May  30,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
463 
Water  bars  may  also  with  advantage  be  used  with  saddle  and 
terminal  boilers.  With  these  water  bars  a  large  amount  of  heat  is  got 
when  the  fire  is  banked  up,  which  would  otherwise  be  lost  or  go  to 
burn  up  ordinary  metal  bars;  for  it  must  always  be  kept  in  mind  that 
what  is  wanted  is  a  furnace  and  boiler  that  will  go  on  for  eight  or  ten 
hours  without  attention.  A  very  powerful  sectional  cast-iron  boiler 
has  been  introduced  into  this  country  from  America.  I  cannot  say  I 
am  partial  to  cast  iron  for  boilers,  as,  Owing  to  the  nature  of  the 
metal,  it  is  much  more  liable  to  accident  than  malleable  iron  and  steel. 
The  heating  of  a  single  hothouse,  or  even  two  or  three  when  close 
together,  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter,  but  when  there  are  a  great 
many  circulations  of  various  lengths  and  of  various  heights,  there  is 
very  great  difficulty  sometimes  in  getting  the  water  to  circulate  in 
the  longer  circulations.  As  an  example  of  this  I  may  refer  to  the 
Fig.  4. — Circular  Riveted  Steel  Boiler. 
very  large  apparatus  in  use  at  the  gardens  at  Sandringham,  the 
Norfolk  home  of  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales.  In  this  case  some  of 
the  houses  heated  are  over  400  feet  away  from  the  boilers,  while  there 
are  others  close  at  hand.  Large  mains  are  carried  underground  in  a 
built  tunnel  large  enough  for  a  man  to  creep  through  and  examine 
the  pipes  when  required — all  underground  pipes  should  be  in  tunnels. 
The  difficulty  in  getting  the  circulations  at  the  extreme  ends  of  the 
system  to  heat  is  caused  by  the  short-circuiting  of  the  nearer 
circulations — the  hot  water  tabes  the  line  of  least  resistance.  It 
runs  round  one  house  before  it  can  reach  another  more  distant,  and 
when  the  hot  water  from  the  neaier  house  arrives  at  a  point  about 
midway  in  the  main  return  it  begins  to  back  up  in  the  wrong  direction 
instead  of  going  on  to  the  boiler,  and  causes  more  or  less  of  an 
obstruction — “a  block.”  This  may,  in  some  cases,  be  so  effective  as 
to  stop  all  circulation  in  the  furthest  off  parts  of  the  apparatus. 
And  there  is  only  one  way  of  preventing  it,  and  that  is  by  regulating 
the  valves  in  houses  near  the  boiler.  The  valves  should  be  very 
carefully  watched  until  it  is  found  how  much  or  how  little  they  must 
be  open  to  prevent  the  return  water  arriving  at  the  midway  point 
sooner  than  the  return  from  the  further  off  house.  If  the  furthest  off 
houses,  on  the  other  hand,  were  on  a  very  much  higher  level,  the 
tendency  would  be  for.  the  hot  water  to  rush  past  the  middle  houses 
and  the  other  circulations,  and  possibly  the  furthest  off  houses  would 
have  to  be  checked.  In  short,  nothing  but  a  careful  study  of  the 
conditions  and  regulation  of  the  valves  will  be  effective  in  such  a  case 
in  getting  the  required  heating  where  wanted.  In  houses  where  a 
high  temperature  is  kept  up,  especially  where  the  sides  are  pretty 
high,  a  2  or  3-inch  pipe  round  the  eaves  is  very  useful  to  prevent 
down  draughts.  This  has  been  adopted  with  very  beneficial  results  by 
Professor  Bay  ley  Balfour  in  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens,  Edinburgh. 
I  have  left  myself  no  time  to  say  much  about  the  ventilatkn  of 
hothouses,  but  this  is  less  to  be  regretted  because  ventilation  is  a  very 
simple  matter.  In  all  cases  theie  must  be  bottom  ventilation  and  top 
ventilation.  The  bottom  openings  should  be  as  near  the  floor  level 
as  may  be  practicable,  and  with  Orchid  houses,  and  where  other 
delicate  plants  are  grown,  the  cold  air  should  be  made  to  impinge  on 
the  hot-water  pipes,  so  that  the  chill  may  be  taken  off.  The  particular 
manner  of  doing  this  must  be  left  for  each  case  to  be  treated  on  its 
merits,  the  most  important  matter  being  that  the  opening  arrangement 
should  be  such  that  1  inch  or  1  foot  of  an  openii  g  may  be  bad  at 
pleasure.  The  top  ventilation  should  be  at  the  highest  point,  and  also 
must  be  arranged  so  that  a  very  little  space  may  be  open  in  cold 
weather,  and  as  much  as  possible  in  very  warm  weather. 
Xiarge  Rhubarb. — Mr.  J.  Knott  pulled  up  a  stick  of  Rhubarb  in 
the  Rectory  garden,  Black  Torrington,  Devon,  on  Saturday,  which 
measured  21  inches  in  length,  6  inches  in  girth  at  the  smallest  part,  and 
7  inches  round  at  the  largest  part,  while  the  longest  rib  of  the  leaf 
measured  30  inches  in  length,  and  the  oircumference  of  the  outer  edge 
of  the  leaf  measured  18  feet  6  inches. 
Societies. 
Bath  and  "West  and  Southern  Counties  Show. 
May  22nd  to  26th,  at  Croydon. 
This  show,  after  a  lapse  of  twenty-six  years, again  visited  the  flourishing 
borough  of  Croydon,  in  Surrey,  on  the  dates  given  above.  The  show  is 
really  an  agricultural  one,  though  there  are  a  variety  of  sections  inoluded,. 
such  as  a  bee-tent,  a  cider  exhibition,  a  gallery  of  paintings,  an  industrial 
section,  and  a  horticultural  pavilion  was  also  one  of  the  features.  We 
may  refer  in  another  place  to  the  cider  making  and  other  points  of 
utility  and  general  interest,  but  meanwhile  these  lines  briefly  refer 
simply  to  the  flower  show  on  the  oocasion  of  the  Croydon  meeting  last 
week.  Messrs.  Kelway  &  Son  were  forward  fiom  Langport  with  a 
beautiful  collection  of  Paeonies,  such  as  they  staged  in  the  Temple 
Gardens  the  same  week.  From  Bath  came  Messrs.  Geo.  Cooling  and 
Sons  with  Roses,  and  both  Messrs.  Wm.  Paul  &  Son  of  Waltham  Cross, 
and  Messrs.  Paul  &  Son,  The  Old  Nurseries,  Cheshunt,  also  staged 
representative  collections  and  pot  and  cut  Roses.  Messrs.  J.  Laing  and 
Sons,  Forest  Hill,  S.E  ,  had  Begonias,  Olivias,  Streptocarpus,  &o. ;  Mr. 
Thos.  Butcher,  Croydon,  sent  a  mixed  group;  Messrs.  Cutbush  &  Sons, 
Highgate,  London,  N.,  had  Carnations,  Roses,  and  other  choice  flowers. 
Pansies  were  well  exhibited  by  Mr.  F.  Hooper,  Widoombe  Hill,  Bath ; 
while  all  the  way  from  Exeter  came  Mr.  W.  J.  Godfrey  with  a  group  of 
Zonal  Pelargoniums  and  other  florists’  flowers.  Mr.  J.  R.  Box,  Croydon, 
staged  tuberous-rooted  Begonias. 
In  the  open  grounds,  each  in  separate  stands,  and  displaying  samples 
of  their  wares  or  productions,  were  the  manure  manufacturers,  salesmen, 
and  horticultural  sundriesmen.  The  Anglo-Continental  Guano  Works- 
(15,  Leadenhall  Street,  E.C.)  had  a  large  exhibit,  as  also  the  Iohthemio 
Guano  Co.  of  Ipswich.  Messrs.  Headly  &  Edwards,  Ltd.,  Cambridge, 
showed  garden  seats,  arches,  and  tents  ;  Messrs.  Inmans  &  Co.,  Stretford, 
Manchester,  had  greenhouses  and  rustic  works ;  while  the  Weston- 
super-Mare  Pottery,  Tile  and  Brick  Co.,  of  the  Royal  Potteries,  had 
terra-cotta  statuary,  fountains,  vases,  flower-pots,  and  other  things. 
Altogether  the  show  was  very  interesting  and  instructive. 
Royal  Meteorological. 
The  monthly  meeting  of  this  Society  was  held  on  Wednesday 
afternoon  the  15th  inst.  at  the  Society’s  rooms,  70,  Victoria  Street, 
Westminster,  Mr.  W.  H.  Dines,  B.A.,  the  President,  being  in  the  ohair. 
Mr.  Rupert  T.  Smith  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Periodicity  of  Cyclonic 
Winds,”  which  was  the  result  of  a  discussion  of  his  own  observations 
made  iD  the  neighbourhood  of  Birmingham  during  the  twenty-six  years 
1874-1899.  The  equinoxes  do  not  appear  to  be  very  stormy  periods, 
but  from  the  author’s  tables  it  is  shown  that  the  greatest  frequency 
and  force  of  cyclonic  wind  occurs  some  two  weeks  before  the 
spring  equinox,  and  some  three  weeks  after  the  autumn  equinox. 
Mr.  W.  Marriott  gave  an  account  of  the  bequest  by  the  late  Mr. 
G.  J.  Symons,  F.R.S.,  to  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society.  Mr. 
Symons  (who  died  on  March  10th,  last  year)  was  the  founder  of  the 
British  Rainfall  Organisation,  and  was  a  mostdistiDguished  meteorologist. 
He  took  a  great  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Society,  and  held  the 
office  of  secretary  for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years,  and  was  twice 
elected  president.  By  his  will  Mr.  Symons  bequeathed  to  the  Sooiety 
his  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honour,  the  gold  Albert  medal  awarded  to 
him  by  the  Society  of  Arts,  the  testimonial  album  presented  to  him  in 
1879  by  the  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society,  and  the  sum 
of  £200,  as  well  as  such  of  his  books,  pamphlets,  maps,  and  photographs 
of  which  there  was  no  copy  in  the  Society’s  library.  Mr.  Marriott 
stated  that  from  Mr.  Symons’  valuable  collection  he  had  selected  for 
the  Society  over  5000  books  and  pamphlets,  and  about  900  photographs. 
A  large  number  of  the  books  were  old  and  rare  works,  750  bearing 
dates  previous  to  1800,  while  eight  were  as  early  as  the  fifteenth 
century.  By  this  noble  bequest  the  Royal  Meteorological  Society  now 
possesses  the  most  complete  and  extensive  meteorological  library  in 
existence. 
Shirley  Gardeners’  and  Amateurs’. 
A  monthly  meeting  of  the  Shirley  and  Districts  Gardeners’ 
Association  was  held  on  the  23rd  inst.,  Mr.  B.  Ladhams,  F.R.H.S.,  in 
the  chair.  Mr.  N.  Blandford  of  Bitterne  gave  a  most  interesting 
lecture  on  “  The  Summer  Treatment  of  Orchids.”  He  defined  summer 
as  from  Lady  Day  to  Michaelmas.  He  gave  useful  suggestions  for  the 
cultivation  of  early  plants,  afterwards  touching  on  those  which  should 
commence  to  grow  in  May  or  early  part  of  June.  Mr.  Blandford’s 
suggestions  for  avoiding  the  failure  of  plants  was  that  all  plants  must 
have  the  proper  season  of  rest.  “  Stove  ”  Orchids,  the  lecturer  said, 
always  required  careful  watching  at  the  commencement  of  the  season. 
Care  should  be  taken  with  the  watering  of  this  class,  the  roots  being 
better  too  dry  than  too  wet;  also  cool  house  Orchids,  whioh  would 
require  a  very  even  temperature  all  the  year  round,  with  less  season  of 
rest  and  more  subdued  light.  The  great  difficulty  in  summer  was  to 
keep  the  air  cool  enough.  The  lecturer  also  touched  on  the  different 
aspects,  stages,  syringing,  insects,  &c.  At  the  conclusion  a  very  useful 
discussion  took  place,  in  which  Mr.  Jesse  Jones,  Mr.  B.  Ladhams,  and 
others  took  part.  An  exhibition  was  held  at  which  six  pots  of 
Gloxinias  were  shown  by  Mrs.  Keates,  Rownham  House  (gardener,  Mr. 
W.  G.  Bushell),  each  marvels  of  cultivation,  and  received  a  first-olasB 
