THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 93 



by a light rafter in the middle of each piece, as directed in the paper pub- 

 lished last month. Mr. Standish's first house of the kind had a fiat roof; 

 he has since given the roof a slope, in order to throw off the water more 

 readily ; but the angle is of little consequence as regards rain falling. A 

 very slight fall suffices to carry it away as completely as from a glass roof. 

 It must be added, however, that, during very heavy rains, the moisture 

 comes through in the form of mist on the windward side of the house, 

 which will be no disadvantage to the class of plants for which such houses 

 are adapted. Ordinary rains do not come through, unless the roof is flat, 

 and then only in globules here and there, some of which fall, and some do 

 not. Mr. Shaw has made improvements in the manufacture of tiffany, in 

 order to meet the demand consequent on the new use to which it is to be 

 applied. It is now made of double and_ treble strength, in pieces ten yards 

 long by thirty-nine inches wide, which', on rafters nineteen inches apart, 

 will allow of half an inch overlap under the list. These stronger kinds are 

 sold at seven shillings and sixpence and nine shillings per piece. They 

 may be mineralized, to prevent rotting, by soaking twelve hours in a solu- 

 tion made in the proportion of one pound of blue vitriol to every twenty 

 gallons of water. The thousands of artizans whom Mr. Broome befriends 

 with cuttings of chrysanthemums, and who, he says, learn to beat him with 

 his own weapons, may take a new stride in growing and exhibiting, and 

 cease to dread the November frosts that for three years past have all but 

 made chrysanthemum culture a forlorn hope. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETIES IN THE LONDON 

 SUBURBS. 



Having been a subscriber to your valuable and cheap publication from its 

 commencement, I can recommend it to all who are interested in gardening 

 as an excellent guide in practical operations, and a faithful chronicle of 

 events. I wish now to call the attention of your readers to the progress of 

 floriculture within these last three years round the suburbs of London, and the 

 benefits resulting therefrom to the operatives and cottagers ; in fact, the 

 associations are spreading all through the ..provinces. Never in my remem- 

 brance has floriculture been so taken up by the working-classes as at the pre- 

 sent day, for, where a mechanic or a cottager has a sunny spot of ground, 

 there you see him trying to grow a few flowers. The majority of them are 

 very fond of chrysanthemums, on account of it being less sensitive to smoke 

 than most other flowers, and, if they are at all skilful in growing them, they 

 form themselves into societies, hold annual exhibitions, and invite the public 

 to see them ; and I assure you they make some of us gardeners blush to see 

 how excellently well they grow them without any artificial means. They also 

 make many a happy home for the wives and children, in keeping the indus- 

 trious men at home in the summer evenings, and teaching their children to 

 cultivate Nature's beauties, and creating a love for flowers in their minds 

 when young, which they never forget when they grow up to manhood. My 

 object in asking permission to call the attention of your subscribers to it is, 

 that those ladies and gentlemen who wish to improve the domestic happiness 

 of the humble classes, cannot do better than associate themselves amongst 

 them, and encourage the good cause all they can by subscribing a trifle and 

 becoming members ; also in assisting in establishing as many as they can in 

 thickly-inhabited localities. My practical experience in going among them 

 proves the statement I make, as there are already upwards of twenty round 



