STOVK PLANTS. 



Gveenhuuse and Stuve Flcmtt 



structed so as to afford an abundance of 

 liglit, and so placed as to be in no way 

 under the influence of buildings, trees, or 

 walls that will either obstruct or absorlj it. 

 This is a matter of vital importance, 

 which cannot be too forciltly impressed 

 upon all who essay the cultivation of these 

 plants. With this view, the stove should 

 always, where practicable, be span-roofed. 

 In a lean-to, hip-roofed, or even, half-span, 

 the back wall always absorbs so much 

 light as to seriously interfere with the 

 short-jointed, robust growth essential to 

 success. The dimensions of the stove Avill 

 of course be determined by individual 

 requirements. A very useful size for the 

 class of plants under notice is 18 feet in 

 width, by 45 or 50 feet in length ; if 

 narrower than this, it does not admit of 

 the best and most economical arrangement, 

 and if wider it necessitates the elevation 

 being greater than consistent with an easy 

 maintenance of the required temperature 

 in severe weather. The depth of brick- 

 work of the sides and ends should be 

 similar to that ad\dsed for greenhouses, 

 but there should be movable shutters for 

 the admission of air in the side-walls. The 

 upright side-lights ought to be fixed, as 

 the opening of them entails the admission 

 of air in direct contact with the plants, than 

 which nothing can be more objectionable 

 or more calculated to check the young 

 tender growth. There should be provision 

 for sufficient roof ventilation, opening in 

 the same way as the greenhouse. In the 

 matter of internal arrangement the side 

 stages should be similar in width, material 

 and construction, the paths the same ; but 

 in place of a centre stage there should be 

 a brick-lniilt pit, 3 feet in dei)th, to be 

 kept filled with tan. In a house of the 

 above width and elevation, for the hottest 

 section of plants, there should be five 

 rows, three flows and two returns, of 4 

 inch pipes running round the house under 

 the side stages ; these will not be too many. 

 We do not advise any piping under the 

 tan-bed, being convinced that there is 

 nothing gained by it. For the cooler 

 stove, or intermediate house, three rows 

 similarly placed will be enough. If the 

 side stages are made of open bars of wood- 

 Work, the excessive heat arising from the 

 close proximity to the pipes will affect 

 the plants. The distance these stages are 

 from the glass ada])ts them as stands 

 for not only the smallest plants, but for 

 moderate-sized specimens. The lai^gest- 

 growing subjects will, of course, occupy 

 the centre of the house in such an arrange- 

 ment as that under consideration. In 

 some cases, to make the most of the space. 



a shelf may be hung from the roof over 

 each path ; but with these there is this 

 inseparable disadvantage, that the light is 

 intercepted from the other plants to a 

 serious extent ; consequently this counter- 

 balances the gain, and the shelves are 

 better absent. Of course, such an arrange- 

 ment as this implies that the whole of the 

 plants are grown in pots or tubs. 



At the present day the planting out of 

 stove plants in preference to pot culture is 

 sometimes advised. This may do where a 

 considerable portion of a house is devoted 

 to the cultivation of some particular 

 sjaecies or variety, as with those who grow 

 certain things in quantity for market ; but, 

 even where such is the case, it does away 

 with the possibility of removing any 

 portion for retarding or accelerating the 

 blooming as may be found desirable. The 

 system has also another and serious disad- 

 vantage, that it prevents the plants being 

 mo\'ed, to be dipped or washed by syring- 

 ing, for the destruction of insects. Neither 

 is there anything gained by planting out 

 in this way, as the plants, if well-managed, 

 can be grown quite as well and as quickly 

 in pots. In a house of large dimensions 

 planting out may be resorted to with good 

 effect, so far as appearance goes ; but the 

 inevitable consequences are that a few of 

 the strongest growers overhang and seri- 

 ously injure the others, and when any 

 l^lant is out-growing its neighbours there is 

 no means of remedying the evil without 

 taking up and replanting, which in many 

 cases, when the specimens have become 

 large, means nothing less than their de- 

 sti'uction. The i>osition which the gardeners 

 of this kingdom hold, so far in advance of 

 th(jse of any other country in the cultivation 

 of plants, is due to the great sujieriority 

 they have attained in the individual culture 

 of each and all of the immense number of 

 species and varieties that they grow, and 

 not to the appearance produced by a 

 crowded arrangement for mere effect, 

 whereby the health and general character 

 of nine-tenths of the things grown are 

 comj^letely destroyed. In large structures 

 an arrangement equal in appearance to 

 planting out may easily be effected by 

 growing the plants in pots or tubs, and 

 plunging them in a bed prepared for the 

 purpose. In this vvay they have the look 

 of being planted out, with none of the 

 objectionable consequences following from 

 that system ; there is also the great 

 advantage attached to the plunging, that 

 the whole arrangement of the house can at 

 any time be altered by a different distri- 

 bution of the occupants, and thus the 

 monotony of one position is done away with. 



