PLANT-HOUSES. 493 



the tropical aquatics are generally grown either in the orchid eons house, or 

 the common stove. As, however, some very interesting plants belong to this 

 class, and as they should be near the glass, so as to have a strong light, which 

 they cannot possibly have in an orchideous house, it is best, if practicable, to 

 have a house set apart for them. Houses for aquatic plants are generally built, 

 with a large cistern in the middle, and a walk round, as in the aquai'ium at 

 Kew. A low, span-roofed house, is considered the best; audit should be 

 about 8 ft. high in the centre. The cisterns may be of either slate or stone, 

 and they should be furnished with a waste-pipe at one end, and a supply pipe 

 at the other, as a regular supply of fresh water is essential to the health of 

 the plants. The house should be heated with two sets of hot water pipes, the 

 upper one being a little above the water in the cisterns. When there are two 

 cisterns, only one need be heated by having a pipe pass through it. 



546. The orchideous house maybe of any given length, and 12 ft. 6 in. 

 wide. There need not be more than one walk, which may be composed of 

 pieces of wood, nailed to sleepers, and be 3 ft. 6 in. wide. The house may be 

 heated by flues, enclosed in hot air chambers, which should rise 2 ft. 6 in. 

 above the level of the floor ; and it should contain three leaden cisterns, one 

 at each end 3 ft. square, and one in the centre 8 ft. long, by 3 ft. wide, the 

 latter being filled with aquatic plants. The height of the back wall may be 

 11 ft. 6 in., and that of the front wall 2 ft. 6 in. On the top of the front 

 wall may be an elevation of glass, 2 ft. 6 in. high, making the front 5 ft. high 

 in all. In the front of the house, in the open air, may be a small pit for half 

 hardy species. 



547. Plant houses and forchig houses coviprised in one range. — Figs. 377. and 

 378. are intended to represent a range of plant houses and pits, to be erected 

 in a square of 100 ft., and to include all the houses necessary for the supply 

 of a villa, arranged in such a manner as to render them ornamental, and easy 

 of access. In Jig. 377., a a, are the entrances; hh, the boilers; d d, the 

 vineries ; e e, pine stoves, with cucumbers in boxes, on a trellis over the 

 path ; /, orchideous house ; g g, peach houses ; h, green-house ; i, plant 

 stove ; /, early strawberry, and late melon-house ; m, early melon-house ; n 

 and 0, nursing pine stoves ; p, miscellaneous pits ; q, passage containing the 

 lining for heating the pits ; s s, paved passages for inspecting the different 

 houses ; u, potting shed ; x, tool shed ; y, fruit-room ; and z z, bedroom and 

 kitchen for the foreman, or assistant gardener, who attends to the houses. 

 Fig. 378. is an isometrical view of the whole group. The plan of having so 

 many houses together is a very economical one, and much less heat is 

 required than if the houses stood separately ; as the warm, dry walls of one 

 apartment materially assist to warm and dry the walls of another : and it is 

 obvious that the destination of these houses may be changed at pleasure, and 

 that where pines or peaches are not grown, the houses intended for them may 

 be used for ornamental plants or vines. Peaches, requiring a comparatively 

 low temperature, much light, and a free circulation of air, and therefore the 

 house set apart for them would be very suitable for growing pelargoniums or 

 heaths, if peaches are not grown. The nursing pine-pits would be very 

 suitable for striking cuttings, or keeping stove plants during the winter ; and 

 in that case they would not need any dung linings. The vineries should have 

 a leaden pipe, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, perforated with holes from 

 the upper side, about half a line in diameter, and one foot apart, conducted 



