STOVE

(Dutch, stove.) A receptacle for the combustion of fuel for the purpose of heating houses, . The common fire-grate for the combustion of coal, with its various appendages, is generally called a. stove; hence register stoves, Bath stoves, . These are often, and indeed generallj', very unscientifically constructed, and calculated to consume a large quantity of luel, with a proportionate waste of heat. They are generally intended to diffuse warmth principally or entirely by radiation, and should be placed as near the ground as po ible; while the different parts into the contact of which the burning fuel is brought should be of fire-brick, or some similar composition, which is a bad conductor but a good radiator of heat. It is manifest that in our common fireplaces the enormous volume of hot air which pa es up the chimney is not available as a source of heat; hence, in colder climates, and where greater economy of fuel is studied, the fireplace is frequently closed in, and contained in an iron box which projects into the room, while the heated air before it finally enters the chimney is made to circulate through tubes or pipes, to which it communicates much of its exce of heat, and these agiiin impart it to the surrounding air. What are termed German stoves are usually made upon such principles; and in them the fuel is often introduced, and the air required for the support of its combustion admitted, on the outside of the room in which the stove with its flues and heating surfaces is placed. In Arnotfs stoves the heat is similarly but more scientifically economized. There is only enough air admitted to keep up the slow combustion of the fuel, and the heat is communicated to the radiating surfaces of the stove; so that before the air which has pa ed through the fuel finally enters the chimney it has been deprived of the greater part of its available heat. These stoves are also so constructed as, bv means of thermometric or self acting registers, to adjust with much nicety the supply of air, so that neither more nor le may enter than is required to maintain the combustion of a given quantity of fuel. In Feethayri's air-stoves the common open fire is retained; but the heat is to a certain extent economized by by causing the hot air before it enters the chimney to communicate a portion of its heat to an iron box, over which a current of air pa es and is sent warm into the room. It is manifest that our common open fires must act as powerful ventilators, and that the large quantity of air which is driven up the chimney must be supplied in some way or other through the apartment in which the fire is burning. This supply of air is generally left to chance, and finds its way into the room by crevices in the doorways and window sashes, or between the boards of the floor, or any similar accidental pa age through which it can make its way; and as, in London at least, the air always abounds in fuliginous particles, these are carried in along with it, and show its track by the blacks which it deposits. If this supply of air is inadequate, and it generally is so in new and well-built houses, in consequence of the tightne of tlie doors, windows, and floors, the chimney of nece ity smokes, and the door or window requires to be left open to prevent such an effect. This evil may usually be effectually prevented by admitting fresh air from without through some proper and adequate channel, and various ornamental or concealed apertures may be contrived for the purpose; in the best arrangement of which, however, much practical as well as theoretical skill is often e ential. When rooms are warmed by German or Amott's stoves, the ventilating powers of which are very inferior to the open grate, ventilation requires to be strictly attended to. Where buildings are warmed by currents of hot air sent up from stoves on the basement story, great attention should also be paid to ventilation; and in such cases the leading object should be to send in a large volume of air very moderately heated (to about 100°), rather than a small quantity of very hot air.: the latter does not readily mix with the surrounding cold air, but forms a.distinct and rapidly ascending column, which does not diffuse itself where most wanted; and it is apt to have a disagreeable and burned odour, arising from the charring of the particles of organic dust which are carried with the air over the too highly heated surfaces of the stove or flues. A little aqueous vapour, sent in along with the warm air by placing a saucer of water in some convenient situation, is often effectual in preventing the disagreeable sensation occasioned by respiring too dry an atmosphere. Stove. In Horticulture, a structure in which plants are cultivated that require a considerably higher temperature than the open air in Britain and similar climates. There are two or three kinds of stoves, but the principal are the dry stove and the damp stove. The dry stove is a structure, the atmosphere of which is heated to the temperature of from 55° to 60° during winter, in which are chiefly cultivated succulents; such as the ditferent species of Cerctus, Cereus, Staphelia, Euphorbia, Mcsem1177 STRENGTH. hryanthemum, and other succulents having similar habits. During winter these plants require very little water, and during summer they require intense heat, and abundance of air and water during fine weather. The damp stove, sometimes also called the bark stove, requires a temperature of between 00° and 70° during winter, with a proportionate increase during summer; accompanied, in both seasons, with a high degree of atmospherical moisture. This moisture is produced partly by evaporation from the bark bed in which the plants are plunged, but chiefly by watering the floor of the house, and by syringing the plants. During summer the plants in the bark stove require all the light which the atmosphere in this country is capable of producing, together with abundance of air, as in the dry stove. Both stoves are heated by smoke flues, or by hot water or steam, circulated in metallic or other tubes. The plants cultivated in the moist stove are exclusively those of the tropics; and those which require the highest degree of heat are chiefly Monocotyledonous plants, such as the Scitaminece, which include the ginger, plantain, banana, sugar cane, palms. Orchid dacccE; and such Dicotyledonous plants as the bread fruit, the yam, mangosteen, and other East Indian plants. The bark bed is chiefly employed for producing a uniform degree of moisture and heat to the roots, and also as a reservoir of heat for the atmosphere of the house in case of any diminution from the flues, water or steam pipes, or the sun. Stoves of every description require a constant degree of attention from the gardener throughout the year, more especially such as are devoted to the palms, the banana, the pine apple, and the Orchidacece. [s. 1190]