2 Account of Mr. S. Sweetser^s Green-house. 



many errors have been committed, especially when the erec- 

 tion of such has been entrusted to persons who have no more 

 knowledge of building, than what is necessary for all the 

 common purposes of joinery. Thus, it can easily be con- 

 ceived why green-houses are so seldom suited to the wants 

 and convenience of the owner ; for it may almost be said to 

 be impossible for an individual who has no information re- 

 specting the habits of plants, their want of light, heat, air, 

 &c., to erect a house which shall combine all the advan- 

 tages of one properly planned and finally constructed, with 

 a single eye to the health of the plants, the economical em- 

 ployment of labor, and the use of fuel. The consumption 

 of fuel, in particular, is one of the most important things in 

 the arrangement of houses ; and until it can be procured at 

 a cheaper rate than at present, it should be the first consid- 

 eration of the bulkier to study its economical use. The labor 

 of keeping up the heat in houses is another subject of con- 

 sequence, both as respects economy and health ; no person 

 who keeps agardener, would wish him to employ all his time in 

 looking after the fires, when it should be spent in attending 

 to the plants and to the appearance of the house ; nor would 

 he wish to endanger his health, by keeping him up half, and 

 in some instances, the whofe of a cold night, watching the 

 furnaces and supplying fuel. To those individuals who pos- 

 sess green-houses for the sole pleasure of having them un- 

 der their own management, this would at once be a strong 

 inducement to forego the delight and gratification to be thus 

 derived ; and it is, and always should be, the first thing to 

 guard against any such errors in building, as will obviate all 

 these difficulties. 



The numerous structures, lately erected in this vicinity, 

 for the cultivation of flowers and fruits, collected from all 

 quarters of the globe, from climates both temperate and 

 tropical, has tended much to improve the beauty and con- 

 venience of such buildings. Indeed, the splendid specimens 

 at one or two places, are, we venture to say, equal to any 

 thing of the kind constructed by the celebrated garden ar- 

 chitects of our transatlantic neighbors. But these were not 

 done without much deliberation, and without consulting all 

 the works which would throw any information upon the sub- 

 ject ; all the most approved published plans were overlooked, 

 and those parts selected out and formed into a whole as a 

 model for one, which should have all their advantages, and 

 still contend against the rigors and severity of our northern 

 clime, unknown in that of England. English authors have 

 often misled our horticulturists ; we often adopt their ex- 

 amples without reflecting that the temperature of our win- 

 ters and those of England are entirely different ; or at least, 



