368 



JOUBNAL 0!f HORTICOLTURB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ May 7, 1874. 



thns constructed without rafters or framing, it leaves little or 

 no obstruction to the light. 



" The system of ventilation in the roofs and sides is such that 

 ■each light contains its own ventilator ; and this being rendered 

 within the thickness of the sash, ensures economy in packing 

 or transit. The lean-to houses with side lights are constructed 

 so that either all the front or the roof lights may be opened, 

 or each alternate one only. For lean-to houses without front 

 lights the ventUator is placed under the sill, in openings left 

 for that purpose in the brickwork ; the air in the latter case is 

 thus not admitted in a direct current against the plants, but 

 below them and immediately over the hot-water pipes, by 

 which it is slightly tempered on entering the house. The span- 

 roof houses are ventilated at each of the gable ends, also along 

 the full length of ridge, and at each side. 



" In vineries and Peach houses the framework may rest on 

 piers, the space between them being filled-in with an embanked 

 border. This necessitates side lights, but in many instances, 

 when used for other purposes, no brickwork or other founda- 

 tions will be required. 



" Figs. 117 and 1 IS are internal and external views of these 

 lights adapted as Peach and wall covers, no brickwork, but 

 simply the levelling of the ground, being required. The 

 following are the best respective internal widths and heights 

 •of these houses when erected — viz., 



Length of 

 Light. 



Feet. 

 10 

 12 

 14 

 16 



Width of House in 



clear of 

 Wood Sill and Wall. 



Feet. 

 6 



9 

 10 



1 



5 



11 



Height of Back Wall 

 Covered. 



Feet. 

 9 

 11 

 12 

 14 



'^ Fiija. 149, 150, and 151 are views of the lean-to houses 

 ■with side lights 4 feet <i inches high, and for which also no 

 brickwork is requii-ed. They form excellent greenhouses for 

 plants, with a flat stage in front and sloping stage at back. 

 The internal dimensions formed by the different lengths of 

 lights used as lean-to's, when placed at the extreme angles of 

 25° and 40°, are as follows, when erected — viz. , 



" For Melon and Pine pits with sunk pathway, as shown in 

 Jigs. 155 and 156, in the section of which we show the position 

 of the pipes for bottom heat, the angles most in use range 

 from 30° to 35°. The annexed table gives the various internal 

 dimensions of lean-to's : — 



" When used as span-roofs, the width in clear of sills will be 

 a few inches more than double the above. The 8-feet houses 

 are the cheapest and most efficient for sheltering plants and 

 small fruit bushes in winter, and with suitable heating 

 apparatus may be used for Cucumbers and Melons. The 

 10-feet span-roofs form first-class plant houses, feeders to 

 conservatories for the growth of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, &a. 

 It will be observed that these houses are a mere collection of 

 roof and side lights, all being of the same size in width but 



varying in length, and for which glass is kept of uniform sizes 

 largely in stock. They are thns supplied at a moderate cost. 

 Manufacturers glaze them with 21-oz. glass in panes 10 inches 

 wide at about 12 per cent, extra to the prices here given. 



" Figs. 147 and 148 show these lights arranged as wall 

 covers, being thus extensively used near Swansea and other 

 towns where the atmosphere is vitiated by the fumes from 

 smelting works, chemicals, smoke, &c. Their cost per foot 

 run including the two ends and one door at the manufactory, 

 dirided into two classes, first for the woodwork primed, and 

 secondly painted four coats and glazed complete with 15-oz. 

 glass in panes about 15" x 7", and including all gutters, down 

 pipes, locks, hinges — in fact, with all ironmongery complete, 

 tie rods and columns are as follows, the cost varying consider- 

 ably in proportion to the length, these being taken at 98 feet 

 and 14 inches long respectively : — 



" Fig. 154 is a view of the same kind of house arranged as a 

 span-roof, and the cost classed as before at the manufactoi-y, 

 the lengths being taken at 98 feet and 14 feet respectively are 

 as follows : — 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBUBBAN GARDENING. 



Snails and Slugs. — By the former I mean those with shells, 

 and by the latter those which are not provided with such an 

 accommodation. Both kinds are very rapacious, and commit 

 sad havoc in a little time if their inroads are not watched. 

 Snails do not burrow, and therefore they are more easily caught. 

 Look for them in the winter in the chinks of walls and the 

 hoUows of the roots of old trees. If you have Ivy in your 

 garden you will find that it is their favourite resort for hyber- 

 nating, and there you will seldom look in vain. I once collected 

 half a bushel of snails from a wall which had been covered with 

 Ivy for many years. The fact is these creatures increase very 

 fast in the autumn, when, as it is beyond their power to do much 

 injury, they are allowed to crawl with impunity in the rank vege- 

 tation. The first frosts drive them to their winter quarters, and 

 you will find them in large masses, sometimes looking like con- 

 glomerate or plum-pudding stone. The winter, therefore, should 

 never be allowed to pass without a search being instituted, so 

 that they may be taken in their retreats collectively, by which 

 much loss of time and vexation may be prevented in spring. 



In gardens of moderate size hand-picking is recommended as 

 the surest mode of keeping under both slugs and snails. This 

 may be done in the daytime when the weather is moist. In the 

 kitchen garden you will find the enemy at the stems of Lettuces 

 and Cabbages, and in the flower garden among the Box, or at 

 the edges of the turf which skirts the beds. Practice will tell 

 you where to look, and an experienced eye will allow but a few 

 to escape, provided time enough be given to the work. As slugs 

 burrow in the ground it will be necessary to trap them. This is 

 done by strewing Cabbage leaves on the spots they frequent, or 

 where their ravages are to be feared. Hand-picking and trapping 

 will soon relieve you from the fears which the amateur sometimes 

 experiences when in early spring all his handiworks are threat- 

 ened with destruction. In a small garden they may be, and 

 ought to be, nearly extirpated; and when we see such httle spots 

 covered with slimy traces we conclude that carelessness has 

 secured them an impunity and favoured their propagation. 



It is well known that powdered quickhme is fatal to slugs if 

 it falls on them in very small quantities. If the land is much 

 infested this remedy should be adopted, a still damp evening 

 being chosen for the purpose. But this is an untidy procedure 

 for a flower garden ; lime water is more useable, and may be 

 appUed with success at the stubby stems of Hollyhocks, &c., 

 where the eye cannot conveniently reach. Butlime water often 

 fails if only once used, the dose should therefore be repeated. 

 I have often tried experiments on slugs with lime watsr, and 

 sometimes they will cast o2 the slough and crawl away appa- 



