Slaidi 5, 167J. 1 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



197 



NOTES FBOM MY GABDEN, 1873.— No. 4. 



MY GKEENHOUSE, AND WHAT I DID WITH IT. 



' IRST let me describe it ; for as I liave studied 

 economy of space and construction, what I 

 have done may be found useful to others 

 similarly situated. It is a span-roofed struc- 

 ture, 20 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 11 high ; 

 the bars of the roof are fixtures, and there is 

 an opening in the middle of it for ventila- 

 tion ; the sides, down to the brickwork, have 

 theii' sashes each to open, and there is also 

 a small sash at each end for the same pur- 

 pose, so that in one great requisite of a greenhouse, 

 ventilation, I am not deficient. For heating I have 

 adopted the simplest plan I could find — the old-fashioned 

 flue, with this exception, that the real flue is only about 

 G feet in length, and the remainder, which is carried 

 right round the house, is of drain-pipes 4j inches in 

 diameter. This I have found suflioiont to exclude frost 

 in the severest weather, and that is all that I want. It 

 answers my purpose admirably. The furnace burns coke, 

 cinders, coal — anything ; and I have always felt that with 

 a hot-water apparatus, however economical it might be, 

 there was a great waste of power for a small house ; 

 moreover, unless it is used continually, there is great 

 danger of its rusting and getting out of order. The inside 

 of the house is arranged with a broad stage on each side, 

 and a walk up the centre ; in both of these I have studied 

 utflity, and I think, also, the appearance of the house 

 is good. The stage stands 4 feet from the ground, and 

 the walk, which is also made of battens, about 1 foot ; 

 underneath this latter I can stow away out of sight 

 either pots or roots, such as Tropjeolums, Nerines, Lache- 

 nahas, &c., which have gone to rest ; whUe under the 

 stage I can place anything that I may wish temporarily 

 to have under cover. Attached to the bouse, but on a 

 lower level, is another, about 12 feet long, a lean-to, in 

 which I have a couple of Black Hamburgh Vines, and 

 which I am enabled to utilise in other ways. I should 

 have said that I have over the walk in the upper house a 

 hanging shelf running the whole length of the house, and 

 two smaller ones at the end, all about 9 inches wide. 



Having thus described the house, let me say something 

 of its inmates. One stage I give up to hardwooded, the 

 other to softwooded plants. It is the month of October, 

 and the house is made snug for the winter. On the hard- 

 wooded side I have about three dozen plants of Camellias, 

 the same of Azaleas of various sizes, and about half a 

 dozen other plants, such as Genetyllis, Acacia, Pimelea, 

 &c. ; on the other side I have about four or five dozen of 

 Show Pelargoniums — thanks to Mr. Charles Turner, these 

 always being the new ones of the last and present season 

 — these are for the present in small pots in order to eco- 

 nomise space ; then there are about a dozen Eoses in 

 pots, three or fom- Tropseolums, a dozen Cyclamens, 

 some Lachenalias, a few Primulas, and some small Zonal 

 Geraniums to give me a few winter blooms for specimen 

 glasses. Then, on the upper shelf, I have in store pots 

 Ko. 675.-VOI.. XXVI., New Seeies. 



the few Zonals that I use for putting out in the garden in 

 the summer ; for, as I have previou.sly said, I do nothing 

 in the bedding-out line, and these are suflicient for my 

 small wants. 



It will thus be seen that my house is tolerably fifll ; it 

 remains thus until early in February. By that time 

 some of the Camellias have bloomed, and are removed into 

 the lower house ; this gives more room to the Azaleas. 

 On the other side Lachenalia pendula is out of bloom, 

 and the Pelargoniums are potted into larger pots, and 

 given more space ; the Pioses are beginning to show their 

 blooms, and the Cyclamens are in full blossom, while a 

 few Hyacinths add both colour and perfume to the house. 

 The month of March sees another change — the Camellias 

 have gone into the lower house, the Lachenalias gone out 

 of bloom, the Pvoses mostly over, and the space is given 

 to Geraniums on the one side, and the Azaleas on the 

 other ; the store pots of Scarlet Geraniums are removed 

 to the lower house, and if I can do so, they are potted-ofif 

 singly, and placed in a cool frame, and the whole length 

 of the upper shelf holds about eighty plants of Strawber- 

 ries ; they can hardly be called forced fruit, but I have, at 

 least three or four weeks before I have any out of doors, 

 some nice dishes of fine and clean fruit. Last season my 

 fruit of Dr. Hogg were grand. 



The last change in the house is when these have fruited, 

 early in June ; then the Camellias and most of the Azaleas 

 have gone into the lower house, where I leave them to 

 grow under the shade of the Vines, the shelf is removed, 

 and the entire space given to the Show Pelargoniums, 

 which by this time have been tied-out, and admirably 

 occupy the place given to them. I do not mean to say 

 that they are symmetrical plants, but they are not leggy, 

 and they give me a copious bloom. As the spring ad- 

 vances I place inside the glass some of Collinge's shading, 

 which I find quite enough, and yet so thin that it does 

 not require to be taken down until the need for it is past. 

 After the Geraniums are over I consider the house free 

 until the autumn again, and I think that it may be fau'ly 

 considered to have done its duty. And this was what I 

 did with my greenhouse in 1873: the lower house is used 

 to hold a number of Chi-ysanthemums in pots, where 

 they bloom freely and well up to the end of December. 

 — D., Deal. 



FEUITING THE FICUS ELASTICA. 



Ficus ELASTICA is a general favourite with all who, like 

 myself, grow a number of plants for decorative purposes. 

 I think many wfll agree with mo in saying that amongst 

 all our valuable plants there is not one more suitable, 

 taking all its merits into consideration, and the extreme 

 low temperature in which it may be grown. As a decora- 

 tive plant, where is there one which will bear the variable 

 degrees of temperatures as this one ? Throughout my 

 twenty years' experience I heard not of its being bloomed 

 and fruited untfl last year. 



In February, 1871, I inserted my cuttings in a common 

 Cucumber-frame without pots. They rooted well, and 

 made a good start in March. Thoy were potted in 60-sized 



No. 1327.— Vol. LL, Old Seeies. 



