74 



MY GARDEN. 



which is presented the moment the threshold is crossed. To obtain 

 these effects they must be designed ; and with me it is difficult to decide 

 which is the more enjoyable, to contrive the picture or to contemplate 

 it when made. 



For the construction of the roof of the fernery, a deal plank was split 

 into three parts, each of which constituted a rafter, and on the edge a por- 

 tion was cut away to receive the glass. The rafters were not even planed, 

 but had before glazing three coats of anti-corrosion paint. I place great 

 importance on this thorough painting before glazing, as it is a material 

 aid to the adhesion of the putty. After glazing, two more coats of 

 paint were used, as it is inconvenient to repaint a house full of plants. 



The Fernery and Poor Man's House are placed near together, and 

 heated with one saddle-boiler, and a third very small house is added 

 for propagating plants. This is warmed by a large iron tank placed 

 by a flow and return pipe in connection with the boiler. By this plan 

 the hot-water system is supplied with a large quantity of water, and 

 thus the gardener has abundance of warm water at hand by which he 

 can water his plants without chilling them. The cistern must be filled 

 up once or twice a week, according to the demands made upon it. 



We have at another part of the garden a second group of houses, 

 one a late vinery divided into two parts. In one portion the glass is 



arranged in two pitches, as though it 

 were one-half the orchard - house 

 placed against a wall (fig. 87). The 

 second half of this vinery has a simple 

 glass roof, like that of the fernery, but 

 this has a south-west aspect instead 

 of a north-west. Ventilation in the 

 two-pitched house is obtained by a 

 FIG. 8 7 . vinery. board in front, and by two moveable 



frames of glass at top. In the flat-roofed house ventilation is obtained 

 by openings in the back wall, about a foot below the glass. In 

 these houses we keep grapes till February. In this group of houses 

 we have a small cucumber-house, with a glass roof supported by 



