1879.] A PLANT-HOUSE. 275 



roof, a considerable width of house is necessary. High side-sashes are 

 objectionable (except for very large specimens), on account of their 

 placing the roof so far from the plants. And I think high-pitched 

 roofs are also objectionable, because in hard weather heat is more apt 

 to be driven from them by the force of the wind than in roofs of a 

 lower pitch. In houses that are too high in proportion to their 

 width, the ventilation in windy weather approaches to something 

 like a draught or blast of cold air, which generally makes the atmo- 

 sphere of the house anything but favourable. 



Most gardeners are ready to admit the desirability of a regular 

 temperature being maintained where they have their choice plants ; 

 and I am sure there are few men who have not had their patience tried 

 in endeavouring to do this in small houses. They are quickly heated 

 by the sun, and as rapidly cooled by frost and cold winds — span- 

 roofed houses, of course, much more so than lean-to. 



Our section represents a house 20 feet wide inside. Opposite the 

 pipes in the side wall are a series of ventilators IS inches by 9 inches, 

 closed by wooden shutters fitted to slide backward and forward on 

 the inside of the wall, so that they can be used in all weathers. A 

 lath or iron rod can be attached to each shutter, and by means of a 

 level the whole can be opened together. The side sashes and those 

 of the lantern may be worked by the usual rod-and-lever so com- 

 monly adopted. A heavy roof like this would require some support, 

 and that might be supplied by iron pillars similar to that represented 

 in our fig. at convenient distances along the centre of the house. 

 The side stages I have represented rather lower than we generally see 

 them. To see a plant to advantage, place it on a low stage, or on the 

 ground. It is quite a mistake, I think, to have plant-stages 2 feet G 

 inches or 3 feet high. If the above stages were made 2 feet G inches 

 high, the pots would be upon a level with the top of the wall-plate, 

 and so will be continually subjected to the draught from the side 

 lights when these are used, and will therefore be continually getting 

 dry, not so much through what the plant absorbs as through the 

 drying effect of the air (and in many cases through the direct action 

 of the sun) on the pots. If the stage is a foot below the level of the 

 wall, the air will circulate amongst the plants without having that 

 objectionable tendency to dry the soil in which they are growing. 

 To avoid the dry heat from the pipes, the side benches should be 

 covered with an inch of fine gravel or rough sand. Under the centre 

 stage is a convenient place for a tank for rain-water. The pipes 

 shown in plan will be sufficient for a stove. 



E. Inglis. 



