282 THE FLOBIST AND POMOLOGIST. [ Deoembbb, 



ground, or to cover spaces devoted to vines, tied up like raspberry canes on the 

 French method. Or the two fronts of the screen might be converted into a 

 narrow, upright, span-roofed house, admirably adapted for a late vinery, as in 

 fig. 2. The screens might readily be placed over pits, or frames, or over spaces 

 in the open ground, provided with bottom heat by means of dung, for the growth 

 of melons, cucumbers, tomatos, capsicums, &c. ; or any of these could be well 

 grown in such screens against an empty wall, as in fig. 1, or in the narrow house 

 formed with the two screens, as in fig. 2. Then, again, what capital protection 

 they would afford for second crop3 of strawberries, from forced plants in the 

 open ground, for late cauliflower, winter salading, winter or very early spring 

 radishes, carrots, &c, and for the safe storage of Walcheren broccoli for winter 

 use I The narrow house (fig. 2) would form an admirable structure for the growth 

 of late or summer-flowering plants for the conservatory, such as Thunbergias, 

 Salvias, Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, &c. Flooded with light from top to bottom, 

 and close to the glass on each side, such plants would be all bloom. Or for a 

 real plant-house, such as fig. 3, it is only needful to invert the bars, and the bent 



SB 



portion would become a side-light, and the other ends could be fixed together 

 with a central plug of wood or iron, and rendered waterproof by a simple coping. 

 The screens could thus be converted into one of the best possible plant-houses 

 for the growth of such semi-stove plants as Euphorbias, Begonias, Poinsettias, 

 Gesneras, and many of the hardier stove ferns for room, conservatory, or stove 

 decoration in winter. Thus the usual strain upon the glass houses during 

 summer would be relaxed, and room be made for an artistic arrangement of 

 specimen plants and climbers, which would bring up the beauty of the glass 

 show-houses to a nearer approximation with the high summer beauty to be seen 

 outside. 



These screens, when not in use as mere protectors, might, by such conversion, 

 be made to serve any purpose of permanent unheated houses. Good in them- 

 selves, portable beyond all precedent, and as readily convertible as they are easily 

 portable, strong, elegant, and cheap, I prophesy for them a distinguished future, 

 in which they will largely help to clothe our walls and load our tables with 

 plenty, and fill our glass and dwelling houses with the highest forms of beauty. 



Hardwicke, Bury St. Edmund's. D. T. Fish, F.E.H.S. 



