34 orchid-geower's manual. 



strongest advocates of the system have taken off the extra 

 roofs, and reverted to the old plan, having found by expe- 

 rience (and that dearly bought in some cases) that the above 

 remarks are perfectly correct. 



The houses at this place are of the size recommended above, 

 and no Orchid houses could answer better. They have been 

 built several years, and are well worth inspection. They 

 afford plenty of room for the plants to show themselves to 

 advantage, and they have likewise roomy paths, which is a 

 great recommendation ; for nothing is more unpleasant than 

 not being able to inspect the plants with comfort. The inside 

 dimensions of my houses are forty-five feet long, eleven feet 

 high in the centre, and eighteen feet in width ; there is a 

 table six feet wide up the centre, and a path all round three 

 feet wide ; there are side-tables three feet wide, covered with 

 slate. The floor is concreted, three inches thick, and then 

 covered with Portland cement, which forms a capital surface. 

 The whole is heated by hot water, distributed in four rows of 

 four-inch pipes on each side, and having valves to stop or turn 

 on the water as required. On both sides of the Orchid house 

 are upright sashes, as recommended above. It is glazed in 

 the manner recommended in the chapter on glazing, and it 

 has three ventilators on each side in the brickwork, close to 

 the hot-water pipes, and one at the end over the doorway. 

 There are four small top-sashes, two on either side, which 

 open with hinges, and are furnished with ropes inside to draw 

 them up and down, and these I find very desirable to let 

 out the over-heated air. These ventilators have been in 

 use for several 3"ears, and are found very useful; for if cold 

 wind blows from the one side the other can be opened, so 

 that the chilly air does not blow on the plants, which is very 

 injurious. 



Complaints have been frequently raised, especially by ladies, 



