6 THE AMATEUE's GEEENHOcSB 



unseasonable heat in spring, or a sudden accession of intense 

 frost in winter, the plants in a large house will be likely 

 to sutler less than plants of the same kinds in a small house, 

 both receiving equal care and attention. By the term " large 

 house" is not to be understood anything extravagant, but a 

 fair roomy structure, with as low a roof as is consistent with 

 the comfort of the cultivator and the size of the plants to 

 be kept in it. If you employ an architect or builder not 

 practically versed in the construction of plant houses to 

 carry out your wishes, you will probably obtain for an ex- 

 travagant outlay a heavy structure with a lofty roof, in which 

 nothing worth having can be persuaded to grow. Keep the 

 roof down to something like the actual requirements of the 

 plants, for the nearer they are to the glass the better. The 

 lofty roof is one of the most dangerous delusions the beginner 

 in gardening has to guard against when the question arises 

 about the employment of glass. 



It must be repeated that the purpose is the matter of first 

 importance. Heaths, geraniums, and camellias will not submit 

 to the same routine of treatment the whole year round, and at 

 the end of that time present equal indications of health and 

 vigour. The heaths and other "hard-wooded" plants usually 

 associated with them require abundance of light and air, and 

 very little warmth in winter. The camellias are not benefited 

 by such a blaze of light or free current of air as the heaths 

 require. The geraniums require more warmth in winter than 

 either, and all the light they can have, with the ventilation so 

 modified that they sulfer nothing from the keen winds and 

 freezing showers of early spring. Now, the amateur may be 

 inclined to ask if every class of plants is to have a house to 

 itself? the answer is, No. In a well-built span-roofed house 

 vith brick sides, low roof, ample ventilation, and a sufficient 

 service of hot-water pipes, a very miscellaneous assemblage of 

 plants, including some that properly belong to the stove, may 

 be grown by one who has acquired a little experience. But if 

 the amateur has a particular object in view — such, for instance, 

 as to excel in the production of oranges, exotic ferns, the 

 smaller succulents, &c. &c. — then he must provide accommo- 

 dation in accordance with the requirements of his special pets, 

 and the odd things must take their chance with the help of 

 such liitle aids as can always be rendered amid adverse 

 circumstances. 



