March 31. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
501 
to prevent future disappointment, the means of heating 
it at will should bo left as no future haphazard affair. 
INluch of the comfort and economy will consist in the 
matter being seen to while the house is building, as no 
breaking of walls or floors will be needed afterwards. 
We have already alluded to the importance of large 
bottles, filled witli hot water, for keeping out frost from 
small places, and a Subscriber has lately testified to 
their utility. We have seen a neat little bouse, into 
which the parlour opened, heated by water circulating 
in small tin pipes, heated by placing a naptha lamp ' 
under a small concave-bottomed tin kettle in the back 1 
kitchen. A late number detailed, how, in urban and 
suburban districts, where gas is easily and economically > 
comeatable, small places could be heated by sending the ' 
heat from the burning gas through small iron pipes, } 
according to Mr. Cuthilfs plan ; and not seldom, modes ' 
have been detailed, how, when eircumstances were i 
favourable, and the kitchen and greenhouse somewhat 
contiguous, and on a similar level, two pipes fixed in 
the kitchen boiler, witli stop-cocks to be used when 
wanted, would supply an easy mode of heating a 
greenhouse. 
From not attending to some of these little matters 
some disappointments have taken place when this last 
mode has been adopted. We will, therefore, mention a 
few essentials to success.—1st. When the lid of the 
boiler is moveable, tire water in the pipes in the house 
must not be higher than the top of the boiler, otherwise [ 
it would flow over. 2ndly. When the boiler has a fixed i 
lid, and is supplied by a pipe from a cistern at a con- , 
siderable altitude, the water may easily be raised, as ' 
much as the height of one story of rooms above another. | 
3rdly. fu thus raising, it is advisable tliat tlie rise j 
should be gradual to the very extremity of the flow- ' 
jiipe ; and then a gradual descent from the return-pipe i 
to the boiler. Every dip and bend, upwards and down¬ 
wards, suddenly exposes you to a lodging of air at these 
points every time the pipes cool; and, unless you leave I 
small upright open tubes, fixed in the pipes at these ’ 
places, to let the air escape as the water presses on it, ; 
you will have no circulation; few things being less i 
moveable by heat than a column of air enclosed and I 
pressed upon by two columns of water. A small open ‘ 
tube at such places, when unavoidable, from a quarter 
to half-inch diameter, is better than turn-cocks or air- 
pumps, as it is always safe and selfacting. It should 
be fixed at the ridge of the bend. 4thly. It will be 
necessary to have a yard, at least, of stout iron piping 
next the boiler, as other metals miglit be easier injured | 
by the fire; but after that distance, we would not be 
particular as to tlie material for conveying the water 1 
to the iron pipes in the house; for though the other 
week lead was mentioned as being objectionable for 
this purpose, wc have, in practice, seen no sullicieut ' 
reason for objecting to it; while, if the distance to be 
traversed is considerable, it possesses, wo think, two 
advantages ; namely, loss power than iron of radiating 
heat, and, therefore, conducting it to the house better; 
and then, the ease with which it may be bent in any 
direction, and the necessity for many joints that would 
be obviated. A pipe of three-quarters of an inch 
diameter would be sulficient as a carrying medium to 
a small house; though one inch might bo better ; but 
it is amazing how small a pipe will maintain a brisk 
circulation. 
As corroborative of the last position, and as likely to 
be interesting, we mention the following facts:—In an 
inihcated division of a range of houses, it became de¬ 
sirable to exclude frost in winter, and therefore a single 
pi [)0 was taken, parallelogram fashion, round the middle 
of the house, the pipe rising for half its length gently, 
and then depressing as gently to the boiler. At this 
highest point a hole was bored in the metal pipe to 
receive a cock, such as is used for a beer barrel, to let 
oft' the air when it accumulated ; for the simple and more 
efficacious plan of an open tube rising to the height of 
several feet was not fashionable then. In course of 
time it became desirable to be able to give a tempera¬ 
ture of 00° to this house, instead of -10°, but how to do 
so, simply and economically, and without interfering 
with the pipe and boiler, was the question. Well, we 
solved it in this way. Near to the highest point in the 
pipe we constructed, beneath the stage, a sparred table, ^ 
si.x inches higher than the pipe, to support a zinc box ; 
or tank, six feet in lengtli, three feet in breadth, and four | 
inches deep. The tank was divided into three divisions, ! 
except at the respective ends, by strips of zinc of the ! 
above depth soldered to the bottom, which thus kept lid 
and bottom from collasping, and helped the circulation. 
A lead pipe had one end fixed to the stop cock above re¬ 
ferred to, and the other end inside of this table tank at the 
south-east corner. A similar pipe was fixed inside the 
bottom of the tank at the north-west corner, and the 
other end to a similar cock, or spiggot, fixed in the pipe, 
after it had begun to decline to the boiler. The tank 
was then nearly filled with water, and ns soon as the : 
pipes were heated the circulation in the tank com¬ 
menced, and the water was soon as hot as that in the i 
pipes, while the bottom sides and top being all zinc, j 
tlie radiation of heat was great. | 
Now, what wo wish to impress are two different j 
things. First, that the whole of the heating and cir¬ 
culation in tliis table-tank were effected through the small 
openings in tlie valves of two common beer-barrel spigots. 
Perhaps, if the small pipe had been joined to the first 
metal pipe at once, the heating might have been as well 
effected; but we wished to have the power of shutting 
olf the lieat from this tank at pleasure. Tlie second 
inference is, that every reader, who heats his house, 
pretty frequently with hot-water pipes, may thus easily 
obtain a tank for securing bottom-heat for jiropagating 
purposes, by connecting it at one corner with the flow- 
pipe, all the precaution necessary being that the bottom 
of his tank, in such circumstances, had better be as 
high as the top of his flow-pipe. Our readers are aware 
that, by making a substantial tank in the first place, 
no pipes besides those connecting the boiler and the 
tank would be necessary ; and, with the exception near 
the furnace above referred to, lend will furnish the 
easiest connecting medium. One of the cheapest, best 
acting, and most durable, without repairs, tanks we have 
come across, was made of yellow deal, as carefully con¬ 
structed as a brewer's cooling vessel, and covered with 
slate. Two lead pipes communicated with the boiler, ' 
and steam, or vapour, was obtained at pleasure, either 
by watering the slate, or removing places left for | 
openings. We consider that tanks for bottom-heat, ; 
with hot-water pipes running through them, are line I 
things, in these utilitarian days, for those who can draw 
largely from their gold mines. Wo have no difficulty 
in procuring bottom-heat from ])ipes surrounded with 
rouble, and when wo want a moist bottom-heat, all wo 
have to do is to throw water amongst the stones, 
^ bricks, &:a. \ 
[ lint this last is a matter wo cannot enter upon here, i 
Where much is to be done, hot-water wo believe to be i 
' the cheapest and the best in the end, as, if the furnace i 
and boiler are large enough, several houses and many 
pits may be heated from one furnace, in the case, 
however, of those friends who have merely a small ; 
house, and who cannot conveniently adojit any of the i 
modes at first alluded to, then we are somewhat doubtful | 
of the propriety of recommending them to have an | 
independent hot-water apparatus, however small. Where ; 
a furnace must be constructed on purpose, wc would be ' 
inclined, even on the score of economy and neatness, to j 
I recommend the old-fashioned Hue, and to place it out of I 
