170 THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



house is better than an ordinary span roof, about ten or twelve feet 

 wide, with a three-feet path down the centre, and a flat table or 

 stand on each side to hold the plants. The side table should be 

 about a yard high, and the side-lights two feet ; this will make five 

 feet altogether. If the roof is eight feet high at its apex, there will 

 be plenty of head room, and the roof will be sharp enough to carry 

 the water off quiciily, and prevent any injury arising from drip. 

 The ventilation should be provided for, by placing small ventilators 

 along the walls on each side opposite the pipes, and small sashes 

 along the roof to allow the escape of the heated air. It is perfectly 

 immaterial whether the roof is made with sashes and rafters, or fixed ; 

 but it is not desirable to have the glass in too large squares, for the 

 cold air gets in between the laps, and does no end of mischief. A 

 foot wide should be the outside ; but nine inches is much better. 

 The side tables should come up level with the top of the brick- work, 

 which should support one side, whilst the other side near the path 

 must be supported with stout posts. Inch boards will make capital 

 tables. Though slates will be more durable, they are too expensive 

 to talk about now, and we will confine ourselves to wooden ones. 

 A strip of wood about four inches wide should be tacked along the 

 side, and the tables covered with that depth of cocoa-nut fibre refuse. 

 Two four-inch -pipes near the wall, under the tables on "each side, 

 will furnish all the necessary heat. For a house of this description, 

 which is simplicity itself, the finest collection in the world may be 

 grown, and I would back it against all complicated structures that 

 would cost ten times the money. 



Houses of this description exist in two-thirds of the Floral 

 World gardens, and, in many instances, may be turned to a much 

 better account than they now are. For fear of being misunderstood, 

 I will say, at once, that a span-roofed house is not imperatively 

 necessary, for a small lean-to will do equally as well, no matter 

 which point of the compass it may face, excepting the north. Some 

 people have gone so far as to recommend north aspects lor cool 

 orchid houses ; but I, for one, do not believe in them, for the plants 

 fail in obtaining that amount of light and solar warmth through the 

 winter which is so essential to their well-doing. 



The question of the house adapted for growing cool orchids 

 being to my mind settled, we will turn our attention to the plants 

 suitable for growing in it, and a few hints upon their management. 



I have advised the stages to be covered with cocoa-nut fibre 

 refuse, to save the expense of making an open tank underneath, to 

 keep up a steady atmospheric moisture, and at the same time to 

 be equally as well off as those who have them. When the plants 

 are watered the moisture will run down and make it damp, from 

 which a constant vapour will arise, and be of immense advantage in 

 keeping the plants in vigorous health, and render the atmosphere of 

 the house like that of their native habitats. It will be advisable 

 through the summer to occasionally pour a few cans of water over 

 the refuse, to keep it thoroughly moist, for it may happen that the 

 water applied to the plants is not sufficient for that purpose. From 

 March to September the temperature should range from 55^ to 60°, 



