338 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 2, 1858. 
furnace, and discharge there, allowing the water to 
come back to the boiler ; and, to lessen the complica¬ 
tion, make two divisions instead of four. Opinion is 
asked, keeping efficiency and economy in view. 
Perhaps our inquirer, wjio puts his case with great 
clearness and ability, and who has only left out one 
thing of importance—namely, the covering of the 
tank, whether iron, slate, &c.—may recollect several 
articles, some time ago, on “ Pipes versus Tanks,” or 
“ Tanks versus Pipes.” The advocates of pipes could 
hardly have met with a more thorough confirmation 
of their views, than these inquiries supply, were they 
inclined to take advantage of their weak points, which 
would scarcely be handsome; as, in reality, more 
depends upon want of attention to some trifles, than to 
any thing inherently wrong in tank heating, in itself 
considered. 
I am not surprised at the request, connected with 
bearing economy in mind ; for, unless under extremely 
favourable circumstances, there could not be much 
economy in placing these huge iron tanks in such dimi¬ 
nutive houses. Why, instead of wanting such lots of 
extra pipes and flues, these tanks, of themselves, 
should have been sufficient for doing double the work. 
I have, several times, adverted to the throwing away 
of material in making deep tanks, in general. With 
one, 8^ inches deep, the bottom would be cool, whilst 
the top was warm; and there w r ould be a strong 
tendency to an under current backwards, instead of 
flowing onwards to a second and third division, when 
that was required. In the present case, however, when 
the sides of the tank were of a conducting material, 
as iron, and heat was wanted for the atmosphere of 
the house, provided the sides were there, I should not 
quarrel with their depth, as the whole of these sides, 
as well as the bottom, would radiate heat, if they were 
first heated themselves. 
Two errors seem to have been committed; not so 
much the having a deep tank, as in supposing that the 
tank must be filled. Just calculate the immense number 
of gallons you must heat, in 60 feet of tank by 6 feet 
wide, and 8^ inches deep ; and that by a boiler at one 
end: it puts one in mind of heating a mill dam. I say 
this more freely, as our inquirer had nothing to do 
with its erection. Then, to remedy this evil, when felt, 
the water was curtailed, by placing a layer of bricks 
! all along the bottom ; and, as they are poor conductors, 
in comparison with iron, you thus got little heat, from 
that part of the sides, and the whole of the under¬ 
sides. Thirdly, loose bricks were put in, to lessen 
the quantity of water, and, at the same time, impede 
the circulation, there being a tendency to something 
like a revolution round every brick. I sometime 
ago mentioned working very large pipes, less than 
half full of water; and, consequently, having but 
half of the water to heat. As every body knows 
that heat rises, it does seem a little surprising, that 
the owners of these fine iron tanks never thought of 
emptying them, to within three or four inches of their 
bottom : three would be quite ample ; and, from these 
three inches, or even less, obtain a far more raifid cir¬ 
culation, and more heat from bottom, sides, and top, 
than ever they received from 8| inches of water, or 
water and bricks together. 
The first thing, then, to be done, is to remove all 
these loose bricks; and, on the supposition, that the 
whole of the tanks are covered with bricks in cement, 
leave two or three inches of water over them, fillup all 
the valves in the longitudinal brick divisions, except 
the farthest one; leave the valves between the different 
houses all open, put a good fire on, and then judge of 
the heating power. Were it not for making more 
work, I would advise removing every brick on the 
I bottom of the tank, cement, and all together, leaving 
nothing but the longitudinal divisions. If the side 
valves are out of order, you may put either wood or 
brick in to make all secure for this trial. If the boiler 
is powerful enough, and the circulation is all right, the 
one side of the division next the boiler will be the 
hottest, and the other side, being something like 120 
feet from the flow-pipe, will be the coldest. The 
bricks being removed, and this small quantity of water 
to heat, the bottom will be nearly as hot, and the sides 
and top almost as hot as the water. 
Of course, this trial will be quite inoperative, if the 
valves in your longitudinal brick division are not 
in working order. If they are sufficiently tight to 
prevent much circulation by that mode, and still the 
flow to the extreme end is not rapid enough, then, 
before doing anything else, I would widen the con¬ 
necting pipes from 3 inches on the square, to 6, 9, or 
even 12 inches ; and then that would only be the third 
of the width of the division in your tank. In such 
tanks there is but little pressure on the water, and, 
therefore, the connecting spaces should be wider than 
in pipes. 
These openings, as Avell as those in the longitudinal 
divisions, should go from top to bottom of the tank ; I 
would have little ceremony with the iron valves; if worn 
out, a stout piece of Avood, turning on a pivot by its 
centre, would answer just as well; but, if the covering 
of the tank was not in the way, I would fix two fillets 
of Avood on each side of the opening, leaving an inch 
or so between them, and have a piece of deal of that 
thickness to lift up and down between them, like the 
sluice of a mill dam ; nothing could be simpler, and no 
expensive plan will ansAver better. If the tank could 
be moved backwards a little, so as to get a few inches, 
at least, from the front wall, I am sanguine, that by 
these different means, you Avill get so much heat, that 
you will require no more piping. It is more than likely 
that you will have too much bottom heat ; but part of 
that you can easily bring into the atmosphere, by such 
simple modes as have often been referred to. 
Your idea of taking a flow-pipe through the tank to 
the extreme end is, so far, a good one ; but, even then— 
the pipe being open at the extreme end—the end next 
the boiler will be the hottest; but there could be no 
harm in taking a pipe, or a couple of pipes, all round ; 
though, of course, it Avould be expensive. Try the 
above simple modes first. 
Circumstances may have determined the plan 
adopted, of having the furnace at the one end; but I 
should have preferred, for such a tank heating, having 
the furnace and the boiler in the centre, and furnished 
with a X flow, and a T return-pipe, one branch of each 
of which would go into the two centre tanks. If you 
want to work one, plug the other up ; if two, let both be 
at work ; the two end tanks would then be more easily 
heated, and the two centres would be always the hottest. 
If frost was merely to be excluded from divisions not 
at work by tank, the pipes under the pathway might 
be worked right and left continuously, as now. If you 
should find, that at present, after reducing the body of 
water, and making the plugs or valves all right, the 
water does not circulate fast enough to the farther 
end, then, no doubt, the shifting the boiler will be at¬ 
tended with advantage. 
Supposing, however, that these unlooked-for con¬ 
ditions should take place; before you shifted the 
position of your boiler, there is another plan within 
your reach, and which would cost but a trifle in com¬ 
parison. I suppose that your flow-pipes come from the 
the top of your boiler, and that the return-pipes enter 
near its bottom. I presume also that the flow and 
return, under the pathway, are considerably higher 
than the top of the boiler, and that the circulation in 
them is secured by a small open air pipe at the semi- 
