CARNATION HOUSES 65 



extends east and west or north and south. Taking the year 

 through, I have found that plants do as well in the one 

 kind of house as in the other. Provision for ample ventila- 

 tion at the top and bottom of both sides of the house is im- 

 perative. For warmth in severe weather, and shade when 

 needed in summer, it is an advantage to have some form of 

 roller-blind shading affixed to the exterior of the roof. The 

 glass should be of the best twenty-one ounce, and I favour 

 panes 24 inches long and 15 inches broad. The wood- 

 work should be as light as possible, where strength is re- 

 quired employing round or T iron in place of heavy wood, 

 thereby reducing these surfaces which unduly shade the 

 plants in winter. Large growers prefer span-roof houses, 

 28 to 30 feet wide and 16 to 18 feet high, of varying 

 lengths, built upon brick walls 3 feet high, and having 2\ 

 to 3 feet continuous side ventilation, and side and central 

 stages or benches. Any modification of this style of house 

 may be adopted. A smaller and very useful house, without 

 a central stage, is one 9 feet high at the ridge and 13 feet 

 wide over the walls, which in this case should be i\ feet 

 high, with the same provision for side ventilation as in the 

 larger house. It is necessary to provide side stages (which 

 may be easily converted into benches, as advised on page 84, 

 if desired), each 50 inches wide, and a pathway 3 feet wide 

 through the centre. For a house this size, four rows of 

 4-inch hot-water piping at each side of the house is ample 

 to maintain the necessary heat ; and, as the pipes will be 

 fixed below the stages or benches, it must be seen they 

 do not come too close to them to cause excessive drying 

 of the roots. 



