76 FERNS IN THEIR HOMES AND OURS. 



periodicals will never do for us. Even the archi- 

 tects and builders among us, who ought to know 

 the conditions of climate which are to try their 

 work, frequently seem to ignore them. The unex- 

 pected expenses of repairs and alterations soon 

 serve as practical instructors. The trouble with 

 a poorly-constructed plant-house generally begins 

 with copings and joints ; and the best rule in build- 

 ing is, to make every thing outside as strong and 

 simple as possible. 



If the house is very high, there should be a 

 gallery or something of the kind within ; for some 

 of the best views of the plants can be only 

 obtained from above. In houses where valuable 

 plants have grown so tall that the glass of the 

 roof endangers their beauty, pits may be dug, 

 rather larger than is sufficient to contain the tubs 

 in which the plants grow. These should be lined 

 with brick. There are several of these pits in the 

 plant-houses of Mr. Such at South Amboy. 



The temperature of the tropical house should 

 average, in summer, about seventy-eight degrees 

 Fahrenheit ; but, during intensely hot weather, it 

 will be impossible to prevent its running much 

 higher. In winter the mercury should be kept at 

 seventy degrees, and never, by any accident, suf- 

 fered to fall to a lower point than sixty degrees. 

 In the temperate house, the thermometer should 

 mark, as nearly as may be, forty-five degrees in 



