GREENHOUSE. 



147 



GREENHOUSE. 



propagating shelf (a) for cuttings, 

 as they must be near the glass. It 

 is not usual in greenhouses of this 

 shape to have any path behind the 

 pots ; but, in this, a concealed path 

 is left at h, which may be hidden by 

 Thunhergia aldfa, or some other 

 climbing plant, so as to enable the 

 gardener to reach easily to water 

 the plants on the shelf (a). The 

 stage may be composed of flag stones 

 supported by brick piers (c) . There 

 is a front shelf for bushy ornamental 

 plants at! ,- and the hot-water 

 pipes are shown at /. It is evident 

 in this greenhouse that smoke flues 

 may be easily substituted for hot- 

 water pipes, if they should be pre- 

 ferred. Portable greenhouses, of 

 hotbeds, have lately been invented 

 by the French nurserymen, for the 

 purpose of striking cuttings in very 

 small pots, a rage for little plants 

 of this kind having lately existed in 

 Paris ; and having apparently 

 reached England, fi'om the great 

 number of plants in very small pots 

 which are now seen in the shop 

 mndows in London. The French 

 portable greenhouses are of various 

 forms and materials, but one of the 

 best is shown in Jig. 30, which was 

 figured in the Bon Jardinier for 

 1844, and is a box made of wood, 

 about two feet across, or any other 

 convenient size, which may have 

 handles fixed for moving it at A, 

 and which is covered with a com- 

 mon hand-glass, fixed on a board, 

 which covers the top of the box, 

 and in which are numerous holes 

 made for smaU flower -pots. Just 

 below this board is a zinc or tin 

 basin (b), which is filled with sand 

 or sawdust, or even moss, in which 

 the pots are plunged. Below this 

 is an open tin or zinc trough (c), 

 which is fiUed ^ftith water through 

 the funnel (d). A lamp is shown 

 at E, which is kept in its proper 



place by a little tin ledge ; and 

 which slides in and out by a door 

 in the side, which is fastened when 

 the lamp is in its place. There are 

 some holes at f, to supply air, to 

 support combustion ; and two slant- 

 ing pieces of zinc at g, to reflect the 

 heat. Fig. 31 is a circular portable 

 greenhouse, which was figured in 

 the Gai'dener's Chronicle for Dec, 

 1843. It consists of three pieces of 

 earthenware ; viz., the foot (a), on 

 which stands the basin (6), which 

 is surmounted by the plate (c). In 

 the foot (a), is i:)laced a tin or 

 earthenware lamp (d). Three or 

 four inches above the wick is placed 

 a short iron cistern (e), supported 

 by three feet, which rest on the 

 bottom of the basin (6) ; it is three 

 inches deep, seven inches in diameter, 

 and is fed by a pipe and funnel (/), 

 into which water is poured until it 

 can be seen at the bottom of the 

 funnel, which shows that the cistern 

 is full. The plate (c) is formed of 

 common red earthenware, and con- 

 sists of two circular trenches, (g g 

 and hh,) four inches broad, and as 

 much deep. These trenches are 

 filled with sand, and in the trench 

 g, are placed in two rows, eighty- 

 six very small pots. In the trench 

 h, are forty more pots ; so that in 

 the tvv^o, nearly 130 cuttings may 

 be struck at one time. In the foot 

 (a) is a door fastened by a button, 

 to admit taking out the lamp, and 

 replacing it when needful. The 

 lamp is supplied with the air 

 necessary for combustion, by eight 

 holes bored at i, by eight still 

 smaller ones at l; and by eight or 

 ten in the plate at I. There is a 

 metal plate pierced with holes at m, 

 through which the greater part of 

 the heat rises ; so that the troughs 

 h h, are much hotter than the 

 troughs g g, which are warmed 

 principally by the hollow spaces at 

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