54 



The Country Gentlemaii s Magazine 



pense of construction and erection, which is 

 considerable, is saved. Fig. 6 has a front 

 sash to make it useful for plant culture, giving 

 head room to plants of ordinary stature from 

 front to back. It is a kind of house that is 

 in great demand by amateurs; and, taking 

 cheapness into account, with light and proper 



#V52^ 



Fig. 5. — Vinery or Peach House. 



ventilation, we do not think a much better 

 could be found. 



As to ventilation, as we have already and 

 frequently recommended, its consideration 

 can scarcely be considered too important. 

 The more ventilation we can command 

 without interfering with the stability of the 

 plant structure, the better the principle of the 

 house for plant-growth purposes. There are 

 so many patent systems now-a-days afloat that 

 one has a delicacy in approaching the subject 

 at all, because in the dealing with it these 

 patents run so closely one into the other, that 

 it takes some ingenuity, and not a little 

 trouble, to avoid giving the credit to whom 

 the credit really belongs. 



The Paxton systeqi was long considered a 

 good one ; now, instead of, as it were, tilting 

 the sashes up edgeways, we have the mode 

 of William Richardson & Co., of Darling- 

 ton, who has kindly furnished us with the 

 materials for illustrating this article. This 

 ■plan is by raising the sashes after the mode 

 which the various diagrams shew. This has 

 the advantage by the sash overlapping its 

 fellow, of keeping out rain when rain falls, un- 

 less the sashes be raised too high, or the day 

 be visited with gusts of wind. One very good 

 point has been attended to in the general con- 

 ception — viz., the ventilating from below over 

 the hot-water pipes without disturbing the 

 front lights. These vertical lights, if often 



moved for purposes of ventilation, get out of 

 order, and the tear and wear is greater in pro- 

 portion to the other parts or features of the 

 house outline. As will be seen in fig. 6, 

 the ventilation takes place through wooden 

 shutters immediately under the glass front. 

 We cannot do better than give the patentee's 

 own words in their description of this mode 

 of ventilation. 



"The patent system of ventilation is effected 

 by narrow openings in the roof (about 9 

 inches wide) the full length of the lights from 

 top to bottom, and from 4 to 5 feet apart, 

 covered with glazed frames made perfectly 

 weather-tight, with grooves up the sides, fit- 

 ting down on to galvanized iron tongues; 

 these frames are 4 inches wider than the 

 opening they cover, and when lifted are clear 

 above the fixed lights, leaving an open space 

 at both sides as large or as small as may be 

 desired, thus allowing a free and even circu- 

 lation of air throughout the house, and at 

 the same time protecting the interior effec- 

 tually from rain, wind, or a direct down- 

 draught upon the plants. These ventilating 

 roof-lights are made in either one or two 

 parts, as shewn in the various sections, each 

 separate set or range from [one end of the 

 house to the other being simultaneously 

 opened and regulated by a single handle 

 placed in the most convenient position, and 

 balanced in such a way as to be easily worked 

 by a lady. Any ventilating light can, if de- 

 sired, be thrown out of gear, so as not to 



-r--^%&,S$iv#fe> 



Fig. 6. — A Cheap Greenhouse for Amateurs. 



open with the rest, or it may be lifted en- 

 tirely off for glazing without the removal of 

 screws. 



" In the houses with front lights, bottom 

 ventilation is obtained by wood-panelled 



