows 
running east and west, the first row having been planted north of, 
and a couple of months earlier than the second, the latter is pro¬ 
tected effectively from autumn frosts. Hence it is that we fre¬ 
quently secure daily gatherings of Runner Beans up to the middle 
or end of November. When sharp frosts are apprehended all the 
pods that are fit for use should be gathered and spread thinly on a 
shelf in a cool room, thereby prolonging the supply three weeks or 
a month after the haulms had been destroyed. 
I would advise those of your readers who have a taste—as every 
one ought to have-—for the ornamental as well as the profitable 
combined, to plant a single row of Scarlet Runner Beans about 
G inches apart in the row on each side of one of the garden walks 
(the more central it is the better will be the effect), putting long 
sticks as supports to the plants on each side, and bringing the tops 
together and securing them to a seiies of Bean sticks fixed longi¬ 
tudinally about 7 feet from the centre of the path, so as to form an 
arch—a delightfully shady and ornamental arbour will be the result. 
Of course the roots should in every case be kept well mulched and 
supplied with water in the absence of rain in order to obtain the 
best possible results. I am sure the same quantity of Runner 
Beans cannot be secured from three times the space of ground 
indicated above on the short-stick system.—II. W. Ward, Longford 
Castle. 
