TRANSACTIONS nORTlCUI.TfKAT- SOCIETY OF NORTHERN TI,!,. 391 



first constructed my conservatory, I simply cut two holes through the 

 floor, without any pipes, and the hot air would come up, first through one 

 hole and then through the other, or tlie hot and cold air would struggle 

 for a passage through both holes at the same time without either gaining 

 the mastery, the heated air remaining on the under side of the floor, and 

 the cold air pressing with all its weight on the upper side. The hotter 

 the cellar the greater was the resistance to the downward passage of the 

 cold air, and the colder the weather the stronger was the obstruction to 

 the hot air ; and so my conservatory became a refrigerator with the hot 

 air at the bottom. With a natural disposition to he\p the i/nt/rr siWe, I 

 made an iron-clad passage through the stratum of cold air above the 

 floor, by means of joint of stove-pipe in one of the holes, and in ten 

 minutes the thermometer went up ten degrees. Then for fair play I 

 made a similar passage for the cold air through the forces below the floor, 

 and the battle was over. The victory was complete for both sides, but 

 the exultation was all in the conservatory. The tradescantias, vincas and 

 ivies felt the rush of warm air on theirswaying perches, and waved their long 

 arms in triumph. The timid parviflovas, begonias, and the modest lobe- 

 lias scattered their bright petals on the stage in acknowledgment, and all 

 the other plants nodded with pleasure. To me it was a matter of aston- 

 ishment that two lengths of stove-pipe stuck into the floor — one above 

 and the other below — should change the temperature from 40° to 60°, 

 but I was proud of my success. My conservatory is only six by eight 

 feet, and I used last winter one and a half tons of coal, and let the sur- 

 plus heat into the dining-room, where I saved at least a ton of coal ; and 

 this winter I have no stove in the dining-room, but keep it warm by the 

 stove in the kitchen and the heat from the green -house. I usually attend 

 to the fire in the cellar once a-day ; but 1 think it is better in cold 

 weather to shake the grate twice each day, and keep the draught closed. 



To smoke the plants I put some tobacco on a wire screen over the 

 hot-air pipe, and light it with a nnrtch, and then cover it with another 

 screen to prevent a blaze ; and I keep the air moist by sprinkling the 

 cellar. So you see I have all the advantages of a green-house, and no 

 room occupied by heating apparatus. 



How many there are who would be glad to have the dreariness of 

 winter relieved by the culture of green-house plants, if they were sure 

 that a cold night would not sweep them all away ! But nearly half the 

 dwellings have a porch with a southern exposure, which could be readily 

 converted into a temporary or permanent conservatory, and the sunshine, 

 which could be utilized in heating the adjoining room through a window 

 or door, would almost pay the whole expense. 



It is not enough that a conservatory or bay-window is kept from 

 freezing. Those who have purchased luxuriant begonias, bouvardiiis, 

 euphorbias, coleus, or other winter-blooming and decorative jjlants in the 

 fall, and find them in the holidays witiiout blossoms and nearly denuded 

 of foliage, are discouraged in their efforts at floriculture, and think that 

 they will content themselves with a geranium, rose and carnation, or 

 leave their bay-windows without a winter decoration. Now, if the 



