THE GERANIUM HOUSE. 121 



plants, for catalogues furnish these in abundance, many 

 of them being descriptive as well : the most suitable 

 house and how to fill it, is the subject which I am writ- 

 ing about. The span-roof is no doubt the best form of 

 house that can be used for the proper culture of Pelar- 

 goniums, the same kind and of the same construction 

 as I recommend for the Carnation. This may be used 

 with equal advantage, except that no troughs for the 

 stand are required, as these flowers must be grown in 

 pots. All good growers recommend the span-roof for 

 Geranium growing ; but if this has one full south roof> 

 the other can get no direct rays from the sun, and the 

 plants on the north stage will be drawn, and later than 

 those on the south side ; so to remedy this evil I re- 

 commend that the house be set north and south, as for 

 the Pink and Carnation house ; then each roof will get 

 a portion of the sunshine. The house may not be quite 

 of so early a kind, but if it is glazed eighteen or twenty 

 inches apart from rafter to rafter, there will be an abun- 

 dance of good light, and indirect rays from the sun 

 sufficient to grow the Geranium early and well ; and, by- 

 the-bye, a house so situated will be much better for a 

 protracted flowering than one facing the south, nor 

 will so much shading of the plants, when they are in 

 flower, be required as when one side is full south. 



The angle of this roof is such as to throw plenty of 

 good light among the plants, which is a most important 

 element for the growing of good dwarf, healthy, and 

 handsome specimens. The old houses in which Pelar- 

 goniums used to be grown (and are now sometimes) 

 are just the sort to produce the drawn-up plants which 

 we see from such constructions plants with stems a 

 foot or eighteen inches high to the flower, and in, per- 



