272 
THB AMERICAN 
GARDEN: 
November, 
the more complete the apparatus used and 
the more capable of the most economical 
distribution of the heat engendered, the bet¬ 
ter; the more complete the circulation with¬ 
out friction or other impediments, in pro¬ 
portion will the success or failure of either 
steam or hot water be.” 
Messrs. Taylor of New York, Bachman of 
Pittsburg, Spaulding of Norwich, Ct., and 
Hamilton of Allegheny spoke in favor of 
steam. Mr. Bachman claimed to have been 
the first to apply steam for this purpose. 
Mr. Spaulding was very enthusiastic in favor 
of the new ss^stem. He would apply it to 
private as well as commercial houses and 
claimed a saving of thirty-three per cent in 
fuel. Steam is especially economical in 
March and April, as the pipes can be cooled 
or heated very rapidly and the temperature 
moi'e easily controlled. Some one urged 
the objection that rapid cooling was a disad¬ 
vantage that might work disastrously in ver}' 
cold weather if the furnace failed from any 
cause to generate sufficient steam. 
Mr. Hendricks formerly used square flues 
and tUe, but is now using hot water, and he 
advises those who were well fitted up in the 
hot water apparatus to continue its use. 
Greeulmuses built upon a diflerent plan from 
those at present in use would be necessary 
for steam heating. He had little doubt that 
steam would be the mode of heating at some 
time in the future. 
John Henderson thinks steam more eco¬ 
nomical than hot water and advised its use 
in new houses. 
Robt. Craig of Philadelphia who runs thirty 
houses and uses both steam and hot water 
sees little diflerence in the expense of pro¬ 
ducing the same amount of heat. Hot water 
apparatus is far fi-om perfect, and were the 
same efforts made toward perfection in it 
that are being put forth in introducing steam 
there would be no need of changing. 
HAIL rS'SUEAXCE. 
Many Westeni members had been sevei'e 
losers by hail storms during the past two 
years and were anxious to have a Protective 
Association organized to insure members 
against loss. A circular upon the subject 
was sent out in the spring, 1000 reports be¬ 
ing solicited; 244 answers were received and 
102 reported damage. The least number of 
feet of glass lost in one year by one man was 
10, the greatest 7,500. Many of those pres¬ 
ent were in favor of forming an undei’writ- 
ing association. The subject was referred 
to a committee to report at the next annual 
meeting, which is to be held in Philadelphia 
on the second Wedne.sday of August, 1880. 
An invitation of the C. II. & 1). K. R. to 
visit the soldiers’ home at Dayton on the 
foliowing day (Friday) was accepted, and 
the next morning about .800 persons took the 
train for Dayton. A meeting for the elec¬ 
tion of officers for the coming yeai- resulted 
as follows: PmzVi««<, John Thorpe, ()uecns, 
N. Y.; Isl Vice-PreM'tnl, Robt. Craig, Phila.; 
Treasurer, M. A. Hunt, Wright’s Grove, III.; 
Secretary, E. G. Hill, Richmond, Ind. As a 
token of esteem the rnembei’S jn-esenlcd a 
valuable gold watch to P)-cs, Thorpe and a 
brooch to his wife. Speeches hy Allen, Hen¬ 
dricks and Sanders were pertinent and witty. 
The report oneflecting hetter secui-lty and 
facilities for the shipment of cut llowers, 
rciul hy Mr. Long of Buflalo, N, Y., was 
adopted, as well as the proposed Trade 
consisting of a large Rose Leaf with then - 
print F. F. (Fresh Flowers.) 
After some-final resolutions and mutua 
congratulations upon the success of _ the oc¬ 
casion the meeting adjourned, .all being we 1 
pleased with what has been accomplished, 
.and more hopeful still of the future useful¬ 
ness of the Society. 
MASSACHUSETTS HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
Boston “Flower Shows” differ essentially 
from those of other cities. 'J.'here is an air 
of enthusiasm and refluement .about them 
which is not found elsewhere. AVhile^ in 
New York especially, nearly all the exhibi¬ 
tors are professional growers who make the 
best possible use of the “show.s” as an ad¬ 
vertising medium, the principal exhibitois 
in Boston are amateurs like Hunnewell, 
-Vines, Payson, Pratt, Wilder, Kidder, and 
many others who take pride and pleasure 
in tiiiis contributing the treasures of their 
gardens and grecuhou.scs for the public good. 
Not that there are not as choice collections 
of plants elsewhere, but their owners with 
but very few praiseworthy cxce|)tions are 
not possessed of sufficient liberality and pub¬ 
lic spirit to allow their gardeners to bring 
them to public exhibitions. 
The annual exhibition held from the 15th 
to the 18th of September was a grand suc¬ 
cess in every respect, aud might well have 
challenged comparison with any previous 
one. The committee of arrangements, un¬ 
der the able chairmanship of E. L. Beard, 
have fairly outdone themselves in the artist¬ 
ic and effective arrangement of the plants. 
The upperhall in which the plants and flowm’s 
were displayed, certainly was never before 
so crowded with such a wealth of beauty in 
flower and foliage, native and foreign, troji- 
ical and from the temperate zones. 'J’he 
fruits and vegetables in the lower rooms 
were perhaps not so abundant as in some 
years, but any deficiency in this respect was 
more than made up foi' in Ihe overflowing 
riches of the plants and llowers. 
-V large, magnificent specimen Palm, a 
Cocos BonncUii from S. R. Payson, occupied 
the center of the hall, and spreading like a 
fountain completed the pyranddal outline, 
forming the crowning beauty to the whole 
arrangement. Mr. Fayson also contributed 
a large stand of plants, among which was a re¬ 
markably fine specimen of Croton varieyulum 
and another of Alocasia Tldhaiitinna. 'I'lic 
tank of Water-Lilies from E. D. Sturtevant 
of Bordentown, .V. .1., attracted gi-cat atten¬ 
tion. It was siqierior to the similar ili.splays 
which he has made in former yeai’s, and 
contained a great number of beautiful llow¬ 
ers, well worthy of the admiration they re¬ 
ceived. 'The tank also contained siieei- 
mens of Xymph.-cas from N. .Simpkins of 
Yarmoiithport. II. II. Hunnewell contrib¬ 
uted two large groups of plants; in the 
center of one was a superb speeimen of Cis- 
sus discolor, and the other eomin-ised a plant 
oly\spnru(jnsplit,mosiisscimde.ns, in llowei-, the 
first time it has blossomed here. F. L. Ames 
also had two large groups, one of which had 
a large iilant of Anthnrium Ve.ilcini as f.he 
crowning feature; the other Inelmled two 
new Crotons of re.nmrkably line, eolor, C. 
Montfortiensls and Jinysprlni/. Mr. Ames' al¬ 
so contributed ajdantof Alaccia cristalu, or 
some 
the rare Croton illustris. 
sent besides other fine 
of Croton 
, -1 flower which certainly had rather a 
devil flow , ^ balance this there 
two OreWd., whiclt ».oal«.y. eagerly 
T ■ Ja nffpr the Odontodlossum grande, or 
X“r“ 
or dove plunt, sometimes called 
SspMtu Santo or Holy Ghost flower, from 
H P Kidder. Mr. Kidder had a large stand 
alied with 
fin 0 Fuclisifis *vnci 
G A. Nickerson 
plants an excellent specimen 
Queen Victoria. David Allan, gardener to 
R. M. Pr.att, had three large stands of Ferns 
and other plants, including two new foliage 
plants, the Croton Chelsonii and Alo^sia 
Sanderiana, besides Ixora Weslii, a new flow¬ 
ering pLaiit. Among the Orchids we_ no¬ 
ticed a plant of Saccolabium Blumei, with a 
most be.autiful spike of flowers, from E. W. 
Gilmore. John L. Gardner h.ad a fine speci¬ 
men plant of Eimja lalifolia variegata, and 
C. M. ITovey filled the stage with a great 
variety of fine plants. But time would fail 
to speak of the Sphmrogynes, Nepenthes 
and multitudes of others, and we can only 
.allude to the cut flowers of Dahlias, Asters, 
Gladioluses, Marigolds, Petunias, Pinks, 
Cockscombs, Nasturtiums, all of which were 
e]iresented by the best specimens that na¬ 
ture aud art in cooper.ation can produce, or 
of the wild llowers which loving h.ands have 
brought from their native haunts. 
The Grapes, both foreign and native, the 
Plums and the Crab Apples, filled a table in 
the library room, which represented an ex¬ 
ceedingly rich display of color. Of foreign 
Grapes, David Allan h.ad a superb collection, 
comprising a bunch of White Sj-rlan weigh¬ 
ing six pounds and an ounce, and one of 
Alnwick .Seedling weighing five pounds five 
and a half ounces. Of native Grapes, JohnB. 
Moore & Son had fine specimens of Moore’s 
Early and Francis B. Hayes; H. Barker of 
I.ady AVashington, and W. C. Strong of AVor- 
den. The .Vpples aud Pears were in the Lower 
Hall. This being rhe ofl'year f or Apples a Large 
display was not expected, but the specimens 
were excellent. The Pears also were so uni¬ 
formly good that it is dilflcult to particular¬ 
ize, bur the Soui'cnir du Congres, from their 
size and beauty, were perhaps the most re¬ 
markable. 
A very flue exhibition of vegetables was 
made. Tomatoes were not quite so abun¬ 
dant as usual, but the Celery, Egg Plants 
and Oreenllesh Melons were plentiful aud of 
excellent quality. The Caullllowcrs were 
not large, but very perfect. Hon. J. J. H. 
Gregory had an interesting collection of 
twenty-four varieties of Corn, all planted at 
the same date to determine their earliuess 
anti productiveness. 
A pleasing and interesting feature formed 
the collections of beautiful iind rare ever- 
grticn trees from AAL C. strong and .1. 
W. Manning, wiiich iined 
buililing. But, 
iilthough 
the halls of the 
_ we have barely 
given an om,llne of this memorable display, 
we find our allotted siiaeo already filled, and 
nmst therefortt leave the rest to the iimigiua- 
tlon of the reailer. 
The list of prizes awanled would fill more 
t ym .1 page of T'„k Amkuioan Gaudkn. 
1 hose interested may, wo suppose, obtain it 
rom the society's elllelout secretary, Mr. 
Robeit Miinnlng, Horticultural Hall, Bo.stoii. 
