84 ORCHID -grower's manual, 



ence (and that dearly bouglit in some cases) that the above 

 remarks are perfectly con'ect. 



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 years, 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, 

 against Orchids and Orchid houses, on account of the excessive 

 heat and moisture attending them, and which quite precludes 



