AND CONSERVATORY. 5-il 



nerally thnve, there iire certain rules to be observ- 

 ed, and errors to be guarded against, which I shall 

 briefly point out. 



Green-houses with upriglit fronts, and wilii per- 

 pendicular lights only, whether the columns that se- 

 parate them be of wood, or of masonry, are the most 

 objectionable ; as the plants in such are always 

 drawn up weak, and are distorted by continually 

 stretching towards the light. Neither do they en- 

 joy the genial effects of the sim, except in the win- 

 ter months, when his rays, tliough feeble, strike ho- 

 rizontally on the windows, and, for a few hours in 

 the middle of the day perhaps, sliine on the low 

 plants, and those placed most forward. If such 

 houses be very wide, they are the most objection- 

 able on that accoiuit ; as, in that case, the plants 

 placed near to the back of the stage are never vi- 

 sited by the rays of the sun, and enjoy but little 

 light to w^hat they may require. * 



But such green-houses may be, and indeed have 

 been much improved, by taking off their leaden or 

 slated roofs, and by substituting roofs consisting 



* Such, generally, were the primitive green-houses in this 

 country, and such may still be found in almost every country ; 

 many of which look more like tombs, or places of worship, than 

 compartments for the reception and cultivation of plants, which 

 eught always to be light, airy, and cheerful. We sometimes find 

 them so situated too, as that the rays of the sun can hardly ever 

 beam upon the house, much less on the plants contained in it ; 

 being often set to improper aspects, and frequently shaded, or al- 

 most covered up by tiees, or by tall shrubbry. 



