24 THE GREEN-HOUSE AND CONSERVATORY, 



Could it be afforded at a reasonable price, it would be 

 better to have the rafters of iron, as has been done in some 

 cases. 



The interior of the house may be arranged in two ways, 

 if a staging is required ; the first, and, to our mind, the 

 preferable arrangement, is, to build side shelves, as above 

 described, and to run a long, flat table through the middle 

 of the house, on which to place the plants, in pots. In a 

 stove, this table is made a box, about a foot deep, which 

 is filled with moss, into which the plants are plunged, to 

 the rims of the pots ; the hot water pipes are carried under, 

 or through, this box, the moss is kept constantly damp, 

 and thus a moist bottom heat is obtained, most congenial 

 to the growth of the plants. 



The second mode is by a stage of ascending shelves, 

 conforming to the roof of the house, a flat platform on top, 

 for larger plants, the shelves again descending on the other 

 side. By this mode, a great number of plants may be 

 accommodated in a small house. The former mode is to be 

 adopted where beautiful plants are desired ; the latter, 

 where quantity is the object, rather than quality. 



In a lean-to house, unless it is very wide, the latter is 

 the only method to be adopted ; and if care is used not to 



