18 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



jilease give me directions to make a 

 good, useful house for above-named pur- 

 poses on the best and cheapest principle. 

 The size I am not particular about, but 

 wish to build it on the cheapest plan 

 consistent with a good and really useful 

 house. The house might have a division 

 about the centre, and so keep one part 

 warmer, say the end intended for propa- 

 gating. By keeping the centre door 

 open during frost the whole house could 

 be kept free from it, and the cooler part 

 would also do to harden off bedders, etc. 

 with the assistance of a two-light cold 

 frame. I fancy the glass would he best 

 if put on rib rafters, if I may so call 

 them, instead of frames, and ventilation 

 could be given at ends of the ridge, or, 

 if a lean-to, on the top of back wall. I 

 may here say the house is my own, the 

 ground about one-third of an acre, with 

 probability of one-fourth more being 

 added ere long. 



8 ft. high: 



East wall 30 ft. Long. Ls 



Fist Tree. 



.30 ft. 



Walk. 

 [With the space you have at your 

 command it will be easy to construct 

 such a building as will fulfil all 

 your wishes. Cover the space with a 

 double-span roof, and, as we judge 

 from your plan that the corner you 

 propose to build upon is contiguous 

 to your dwelling, let the division be 

 placed longitudinally exactly where the 

 two spans meet; let the division most 

 easily accessible from your house be so 

 arranged that your orchard trees and 

 cool greenhouse plants may be grown 

 in it; and for purposes of propagation 

 and general uses, let the other division 

 be furnished with a hot-water tank after 

 the model laid down in previous numbers 

 of Floral Would, with shelves for pots 

 in every available space. To ensure 

 perfect safety from frost carry a four- 

 inch flow-and-roturn pipe along the front 

 of the green-house division. And to se- 

 cure immunity from excessive moisture 

 in the winter and early spring months 

 in the other division, and warmth enough 

 at all times, let the same four-inch flow- 

 and-retum be carried round the front. 



Use Stephenson's copper boiler, or next 

 best one of Jones's cylinders; glaze the 

 ribs, and ventilate at top.] 



Gladioli not Dying Down. — This season 

 has been so mild that my autumn 

 gladioli will not die down, and the sum- 

 mer ones are all shooting up again. 

 We do not generally take them up, as 

 they are never injured by the frost. 

 What should I do with themt—A.B.S, 

 [It is a very common occurrence for 

 gladioli to keep green the greater part 

 of the winter. We have sometimes 

 forced them into a state of rest by taking 

 them up with as much earth as possiole 

 about their roots, and laying them in a 

 dry shed till they withered through 

 drought. Then the bulbs were cleaned 

 and stored away. Lately we have had 

 doubts if this was so good a plan as 

 leaving them alone, and we really think 

 you will have just as good a bloom next 

 year if you let them remain where they 

 are. Your fern is Polystichum aculeatum. 



Various. — Zeno. — Several correspondents 

 have lately asked for the native places 

 of various ferns, but we do not see how 

 to spare space for such information at 

 present, having so many demands upon 

 us in reference to their cultivation ; but 

 as we shall shortly deal with ferns in a 

 more systematic manner than hitherto, 

 perhaps we may be able to give the 

 native places of at least all the favourite 

 species. — J. Symon. — 1. Pteris aqui- 

 lina; 2. Lastrea f. m. ; 3. Lastrea mar- 

 ginalis; 4. Lastrea spinulosa; 5. Athy- 

 riutn f. f.; 6. Lastrea recurva; 7. Las- 

 trea Goldiana. "Moore's Handbook of 

 Ferns," published at 5s., by Messrs. 

 Groombridge and Sons, is profusely and 

 accurately illustrated — it is worth its 

 weight in gold. — Old Subscriber. — Your 

 request for a list of ferns has been com- 

 plied with in another page. The mosses 

 demand a little more thought. — Gar- 

 dener. — In the " Garden Oracle," of 

 1863, you will find all the instruction 

 necessary for growing Amaryllis. The 

 variety Josephine requires the same 

 treatment as the other hybrids there 

 described. — A. A.M. — We must refer you 

 to the list of ferns in another page for 

 the present, but we will keep your note 

 in sight for a time, and perhaps give 

 some other lists. Mrs. Hibberd says the 

 cocoa-nut refuse is the best material she 

 ever had for growing ferns in glass cases. 

 If you cannot get that, provide yourself 

 with good turfy peat. — T. W. — We begin 

 to think it may be done, but on such a 

 matter we must think twice before we 

 speak once. 



