234 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. and if such a charge be proved, all the prizes taken by the same exhibitor will be forfeited for the good of the Society, and the exhibitor's name published in the reports of the Show. The Committee hope and trust that exhibitors will render their assistance in carrying out this rule." I think a rule such as the above should appear in all prize lists; but until it do, amateurs will not have a fair chance, as the practice of borrowing is very common now-a-days.-AN AMATEUR. LIMITING THE VALUE OF EXHIBITED the Show. PIGEONS AT DUBLIN. I WISH to draw the attention of your readers to a very gross proceeding to be carried out at the spring Show of the Royal Dublin Society. The poultry exhibited at these Shows for some years have been of a very good class, and since the addition of the Pigeon classes, a few years since, the number of entries and value of the birds exhibited have increased every year, and the Pigeon department has of late been the great attraction of This year the Committee have given a very liberal sum of money to be distributed in poultry and Pigeon prizes, but unfortunately they have place the framing of the rules and distribution of the money under the decision of some incompetent one. I wish to remark that as far as the Committee are concerned, they are gentlemen who are beyond even the suspicion of countenancing anything unfair, and when the matter is put in its proper light before them, as I intend to do, I have no doubt they will at once repudiate the idea of benefiting a few local (Dublin) individuals who are half dealers half amateurs, and to the exclusion of gentlemen who have for years forwarded poultry shows and produced good birds at such loss of time and money as is only known by those who are genuine fanciers. The rules respecting poultry are, that no exhibitor can ask more than £10 for the pen, and each pen is liable to be claimed for £10. I will leave the poultry exhibitors to deal with that, though as the time between the issuing of the schedules and the closing of the entries is so short, I fear the promoters of the "little game" will carry out the project this time. ocean In the Pigeon classes the artiste who framed the schedule commences his valuation at £3 for Nuns, then he advances to £4 for Dragoons, another £1 is put on Turbits, and he gives breeders a big chance by allowing them to ask £8 for Tumblers, Owls, and Fantails. The owners of prize Barbs, Carriers, and Pouters can actually ask £10 for each entry. What a chance for the owners of good birds! Surely the London, Birmingham, and Manchester exhibitors will cross the strip of "melancholy "to compete in the new species of (home) rule under the Royal Dublin Society. I have heard a rumour that the framer of the rules gives as a reason for limitation as to price, that it will prevent the English exhibitors from carrying off the prizes, but I hesitate to believe that any countryman of mine would ever. think of, much less avow, such a paltry reason. I have, as well as my friends Messrs. Montgomery, Zurhorst, Wherland, and Tivy, been successful at English shows, and I am proud to say that when we Irish exhibitors carried off the blue ribbon in some classes at London, Manchester, and Birmingham, from no one did we receive more hearty congratulations than from our English friends and rivals. It is well known that there are plenty of good birds in Ireland, and the making of such a rule by the Dublin Society can only have one object, that is, to exclude the exhibitors who have gone to the expense and trouble to get birds fit to win prizes. It is also rather singular, to say the least of it, that there is no such rule in any other branch of the Society's schedule; there is no limitation to the price that may be put on cattle, sheep, pigs, or horses, so I think I may fairly assume that the rule about the price of poultry and Pigeons has been concocted for some object other than a legitimate one. I expect to have the support of every amateur who is interested in the best birds winning, and who objects to underhand and interested arrangements.-AN EXCLUDED EXHIBITOR, Cork. MOTTLED TUMBLERS. I PRESUME the question has been asked you as to what should Society (Thursday last being one of our meeting nights); and it BIRMINGHAM COLUMBARIAN SOCIETY. Ar a general meeting of this Society, held on the 6th inst., the accounts for the past year were gone through and passed. A vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Mr. H. Allsop for the efficient manner in which he has discharged the duties of Preas Honorary Secretary; those gentlemen having at a previous sident for eight years, also to Mr. J. W. Ludlow for his services held by them. The meeting then proceeded to appoint a Premeeting expressed their wish to retire from the offices so long sident and Secretary for the ensuing year; when Mr. Ludlow was unanimously elected to the office of President, and Mr. H. Pratt, of Lime House, Lozells, Birmingham, to that of Honorary Secretary. This Society is flourishing, has between fifty and sixty memEngland. bers, and is, we believe, the largest Society of the kind in PIGEONS IN EGYPT. As you go by rail to Cairo, and as you ascend the river, you are never long out of sight of a mud-built village. The saddest and sorriest of habitations for men and women are these Egyptian West India negro huts are villages I have ever anywhere seen. better-furnished abodes. Their best-lodged inhabitants are the floor-which is of the ground as well as on it-is the Dovecot. Pigeons. The only storey that is ever raised above the groundthe eye of the passer-by. In the Delta the fashion appears to be This, therefore, is the only object in a village which attracts to raise a rude roundish mud tower, full of earthenware pots for the Pigeons to breed in. These are inserted-of course, lying horizontally-in the mud of which the tower is built. In Upper each side. Three or four tiers of branches are carried round the Egypt these towers have assumed the square form, about 12 feet building for the Pigeons to settle on; these are stuck into the wall, and as the branches depart from the straight line, each No village is without its Dovecotes. irregular appearance. according to its own bent, each belt of branches presents a very From the summit of the prophylæa of the grand Ptolemaic temple of Edfou, I counted about forty of these Dovecotes on the tops of the mud hovels below me. The number of domestic Pigeons in Egypt must be several times as great as that of the many Pigeons. They must consume a great quantity of cornpopulation. I suppose if they kept pigs they would not keep so more, perhaps, than would be required for the pigs of a pigeating population as large as that of Egypt.-Egypt of the Pharaohs and of the Kedivé.) IMPORTATION OF EGGS.-The consumption of foreign eggs is still on the increase. In the first two months of the present year the value of eggs imported was £264,894, against £192,597 Last month the value was much as of the preceding year. £147,822. PAINTED CANARIES. WILL you allow me to call public attention to an act of in:-"In the justice? In the report of Canaries at the Crystal Palace Bird Show, the following remarkable statement is made. two classes a couple of birds (Nos. 187 and 216), caused quite a sensation, owing to the very unnatural appearance they bore as regards their colour. On this account the Judges declined to entertain them as proper specimens for competition, which opinion was backed generally by fanciers from various parts of England after the Exhibition was opened to the public." This statement conveys the impression that these Canaries were coloured-up for the occasion, which, if correct, would brand the exhibitor with the infamy of fraud and dishonour. As I am the owner and exhibitor, I wish to say in defence, that these birds were moulted by myself, that there never has been dye, stain, or colouring matter applied, and that the rich colour was the result of my method of feeding. In order that the truth of my statement may be tested, I shall be glad to forward the birds to you or to any person whom you may appoint, and I have the fullest confidence that the above inuendo will be proved to be both false and unwarrantable. I was quite prepared for what has happened, for a fancier of this town (Derby), who has been lately proved to be guilty of these malpractices, publicly declared that he knew a fortnight before the Show that my birds would be passed over. How "he knew" is not difficult to judge. Has not the time arrived when fanciers should demand a revision of the judges of bird shows? The Cheltenham staining case, the matter I now call attention to, and several other malpractices well known to me and to others, and which can be substantiated by the clearest evidence, warrant the fullest consideration of this subject.-E. BEMROSE, Derby. COCKATOO CRAVING FOR ANIMAL FOOD. I FIND an Australian Rose-breasted Grey Cockatoo very craving after meat, but all authorities seem to agree that meat must on no account be given. Can you explain how it is, that contrary to the usual unerring instinct of animals, the bird desires what is hurtful? Is it possible that in Australia they eat insects, and if so, whether British caterpillars might not be acceptable?— G. S. [On no account give the Rose-breasted Cockatoo meat, for it is most injurious, as all Parrots and Cockatoos are strictly seed and fruit eaters. The reason your bird has such a craving for meat is that it has at some time been improperly fed. It is highly necessary that all birds kept in confinement should be dieted, and their food varied as much as possible. Feed your bird on hemp seed, a little sopped bread and milk, fruit, and plenty of green food, and be sure to let it have free access to some large, clean, dry grit, which you will find the bird will enjoy, and which will help to do away with its great desire for meat or bones. I do not at all think your bird would eat caterpillars, and I should most certainly advise you not to try it, but to feed it on the food most conducive to its health.-W.] COURAGE OF THE GAME COCK.-Much might be said respecting the prowess of the Game cock, his powers of endurance, or his courage in defending his wives and family. Thus, a cock bred in 1814 by J. H. Hunt, Esq., of Compton Pauncefoot, Somerset, seeing a hen and her brood attacked by a fox, which actually seized and was carrying off the hen, flew at the fox and killed it, of which occurrence a plate was published at the time. Another cock is recorded to have killed a large mastiff; and had we space we could multiply such stories almost ad infinitum.(Wright's Illustrated Book of Poultry.) HOME-MADE WINES.-We are informed that at the request of the Commissioners of the International Exhibition, our correspondent, Mr. Robert Fenn, of Woodstock, so long associated with the home manufacture of grape, gooseberry, and other garden fruit wines, has sent to the International Exhibition, at South Kensington, about thirty samples in bottle of the results of his labours in wine-making for the past fifteen years. THE HIVE CONTROVERSY. "fair MR. PETTIGREW, although he has refused to compete with the straw skep against the bar-frame hive, has given no valid or satisfactory reason for doing so, considering that he upholds the former against every other hive extant. His proposals, made some six weeks ago, were so impracticable, and so little likely to settle any question at issue, as has been clearly shown by your able correspondent, Mr J.. Lowe, page 194, that I regarded them more as a "dig" at the bar-frame principle than as otherwise worthy of notice, although Mr. Pettigrew says they were and comprehensive." He wants a competition to include "five or six kinds of hives," but in bee culture I maintain there are but two kinds of hives extant-viz., those with fixed and those with moveable combs; and whatever may be the size, shape, make, material, or system, all hives must be of one kind or the other, as all advanced apiarians will agree; and it is really between these two principles that the competition must take place if a competition be at all necessary. What kind of trial Mr. Pettigrew intended, and what his idea of the bar frame principle is, may be gathered from his own words, "I myself would exclude the owners from interfering with or going near their hives during the season of trial, for it is not a question of good management;" so that because Mr. Pettigrew's skeps cannot be managed, all the advantages of the bar-frame moveable comb principle must be thrown away. In my letter of February 6th I advanced the broad principle that all hives with moveablecombs are superior to those with fixed combs, and I offered to accept any conditions which Mr. Pettigrew or any other gentlemen thought fair and right, but I showed plainly that I think very much more of the "management" of bees than I do of the hives they are in, provided they have moveable combs and are large enough, and I should have been governed in my choice of hives for the respective trials entirely by the conditions which expected to have forced upon my acceptance. I entirely deny that any merit is due to any class or variety of hive as a means in itself of acquiring honey; so that if the proposed competition took place, it is probable that in the class for swarms results would be pretty equal, as I offered to submit to Mr. Pettigrew's own terms, leaving the bees entirely to themselves. A competition between the two classes of hives for multiplying stocks and swarms and raising queens is one in which Mr. Pettigrew must well know he has no chance, as the facilities given to all operations by the bar-frame principle with judicious management would leave him nowhere. The trial of honey-getting in my hands as against him would have further proved the value of management, for with the aid of the honey-slinger I am confident I could have at least double his quantity of honey, notwithstanding all the supering, nadiring, or eking, or any other means short of "clever trickery," which he may or may not understand or adopt. I maintain that, having taken bees out of a state of nature for our own profit or diversion, management is everything; and if as much time and trouble were taken to inculcate a better knowledge of the natural history and habits of bees, as is now worse than wasted in useless squabbling about their domiciles, there would be fewer failures in bee-keeping, and less to complain of in regard to hives and their manufacturers and vendors. With a better knowledge of bees, the various systems, so called, would be better understood, and it would be impossible for anyone to make such a mistake as to declare that honey stored in any particular form of hive is better than that in any other. It is singular that Mr. Pettigrew should so confound hives, systems, and management. What is his or any other hive without a system? And what is a system but a system of management? No system can be other than equivocal which does not insist upon a knowledge of the habits of bees, for it is they that are managed and not their hives, the latter being only the means to that end. The larger part of Mr. Pettigrew's last letter is taken up in an endeavour to create an impression against me on account of a reply I gave to a querist in the English Mechanic on October 11th, 1872, to whom I gave exactly the reply he has quoted, and I maintain the opinion therein conveyed. Mr. Pettigrew incorrectly says, "I went a long way out of my way to meet him,' whereas the truth is the querist who signed himself "M. P.," after asking of me individually by name no less than nine questions, says, "I should like to know somebody's opinion of Mr. Pettigrew's system," and I gave mine, as I consider I had a perfect right to do. Mr. R. Symington in these columns, November 7th, 1872, page 374, and "A LANARKSHIRE BEE-KEEPER," on December 12th, page 483, declares there is nothing new in the so-called system; and the latter gentleman, so far back as December 28th, 1871, considers Mr. Pettigrew a blind leader of the blind, and asks him for the sake of the readers of this Journal, "and his own honour" to give "an account of his experiences with the Ligurian bee." His book is for "the guidance of inexperienced bee-keepers," yet he is wrong in some of the most important facts in the natural history of the bee. The late Mr. Woodbury proved him wrong in his data in queenraising, and the "Handy Book contains letters of Mr. Woodbury and Mr. Pettigrew, which proved the latter to have been in ignorance of the law of impregnation of eggs. He devotes a short chapter to fertile workers, but confesses he knows nothing about them, and evidently does not believe in their existence. He does not recommend the sulphur pit, but he considers its use as not more cruel than it is to cut the throat of a sheep to obtain the mutton, and after giving most elaborate directions for its preparation and use, accumulates the horror of the thing by directing that a kettle of boiling water should be poured on the half-suffocated bees; and yet he boasts that his "Handy Book" has saved the lives of more bees than all other works, ancient and modern. What would the Rev. Charles Cotton, the "prince of bee-masters," say to this ?-C. N. ABBOTT, Hanwell, W. SAVING A STARVING COLONY. LAST autumn I wrote to you for advice respecting a hive that had the combs broken or melted down by the sun, all the stores for the winter being wasted. Your advice was to feed liberally. I began immediately to feed on the top with syrup, but the bees could not be induced to take it down. I thought first that the bees could not get at it through the perforated zinc, I therefore took the zinc away and thrust the neck of the bottle through the hole, and also filled some comb with the syrup, as one of your correspondents recommended some time since, but with the same result. Of course I gave up all hopes of saving the bees through the winter. I thought I would try feeding with dry sugar, letting it go down amongst the bees, and I also poured down a little syrup. This I have continued doing until now, and am pleased to say that the bees are living, and, I think, 236 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. doing well, as on fine days they are very busy carrying in pollen. Do you think it possible to drive the bees into a Woodbury hive, as I do not like the appearance of the one they are in? Or would it be better to wait and see if they should throw off an early swarm? I suppose they may be saved now if I continue feeding, as I should much like to do so after taking so much trouble. The bees had not an ounce of honey in the autumn, so have survived the winter on dry sugar, with a little syrup occasionally.-JOHN G. WEBBER. black, or with dun, which produces the best black. Give any good old beans "Brank.' METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, CAMDEN SQUARE, LONDON. Lat. 51° 32′ 40′′ N.; Long. 0° 8′ 0′′ W.; Altitude 111 feet. DATE. 1873. [We are glad that you have succeeded in saving your bees, as you deserve success after taking so much care and trouble. You had better continue your assistance for the present, as a few weeks of ungenial weather might now prove fatal to the bees. We have always condemned the use of dry sugar, as much of it is necessarily wasted. You had better not attempt transferring March. No doubt the bees and combs into a box, but wait for a swarm. your constant feeding has promoted early and rather extensive breeding, so that the bees will require a rather more liberal supply of food than you have hitherto given if the spring be wet and cold. We should recommend your now again trying the bottle, being sure that your syrup is of the right quality, giving Sat. 8 a few ounces two or three times a-week.-EDS.] OUR LETTER BOX. IN THE DAY. Dry. Wet. deg. deg. deg. W. 5 29.867 46.1 44.6 52.2 42.9 63.2 40.3 0.010 30.084 41.2 42.7 47.2 31.6 40.1 75.0 89.2 29.677 42.3 39.8 W. 31.2 0.088 46.3 43.9 50.8 41.1 80.2 87.6 0.243 Mo. 10 29.428 41.2 85.5 S. 42.8 46 7 36.6 86.5 52.8 86.1 REMARKS. TUMOURS IN HENS (J. Curtis).-The disease you mention is by no means We never saw it in pullets, but after they have passed uncommon with kens. into hens and have done laying their first eggs, small spots of yellow cheesy These frequently matter may be found between the skin and the flesh. increase in bulk and becoine hard. The older fowls are, the more liable they are to this disease. The only cure is to remove the tumours when they first begin to increase in size. We take them to be indications of age, like certain appearances in some human subjects known to, but not admitted, by people between sixty and seventy years old. HEN WITH DUCKLINGS (Novice).-The best place in which to put a hen with ducklings is an old pigstye, it generally affords space, and slush between the stones of the flooring. It prevents the ducklings from being draggled to death, and saves the hen the misery of seeing her brood in danger (as she thinks), of a watery grave. They should not be taken from the hen till they are seven or eight weeks old. Oatmeal put in a shallow vessel of water with a little grass, and sometimes a few long small strips of horse flesh, are very good food at first. They may afterwards have whole corn. It is too early to condemn for colour of bills or feet. COCK HEN-PECKED (L. C.).-Birds like to be pecked, and will stand for hours not only while feathers are pulled out, but while their flesh is eaten. It is a fevered, dissatisfied, and diseased state of body that causes the picking in the first instance. It is a craving for some food or medicine to which the feather bears resemblance. Discontinue the potatoes, they induce excessive internal fat, but they give neither bone nor sinew. They do not, as a rule, require beer at this season of the year. Feed on slaked barleymeal or ground oats morning and evening. Give Indian corn or scraps at mid-day. You must re move the cock from the hen during the day. Let him run for an hour daily with the hens, and then take him away. Rub the bare part with compound sulphur ointment. Both can be OLD HENS AND YOUNG ONES (A Constant Subscriber). marked by wire put round the leg on pieces of list fastened on with needle and thread. Holes may be made in the web of the wing with a red-hot iron, marks In either case you have or notches on the beak; with many others. By your poulterer, do you mean a man who sells poultry, or one who looks after yours? not failen on a cordon bleu. We advise you to try again. "Better luck next time." Nothing is easier than to tell a pullet from a hen; but nothing is more difficult than to class correctly a forward pullet, a young hen, or a Could they be asked, the last two would admit they were fattened old one. of a "certain age;" but they might defy any one to say what it was. BANTAM COCK CROOKED-BREASTED (Amateur).-Such a cock as you describe would have no chance if properly judged. We prefer the little that is left of the deaf ear to be red. The wheaten hen is much lighter-breasted than the others, and is generally used when the birds are getting dark and cloudy. SEA-SAND FOR FOWLS (Par).-The sand from the sea-shore will not hurt We have heard of people who your poultry. Salt is good for them. Aylesbury Ducks will lose the delicacy of their bills if they have access to sea water. hired cocks for a run, but we know no one who lets them. COLOUR OF HOUDAN'S EGGS (G. B.).-The Houdan's eggs should be quite white. We should not expect to hatch pure Houdans from eggs coloured like Guinea Fowls. COCK'S COMB SLIGHTLY INJURED (T. S.).-The accident to the comb of your Partridge cock would not disqualify him; but if shown against a perfect bird he would lose the prize. A crooked-combed Cochin hen has no right to take a prize; but the defect is not of necessity hereditary. BRAHMA COCK'S SPURS TOO LONG (J.).-You run no risk in cutting the spurs of the cock, provided you do not reach the quick, which is only at the base of the spur. The best thing to cut them with is a saw made from the main spring of a watch. As it causes no pain, you can cut piece by piece in perfect safety, as long as you find you have only bone to encounter. PIGEONS DISEASED (Alpha and H. C.).-Both your Pigeons are suffering from the effects of damp and cold, neither can it be wondered at considering the variableness of the weather. It should be borne in mind that Pigeons can bear any amount of heat. In ceiled warm houses, giving them at the same time plenty of room, they are sure to prosper. In damp or draughty places they never do well. Give hempseed with their food for a time, and good old beans. POINTS IN LONG-FACED ANTWERPS (H. C.).-1st, Beak like a Dove's; 2nd, eye bolting; 3rd, forehead raised; 4th, shape compact. Colour not a particular point. CARRIER PIGEONS (T. A. W.).-Wattle, &c., not fully developed until four years old. Flights and tail as good a black as you can get. Mate black with 5th.-Dull morning, fine at noon, occasional rain after; but a beautiful 9th.-Rain in the morning, fine in the middle of the day; rain about 4 and 11th.-Showery and windy, but at times very bright sunshine; the coldest day this week. A very seasonable week. Probably the most noticeable feature is the reI have noticed a similar currence of a fall of soft hail balls on March 8th. fall on that or the next day almost every year for ten or fifteen years past.G. J. SYMONS. From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 50.6°; and its night temperature 83.0°. The greatest heat was 69°, on the 20th, 1836; and the lowest cold 14°, on the 25th, 1850. The greatest fall of rain was 1.11 inch. HEATING-FUEL.-No. 1. WING to the present high price of coals it is probable that many persons will be prevented from indulging in forced flowers, fruits, and vegetables to the extent they have been accustomed; whilst as all materials of construction are greatly enhanced in cost, serious obstacles will be placed in the path of those contemplating the erection of horticultural structures. The prices of bricks, stone, mortar, glass, and wood are higher, but their cost has advanced far less in proportion than that of labour, which, except in the case of the gardener, has been variously increased by 10, 20, or 25 per cent. Iron has attained such a price as to cause those favouring it for the construction of horticultural erections to think twice before they give an order, and the cost of iron pipes for heating by hot water must, I am afraid, deter many from adopting them as a mode of heating. Apart from the first cost of providing for heating a house or range of houses by hot water, as compared with that of heating by hot air, the increased price of fuel leads to the consideration not of which is the best mode of heating, but which, affording under judicious management satisfactory results, is the most economical. The cost of heating by hot water has not, so far as I am aware, been considered from an economical point of view, its superiority in this respect having been established over heating by hot air or flues. The apparent difference as regards the effects on vegetation between heat radiated from brick, stone, or the like, and that from hot-water pipes, results not so much from the radiating material as from the mode of applying the heat. The difference between a hot-water pipe and a flue is just this-by the former the heat is given off, or the air of the house warmed, by pipes uniform in temperature, or very nearly so, throughout their extent; whilst by the flue the heat is radiated at a temperature considerably higher where the flue enters than it is after the flue has passed along half the length of the house, to say nothing of its exit. Another evil of heating by hot air is that the products of combustion are carried along with the heated air, and find their way through the cracks of the materials, and, as everybody knows, are not beneficial to vegetation; but there is no such objection to heating by hot water. It cannot be said of hot air that it is so desirable for heating greenhouses and hothouses as hot water-in fact, my experience of flues prompts no word in their favour. I should be unwilling to say that hot air is more economical than hot water were that proven, and to my mind it is not. It is more costly to have a boiler, iron pipes, &c., for heating by hot water than to have a furnace and flue for heating by hot air. The first cost is greater double or treble, but there is no saving of fuel. In heating by a flue the brickwork of the furnace absorbs and retains a great amount of heat. This is radiated from the exterior of the furnace setting, and is lost to the house; only when the heat of the fire is less than the heat of the No. 625.-VOL. XXIV., NEW SERIES. furnace surroundings can the house derive any benefit from the heat absorbed at the furnace. This being the case with a furnace for affording heat to a house, it may be singular that a corresponding waste of heat does not result in the case of a furnace for heating by hot water. As regards the majority of furnaces for boiler heating, there is not much more to be said in their favour than in that of the furnaces constructed for heating by flues. The sides of the furnace are brickwork, and are heated to a temperature of 1141° (the heat of a common fire, according to Daniell), while the heat on the fuel over a fire of this kind (the fuel not burned through) is not sufficient to melt lead (594°). Thus we have in the furnace a heat that would melt lead, zinc (700°), antimony (810°), and we only act on the boiler with a temperature of little more than half that of the bricks. In this case we lose half the heat of the fire when the fuel is not burned; but when the whole of the fuel is brought to a red heat we act directly on the boiler with a temperature of considerably over 1000°, and yet we lose the heat at the sides of the furnace; and the end of the furnace opposite the door being of brick that is made red hot. The heat may then pass through the boiler, surrounded by water, and not unfrequently it passes along the sides, heating quite as much brickwork as iron of holding water. In some cases, too, it passes over the top of the boiler heating the top of the flue very much more-though there we do not want the heat-than the bottom, where we have water which we wish to be heated. We expend in fact one-half, and in some cases more than half, the heat of the fuel in the furnace without deriving any corresponding benefit. In my opinion the heating powers of a boiler or boilers are wholly dependant on the surface the boilers expose to the action of the fire; direct, the exposure is the most important, but the indirect is not insignificant. What must be the waste of fuel when half of its heat is expended on surrounding surfaces, and half of that heat passing over the surface of the boiler escaping by the chimney? I know that some contend, or have done, that the side heat of a furnace is of no use for heating a boiler, that hollow grate bars are an evil. Professing no knowledge of the theory of heat beyond what has been verified by my own experience, I confess to being at a loss to explain why any material in contact, whether below or at the side of a red-hot furnace fire should not be heated. I know that the sides of a boiler furnace are made red hot, and the grate bars are burned through. No better illustration can be given of the value of the side heat of a furnace for heating than having a boiler fixed behind and at the side of an ordinary house fire. With properly fixed hot-water pipes it will heat a room equal in extent to that in which the fire is situated. Thus we secure double the heat from the same fuel. There is no loss of heat to the room, but a clear saving of heat cent. per cent. Again, let us have a boiler fixed on the fire; it shall be so set that the fire can act on its lower and front surface, but not on the back, the heat being made to pass in front to the chimney, and from this again we get hot No. 1977.-VOL. XLIX., OLD SERIES. water to heat a room equal in size to the one the fire is situated Anything better calculated than our fire grates, with their wide-open chimnies, to waste fuel could not well be conceived. Nothing can be said in their favour except that they secure a change of atmosphere; but could not this be effected by a direct supply of fresh air from the external atmosphere, at the same time allowing the vitiated atmosphere of the room to pass off? I believe a contrivance has been patented for supplying ordinary house fires with air direct from the atmosphere by means of flues at the back, sides, or under the fire, which causes the heat to be directed into the room, the vitiated atmosphere being carried off by a funnel. This is said to effect a saving of three-fourths of the fuel, and I fully believe it. How unfortunate it is that inventions of this kind should be fettered by patents! The invention may be seen in operation at the office of Mr. Peachy, architect, Northgate, Darlington. Mentioning Darlington reminds me that one of the family of Pease has offered to bear the expense attendant on the formation of a gardeners' institute in that town. Is this to be the commencement of what I have said more than once in these pages —viz., we shall have institutions in all our large towns for the mental improvement of gardeners on the principles of mechanics' institutes? I am persuaded we shall, and I view this commencement with much satisfaction. part of those interested to adopt any simple means of keeping down the coal bill. Nothing destroys prejudice so quickly as permitting the pocket to be affected; but so long as the heatafforded by coal is allowed to make its escape after being generated there cannot be, in my opinion, any great saving of fuel. We must remodel our fire grates, and, whilst retaining the heat, allow the products of combustion to escape without taking along with them more than a small amount of the heat, instead of the half or more passing away by the chimney. It may be vain to expect any great saving by the conversion of coal into coke, the abstraction from it of the gas, and using the latter as well as the coke for heating purposes. I am sanguine, however, that it would be a considerable saving, and I should be glad if any of your correspondents would tell us the heating properties of gas, say how many feet of cubic air could be warmed to a given temperature by burning a thousand feet of gas, the cost of making or value per thousand feet, also the quantity of gas to be had from a ton of coal, and the weight of coke that would remain after the abstraction of the gas, with the cost for labour. I shall conclude this paper by observing that my remarks are intended as suggestions, and that information and criticism are desired, for we shall some day have an almost smokeless cheap fuel, and so much of its heat as is present will be prevented escaping by the chimney.-G. ABBEY. ORCHARD-HOUSE NOTES. THE present season being a late one had the effect of bringing out the perfect bloom in our orchard houses only on the 12th of this month. I generally reckon this point of perfect bloom to be when the leaves begin to accompany the blossoms, and are about an inch long. At that time the houses look at their best. The greatest living poet had talked of coming to see them, but really the sight, though pretty enough, is not of itself enough to warrant such an honour. The training of the cordons is effective no doubt, but after much experience of visitors I have ceased to look at an orchard house in bloom as the very best time to see it. I think, though, that the lovely white blossoms I saw at Chiswick and at Sawbridgeworth (of which one expected to hear more) were a great gain in point of effect. Possibly at this advanced stage of knowledge it may be superfluous to hint to possessors of orchard houses that it is essential to the setting of the bloom to shake, or rather strike, the various parts of the trees smartly with a pole. By neglecting this we certainly had less bloom set last season. I have never painted my Peach trees till this winter, when, finding traces of scale on a few, I coated the stems and branches with ordinary oil paint, and filled-in the hollows with thicker paint. This, if of a greenish hue, is inconspicuous, and very easy to apply. The brush slides over the branches easily, and the trees look well now, and are very healthy. After all, what is there objectionable in paint more than in the slimy compositions too dear to gardeners? Does paint clog the pores more? The oil nourishes if anything, and the paint is easily put on, nor does it come off on the clothes of passers-by. Most remedies act mechanically by glueing-in insects' eggs. If of stronger composition they injure the foliage and bloom. I have also applied paint to my Vines, just missing the buds, and all appears prosperous. I have little faith in any remedy for red spider, except vigorous and constant syringing. Sulphur for mildew in Vines seems also at times curiously ineffective. Several seasons ago mildew appeared in a vinery 80 feet long, and there only; soon the leaves were whitened, and the very wood stained. We tried sulphur in various ways, but could not conquer it. Then next season we tried wiping with soft wet cloths dipped Other means have been proposed with a view to economise in sulphur. This did better, and finally, the next season, we coal in house fires; among them is noticeable a grate which may found dry cloths passed round each berry-say fortnightlybe placed in another grate so as to reduce the size of the fire space. completely cured the disease. It vanished from the house; It is the invention of Mr. Walker, of York, and is to be had every leaf and berry became healthy, and the crop was sold for of most ironmongers at a cheap rate. It is said to effect a Covent Garden with only the bloom gone from it, being of the considerable saving of coal. Another project is the mixing of usual size, and well coloured. Even this wiping was not very small coal with an equal amount of clay, the latter brought to long to perform; and as to bloom, well, these Grapes being the consistency of puddle and then thoroughly mixed with the not for our own use, who looks for bloom in dealers' Grapes small coal, forming a sort of mortar-like substance; but there in September? Last season I was surprised to see a few beris this disadvantage-namely, the fire must be made of coal ries beginning to mildew in this house, as it had been otherin the usual way, and the "cats," as they are called, after-wise in perfect health, but we soon cut them away. These wards added, surrounding them with coal. The "cats" are isolated cases appeared only in a passage glazed between two madelup into balls by hand. doors always open in summer, and in a great draught, and I mention these methods as indications of a desire on the nowhere else, except in three very small vineries subject to |