Angust 27, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



185 



the putty, having been painted over as soon as the lights were 

 glazed, gives way the second season, the paint having blistered, 

 not being able to fix or unite with the putty iu a groeu or damp 

 state. Then the rains drip in between the putty and the glass 

 in all directions. Now, to guard against this everyday occur- 

 rence is the reason for my dwelling so long on such minute 

 details. To say that this, that, or the other, should or should 

 not be done, without assigning reasons for what you say, is no 

 proof that the party giving such directions is any judge of what 

 he recommends or condemns. 



In making the shelves for the body of the house, the 

 lowest shelf ought to be on a level with the front one, and 

 the others carried up in regular gradations, according to 

 the slope of the roof. If the house is detached from other 

 buildings, both ends should be glazed above the level of the 

 shelves. The door is to be at one end, and the fireplace 

 behind the door, the flue passing under the path within the 

 doorway, and on reaching the front wall, to rise with a gentle 

 slope, and to be carried nearly on a level along the front wall, 

 and within 2 inches of it, and to pass along to the farther 

 end of the house into a chimney in the corner. The size of 

 the flue to be 9 inches wide and li inches deep, made with 

 bricks set on edge, and on no account to be plastered inside or 

 out. The top and bottom of the flue to be made with thick 

 tiles, called " foot-pamments," the bottom ones resting on flat 

 bricks to clear them from the ground ; the fireplace should be 

 18 inches long by 14 inches wide, and 14 inches high, with iron 

 bars for a hearth. The door to be a foot square, and the ash- 

 pit 9 inches deep, and the same length and width as the fire- 

 place above it. The door of the fireplace would be more effective, 

 and less liable to warp with the heat, if it is made a " double " 

 door— that is, by having a plain square piece of half-inch-thick 

 iron riveted to the inside of it, and 2 inches apart from the 

 inside of the door ; this is a simple and very useful contriv- 

 ance, but often neglected. British sheet glass, 10 ozs. to the 

 foot, is the best kind to use ; the width of the panes for the 

 roof sashes should be about 8 or 10 inches, and they should be 

 from 1 to IJ foot long. For the front sashes the glass may be 

 much larger every way. This kind of glass is sold in bo.xes, 

 containing 100 feet of glass each, and sold from '2id. to 'id. 

 per foot. Sashes of the best red deal are generally made by 

 contract at about iid. per square foot; but the price, no doubt, 

 varies in different parts of the country, but this will be suffi- 

 cient to form a guess at what the sashes and glass will cost ; 

 for nothing of t'jis kind ought to be attempted before every 

 item of the espente is first ascertained. If the house is made 

 by contract, let the contractor be responsible for the efficiency 

 of the whole for the first twelve months. 



The cheapest of all modes of heating a small house — say 

 9 feet by 20 feet or 30 feet, remarks the late Mr. Robert 

 Fish, would be an Arnott's brick stove inside the house, or 

 a portable iron stove, which, however, we do not like so well, 

 and a small portable boiler might also be used ; but in the 

 ease of those great numbers who would rather have the fire 

 outside than inside the house, we would recommend such a 

 house as shown in fifl. 53. 



Width 9 feet, height to apex 7 feet, height of side walls 

 3 feet, openings in these side waUs for air 1 foot l)y 18 inches 

 every 1 feet, ledge left out in side walls to receive the ends 

 of flooring for p^ts, the other side being supported by posts 

 at the pathway, and a plank some 4 inches square with a 

 notch in it to receive the other ends of the boards or spars 

 for pit platform. Underneath this platform there will be room 

 for stowing Dahlias, Salvias, Fuchsias, old roots of scarlet 

 Geraniums, Ac. Roof all fixed, rafter sashbar 3 inches by 

 ]J inch, placed so as to receive squares 18 inches wide by 

 12 inches deep, and two squares at top every third row made 

 in a frame, and made to slide or open on pivots. A crossbar 

 every 6 feet across from rafter to rafter, and a shelf in the 

 middle over the pathway if deemed advisable for small plants. 

 The space beneath the platform, and also the sides of the 

 pathway, would hold many things when first potted, before 

 they began to grow, and were thus able to stand the sun on 

 the platform without any shading. 



We have represented this house as being heated by a flue 

 sunk in the middle of the house, but free of the earth all 

 round. If the floor were tiled the same tiles could go over the 

 top of the flue, leaving the open spaces at the sides so as to 

 secure more heat ; or if the floor were earth or gravel, the top 

 of the flue could form the path, or a sparred gangway could go 

 over it. Either of the first two would be the cheapest. A flue 



on the same principle is shown in fig. 54 ; but to save expense 

 the bottom is placed on the ground, and slates or tiles placed 

 diagonally at the sides to prevent the soil coming against it, 

 and thus let the heat ascend from the sides as well as top. This 

 flue may receive a wide-enough cover to form the walk, or may 

 be covered over like the rest of the floor, if tiled. 



Supposing the doorway was at one end, or you had a doorway 

 at each end, so that you could go right through the house, then 

 the stokehole should be sunk a little at the side of the doorway, 

 the flue turned a little until it got to the centre beneath the 

 pathway, and then turn a little at the other end so as to avoid 

 the doorway, if there is one, and go into a small chimney there. 

 Such a flue in a length of 30 feet might rise from end to end 

 some 2 or 3 inches, and to draw well the bottom of the flue 

 ought to be from 15 to 18 inches above the firebars, so that 

 for such a small fireplace as would suit this flue, you would 

 have to sink a stokehole from 3 feet to 3 feet 6 inches below 

 the ground level, and the small hole could be covered with a 

 neat wooden flap. 



But, now, supposing that your soil is so bothered with springs 

 and swamps that you could not expect such a hole to be made 

 without retaining in winter (i or 12 inches of water, then all 

 you have to do is to sink all that less, and take your flue along 

 above the ground level, beneath the flower platform, instead 

 of in the middle of the house. This house we would advise 

 for a warm sheltered spot, and we think that in a short time 

 it will prove cheaper than a pit, as though much more glass 

 will be wanted, the flxed roof will otherwise cost much less 

 than the sliding sashes. 



Fig. 54. 



Fi/f. 54 is a form of house that we would recommend for an 

 exposed place, and where even a little fuel would be a considera- 

 tion ; width the same, back wall 5.V feet, front wall 2| to 3 feet, 

 sashbars the same ; but if the house were 30 feet long we 

 would have two slight pillars in the middle, 10 feet apart, and 

 an iron bar along the roof. The short-hipped roof at back 

 might be glass, one-third of it moveable ; or, if warmth were a 

 great object, it could bo wood, and be painted a light colour 

 inside, and a ventilator placed in it all the length. The front 

 ventilator we would secure by openings in the front wall and 

 slides. If the house were to be tilled with small plants brackets 

 for shelves could be left in the back walls. The same principle 

 would apply to the flues ; and if a little more expense were no 

 object, hot water might be substituted. Such a house with a 

 fixed roof would cost little more than a pit with moveable 

 sashes, and there could be no comparison of the pleasure it 

 would afford, aud that, too, ultimately in the moat economical 

 manner. 



Now for the management of such a house. In summer, 

 unless in boisterous weather, all the ventilators and doors may 

 remain open for months ; in winter the teuderest plants could 

 be placed nearest the furnace. It the house were from 30 to 

 40 feet long it would be better to make two divisions, and place 

 Calceolarias at the farther end, then Petunias, then Verbenas, 

 and so on, keeping fine Pelargoniums, &c., at the warmer end. 

 The admission of air will always regulate the temperature. 

 Firing should not be given iu frost to raise the temperature 

 more than to 38^ to 4.5'; never above the latter. We have 

 made no allowance for moist heat, because from the soil in the 

 pots, and from the floor, sufficient moisture will, in general, be 

 obtained ; but it in continued frosty weather the air should 

 become too dry, that is easily remedied by syringing the plat- 



