72 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTCRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July as, 1865. 



MINIATUKE ORCHARD-HOUSE. 



With this yi>u will receive the framework necessary in the 

 erection of ii miniature orchard-house, sufficiently large to give 

 you a general idea of the principle of construction. 



The framework consists of four straight galvanised-iron rods 

 3 feet in length, and ten of slighter thickness licut at a right 

 angle, about 2 feet from one end. 



I shall suppose you are about to erect a house of which the 

 slope of the roof from gioimd to apex shall be 24 inches. To 

 do this, I shall presiune you have at hand six sheets of glass 

 24 inches long by as great a breadth as you have a choice of, not 

 exceeding 30 inches, and of a weight per squiue foot of not less 

 than 21 ounces. If the sheets are as large as 30 by 24, a 

 weight of 25 ounces will be preferable. The slope of the roof 

 required I shall suppose to be an angle of 45', and the house a 

 span roof, covering therefore a base of about 34 inches (see 

 Jig. 1). If the erection is to be a very lengthy one you are not 



Fig. 1. 



a, a, Glass, 24 inche? ; b. b, 17 inches = total base, &1 mches. 

 c, Perpendicular = 17 inches. 



necessarily confined to a flat surface ; some of mine run up and 

 down a sUght fall in the ground, "and would equally suit a hill- 

 side. For the experiment try a flat surface. 



Suppose A B c D [Jig. 2), to be the plot of ground to be covered, 

 the lines a c and e d being each 34 inches, and the dotted line 



but by taking the following variable properties into accoimt 

 you may make your wire suit its pm^posc : — 



1. Thickness aud elasticity of wire. 



2. Angle at which wire is bent. 



3. Depth to which the wire is sunk iu the soil. 



4. Tenacity of the soil. 



5. Angle of the slope of the roof. 



No. 2, the angle of the wire is the most readily convenient 

 if you find your power of pressure either too weak or too 

 strong. 



Your wires fixed on the side c i), you can now proceed to lay 

 your sheets on the other side. I could have done all the fore- 

 going four or five times over whilst I have been telling you 

 how to do it. 



As for the gables, the most elegant are triangles of glass 

 shghtly larger than the opening at the ends, but this is not 

 needful, save that it is also cheaper tlnm most other plans. I 

 shall suppose that in yom- experiment yo>i use a square sheet, 

 as in fill. 3. 



The odd comers can be trimmed off with the diamond, and the 

 pieces a b used as gables for smaller houses for Radishes, 

 Carrots, ttc, or for cuttings or seedlings. I have all sizes, 

 from Pea and Potato houses down to Tom Thumb size, with a 

 slope of roof of only 4 inches. 



In fixing the gables use the remainiug two wires, one to each, 

 using the wires as before, but in the case of the gables insert- 

 ing them not quite perpendicularly, or else at the distance of a 

 few inches from the glass. 



At each of the points o, H, K, L, 

 (rij. 2), push one of the straight 

 iron rods perpendicularly into 

 the gi-ound about half its 

 length. Take now one of your- 

 sheets of glass, aud standing in 



Fig. 4. 



a. Glass. '24 iuchcs. 



b. Grouud, 17 incbes. 

 f , Iron rod. 



to represent an imaginary line drawn from end to end equidis- 

 tant from the sides. 4 inches or so from the Une A c, and 

 5 inches or so from the line e f. fix the point g. 10 inches 

 to the right of g. and at the same distance from e f, fix the 

 point H. I say 16 inches on the supposition that your sheets 

 are 24 by 24. If the second dimension is not 24, then 

 iJter the distance between g and H to the length of 

 yonr sheet less 8 inches. Now, beginning at the other 

 end of your plot, measuring 6 feet or so. fix two other 

 points, K and l, on hke principle to g and h. Fix a 

 wire similarly about opposite n, say at the point N, 

 taking care that before raising the longer half of the 

 vrire, it shall be so inserted as to point tow.irds c. 

 This wire of comse must be raised so as to press upon 

 the central sheet at the overlap. 



A few minutes' practice will tell you more of the fixing of 

 these wires than I can in an hour. The wires I send are un- 

 fortunately too powerful jind therefore needlessly expensive, 



front of the plot put one end at the point c, {lifl. 2.) and the- 

 edge along the line c n, with a hammer or mallet in your right 

 hand gently tapping the tops of the rods g aud u till such time 

 as by resting the sheet against them you get the slope of 45° or 

 any other required angle. (See_rf(7. 4.) Repeat this by laying 



Fig. 5. 

 another sheet against the iron rods at K aud l. Take sow sheet 

 No. 3. and place it so that it shall overlap .sheet 1 and 2 about 

 an inch and be supported by them. (Sfe/i.i;. 5.) 



