Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/310

 286 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. a reservoir of lieat. Were this done, or were even a double vacuity of air formed around, above, and below the furnace of a stove, by plates of iron, a great deal more heat might be procured from the fuel ; because nearly the whole of the smoke might be consumed : all the difference would be, that the heat, instead of being radiated directly from the stove into the air of the apartment, would be radiated from the flue; and this flue, being of iron, might be conducted so as to heat several apartments, or the whole house. A good and cheap construction for this purpose is still wanting. A stove invented by Witty effectually consumes the smoke ; but it is bulky, the fuel is supplied in an awkward manner, and the stove itself is rather too expensive for our present purpose. 596. Cottage Ovens are formed of either iron, fire stone, or fire brick. The two latter kinds are by far the best ; because they do not, like iron, acquire suddenly so much heat as to burn what is to be baked or roasted in them ; and because they retain the heat they do acquire for a long time. An excellent oven is formed by cramping together five square fire stones or fire bricks, of a foot or more in breadth each, and having a sixth stone or brick as a cover. The fire may be made within, and taken out wlien the stones are thoroughly heated. This oven may be fixed by the side of a kitchen fire, or set on a weak fire, as practised with a description of stone oven in use among the cottagers in Gloucestershire, and with clay ovens at Dunstable, in Bedfordshire. Excellent ovens of this sort might be made of Stourbridge fire clay ; and Mr. Peake of Tunstall informs us, that not only ovens for baking bread, but entire fireplaces, with their flues, might be made of the same material, at a very moderate expense, if it were not for the present enormous duty. A fire clay fireplace, with an oven on each side, and requiring no ironwork, except a small grating in front and another at the bottom, would be a most desirable fixture for the cottage kitchen. 597. Portable Iron Cottage Ovens are common among the ironmongers, but they are not very desirable. Occasionally, however, they may be useful where nothing better can be got, and we shall therefore briefly notice two kinds. Fig. 531 is a front view of a portable wrought-iron cottage oven, which costs in London, by retail, 30s. It is intended to be placed over a fire, so that the smoke and hot a air may enter at a, circulate round the oven, and escape by the funnel, h. There is a valve, c, to permit the escape of steam when meat is roasting. Fig. 532 shows a view of the oven with the door open, and with a false bottom, d, of fire stone, raised half an inch from the iron bottom, to moderate the heat. The dimensions of the chamber are, depth and height, thirteen inches and a quarter, and width fifteen inches. Another portable oven is nothing more than a com- mon cast-iron flat-bottomed pot or stewpan, with a false bottom inside supported on pivots, under which sand is put, to diminish the intensity of the heat. When this oven is to be used, it is put on a moderate fire, and covered with a lid, which may be taken ofi' occasionally to admit air. The cost in London, by retail, is only 3s. 6d. It will bake a small loaf, or roast a fowl. 598. Hollers for Wash-houses are commonly made of copper, and require little art in either making or managing, except, in setting them up, to provide for getting as much heat as possible out of the fuel burned beneath them ; and to get ready access to the flues, to free them from soot. In all open boilers, as usually constructed, there must necessarily be a great waste of heat ; and therefore, in cottages, we always desire to contrive tlie flues proceeding from them so as they may heat the air of the apartments. 599. Parlour and Bed-room Grates are manufactured in iron in the greatest variety ; but it may truly be said that there is not one in a hundred of their forms worthy of being recom- mended, as being scientifically constructed, with a view to the complete consumption of the fuel used, and the radiation of heat into the room. The grand errorof almost all of them