HOT-HOUSE, 



in manufacturing, or in appropriating the 

 several materials, we certainly may consi- 

 der hot-houses in 1 particular as claiming 

 an exemption from such indiscriminate 

 censure. 



In truth, hot-houses are highly useful ; 

 they not only serve to give a stimulus to 

 common gardeners, of whom many affect 

 to vie in early productions, but they serve 

 as the receptacles for those exotics, which 

 could not be reared, nor even preserved, 

 were it not for the similarity thus artificial- 

 ly produced with their native climates. 

 We have various instances of the naturali- 

 zation of foreign shrubs, &c. which in 

 time became nearly as hardy as our indi- 

 genous plants of the tender class ; but 

 which could never have been propagated, 

 if exposed to the severity of our winter 

 months. 



The site of a hot-house is extremely 

 important, as on this much will depend. 

 A south-south-west aspect is to be pre- 

 ferred, as greatly inducive to economy 

 during the summer time, which, in some 

 seasons, are warm enough to obviate the 

 necessity for many expenses, that in an 

 unsettledyearbecome indispensable; this, 

 in places where fuel is scarce, and conse- 

 quently dear, is a matter of serious consi- 

 deration. 



The best plan for a hot-house we con- 

 sider to be a parallelogram, of whatever 

 length may be thought proper ; the front 

 wall to be about a foot high, so as to rise 

 above the level of the adjacent surface in 

 such manner as may exclude heavy rain, 

 &c. and to bring the plants to such a level 

 as may give them a full exposure to the 

 sun. On the front wall a perpendicular 

 glass frame, of about two feet and a half, 

 should be raised, so that its upper ledge 

 should stand at full three feet and a half 

 above the ground. This is necessary, for 

 the purpose of allowing the sliding frames 

 to be drawn out on occasion, and to give 

 height within for the gardener's opera- 

 tions. The breadth of the interior ought 

 not to exceed fourteen feet, and the back 

 wall should be high enough to give the 

 top or sliding frames an angle of thirty- 

 five degrees from the horizon. The tan- 

 binns should be excavated in a diargonal 

 manner; shallow in front, but at their 

 back to the depth of six feet, and divided 

 off into compartments, so that each por- 

 tion, say six feet square, might be sup- 

 plied, as occasion should demand, with 

 fresh tan, without causing the adjoining 

 parts to be disturbed, or, as is too often 

 the case, to fall in. 



The surface of thetan-binns should par- 

 VOL. VI. 



tially correspond with the ahgle made by 

 the upper glass frames, or at least it 

 should stand at an angle of full twenty 

 degrees from the horizon ; so that the 

 plants should not lay on a flat bed, but 

 rise like a flight of steps towards the back 

 of the tan-binns. By this means, when 

 the excavation, which in this mode need 

 scarcely be a foot in depth, is filled with 

 tan. It will give various degrees of heat, 

 according to the depth, in each part re- 

 spectively, as it may be more or less re- 

 moved from the front of the hot-house. 

 We,ho wever,rather recommend, that only 

 half should consist of hot-bods, and that 

 the front part be built up with benches of 

 masonry, perfectly air tight, through 

 which flues should be made, whereby 

 such pots as might stand en them would 

 receive a degree of warmth sufficient to 

 preserve many of the more hardy exotics. 

 We likewise are disposed to consider slid- 

 ing frames to be fur inferior, both in re* 

 gard to their safety, and as relating to the 

 closeness of shutting, to such as are made 

 to rise on hinges at their upper ends, and 

 which, having projecting battens to throxv 

 off the wet, into the centre of their sup- 

 porting rafters (which should be grooved 

 to receive the we*, and to conduct it? 

 downwards) effectually exclade exterior 

 moisture, and, by being listed within, de* 

 bar the access of frost. We have, in Plate. 

 Vll. Miscel. given some idea of this ar- 

 rangement, wherein fig. 1. shows the in- 

 ternal section of the hot-house, with the 

 binns for receiving the tan ; also the an- 

 gles of the surfaces, both of the tan-binns 

 and of the glass frames ; the latter, being 

 divided into two or more parts, may be 

 opened at pleasure, by means of the racks, 

 to any height. The benches in front are 

 all flued, and rise en escalier, i. e. by regu- 

 lar steps, for the purpose of displaying all 

 the plants standing on them, and to give 

 them a proper portion of the sun's in- * 

 fluence,without which no plant will thrive, 

 or be either so well flavoured, or so high- 

 ly coloured. In fact, warmth without light 

 will produce no good effect on the vege- 

 table world. 



Fig. 2. displays the manner in which the 

 flues are made to meander through the 

 several benches, between which the inter- 

 vals should be filled up, to within two feet 

 of their tops ; thereby to allow the means 

 of shifting, watering, or the whole may be 

 built up as in fig. 3. provided their joint 

 breadths do not exceed three, or three 

 and a half feet ; if more, they would pre- 

 clude the possibility of giving the due at- 

 tention to ench individually. The square 



A a 



