56 THE VILLA GARDENER. 



aftbi-ds exercise, in shifting, potting, tying up, pruning, &c., in cold and wet 

 ■weather, and at periods of the year when nothing can be done in the open 

 garden. At the same time that we recommend a green-house, it is proper to 

 state that, where the mistress of the house has not a taste for plants, and is not 

 in the habit of working among them herself; and where this taste does not 

 exist in any part of the family, and no gardener is kept, a green-house is in 

 danger of becoming a nuisance rather than an ornamental appendage. In 

 such a case, where it is determined to produce the effect of a green-house, for 

 the sake of fashion, or the reputation of being fond of plants, or some similar 

 motive, the best mode is to engage with the nearest nurseryman or florist to 

 keep the green-house furnished with plants, at so much per annum or per 

 month. By this means it will always look well ; but as none of the beauty 

 which it presents will be the result of the care and attention of any part of the 

 family, of course the enjoyment derived from it cannot be anything like so 

 great as where the contrary is the case. 



82. In the smallest suhirhan houses the common suhsiitute for a green-house 

 is the window-sill; and the greatest extent to which this kind of gardening 

 can be carried is by having tlie sill made to project 2 ft. or 3 ft. from the wall 

 of the house, and enclosing it \\\i\\ an outside bow window. Into the space 

 between tlie two windows the warm air of the room may be admitted at 

 pleasure ; and if the panes of both windows are large, and kept at all times 

 perfectly clean, the view into this plant-cabinet from the interior of the room 

 will be agreeable, and create an allusion to the green-house of the villa, or the 

 conservatory of the mansion. For houses that have a garret, a sort of green- 

 house may be established there, by forming glass windows in the roof. An 

 enthusiast amateur might indeed have the roof of his house entirely of glass, 

 and train vines or creepers under it, which might be planted in the ground, 

 and their stems brought up against the outside wall, and covered with a wooden 

 case. In such roofs, the panes of glass should not be more than 2 J in. or 3 in. 

 wide, or plate glass should be used, in order to prevent breakage from hail. 

 The most fitting suburban residences for having green-houses are such as ai'o 

 eitlier quite detached, or in pairs ; which last-mentioned houses, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of London, are called double detached liouses. One of the most 

 ordinary modes of connecting a green-house with a small house is by placing 

 it against the gable end ; it being understood that this gable end frwits the 

 south, the south-east, or the south-west: though, even if it fronts the direct 

 west or direct east, such a green-house will answer for many kinds of green- 

 house plants, and for all kinds whatever, with an extra allowance of fire heat 

 during winter. For double cottages or houses, where the gable ends front 

 the south-east and north-west, a green-house may be placed against each ; but 

 where the one gable fronts the south and the other the north, then the one 

 green-house should be placed on the east side of the house, and the other on the 

 west side. In single houses, the green-house may be placed in a great variety 

 of ways, and may be of many forms, as will be seen hereafter, according to the 

 arrangement of the ground plan, and the style of elevation of tlie house. In 

 whatever manner a green-house, or plant-house of any description, is attached 

 to a house, means ought always to be provided for warming, ventilating, and 

 watering the plant-house, altogether independently of the dwelling-house ; for 

 few things are more disagreeable and unwholesome to human beings, as well 

 as injurious to furniture, and the walls of the room, than the close damp 



