260 THE FLORIST. 



description alluded to done by good plain artisans, under my own 

 superintendence, and \vith materials of excellent quality, brought direct 

 from the prime dealers at trade prices. But under no circumstances could 

 I recommend any one to invest money in erecting buildings of a non- 

 durable descriptioUj least of all when intended to shelter objects which 

 are calculated to endure many times longer than they themselves can 

 possibly hang together. Even when the owner has only a temporary 

 interest in the land he builds on, we well know how rapidly their 

 value deteriorates if not well and properly built. But in the opposite 

 case, they may in valuation be worth almost all their prime cost, espe- 

 cially if painting and other matters of repair, essential to the well-being 

 of the occupants, have been duly attended to. We will affirm, then, 

 that the structures, of whatever conformation, should be on good brick 

 foundations, built hollow above ground for the sake of warmth and 

 dryness. The timber should be sound and quite dry, that the work 

 may all be painted at least once before it leaves the shop. The plates 

 may be of oak, if convenient ; but it should have been cut down two 

 or three years before use, during one of which it should have lain in 

 plank. The rafters should be of good Baltic timber, sound and dry. 

 The sashes should all be moveable, especially those forming the roof; 

 in this there are many decided advantages, amongst which is the 

 power of exposing the trees to rain, &c., at certain seasons if desired, and 

 the facihty with which the glass or wood-work can be cleaned or painted 

 when necessary. The sashes should be constructed of good Petersburgh 

 red Deal, sufficiently clear and free from knots to prevent loss in cutting 

 up. The glass should be in panes not less than nine inches wide, nor 

 less than thirty inches in length, and of genuine British sheet. I am 

 aware I am here drawing upon myself a host of opponents, but I am 

 sufficiently satisfied in my own mind that the British sheet derives any 

 unpopularity it may have acquired from one of two causes, either from 

 defective or neglected ventilation, or from German glass being put in 

 instead of it by dishonest contractors, or sold as such by cheap advertisers. 

 These are the principal points of a mechanical nature to be attended to ; 

 there are other ones of great importance, but I may have already too 

 far entered into a treatise on building, and will not trespass fiirther upon 

 this part of the subject. My object has been to enforce the distinction 

 between true economy and so-caUed cheapness, and to point out a few 

 of the essential principles to be observed in doing work substantially. 



I next come to consider the relative merits of the different modes 

 which are before the public. They are three : — the Orchard House, for 

 trees either planted in pots or in borders, the Glass Wall of Mr. Ewing, 

 which is, in fact, a narrow span-roofed house, and the Glazed Wall, of 

 which there are two varieties, the narrow lean-to house, like the 

 engraving in page 83 of the present volume, and the glazed wall with 

 upright front sashes and narrow span-roofed top, as used by Mr. 

 Fleming, at Trentham, described in the Gardeners' Chronicle two years 

 since, and alluded to in your notice of that place, page 102. 



In pursuance of my plan, I will consider what are the desiderata in 

 such a structure, and then examine which of the above kinds answers 

 most nearly thereto. It occurs to me, howeyer, that the article is 



