M^IntosKs Practical Gardener^ ' 185 



according to the size and circumstances of the place. In all places the 

 gardener should be allowed a horse or two, for the sole use of the garden. 

 By such regulation, much will be done that otherwise would be left undone ; 

 and no employment can be of so much consequence as the collection of 

 materials for compounds ; and this cannot be done if the means be not 

 allowed him." 



The Forcing-Garden. — " In long-continued ranges of houses, we have 

 found it extremely inconvenient when they are closely connected, and there- 

 fore we prefer the mode exemplified by that eminent architect, W. Atkin- 

 son, Esq., in many first-rate gardens, by leaving a convenient space between 

 each division or range." 



Mr. M'Intosh is an advocate for timber rather than iron in hot-house 

 building, and recommends the larch, when of a proper age, and properly 

 seasoned. But even deal he is " much disposed to believe more durable 

 for hot-house building, than metal of any of the sorts which have hitherto 

 been used." After enumerating all the different arguments against the use 

 of metal, he concludes, " that metallic houses, from a variety of causes, 

 break more glass than wooden ones is evident. The light which supplies 

 that herculean undertaking, the Colosseum, in the Regent's Park, is ad- 

 mitted by too immense skylights of metallic construction : during the few 

 extremely hot days of the summer of 1827, some hundred squares of glass 

 were daily broken by expansion. Of this fact the ingenious and able pro- 

 jector is perfectly sensible, and being convinced, not only of the prevailing 

 fault, but also of the attendant expense and inutility, has used nothing but 

 wood in the erection of a range of conservatories, green-houses, and stoves, 

 upon a scale and plan entirely unprecedented in this country. The public 

 will soon be satisfied that houses can be constructed as elegantly and lightly, 

 and at a much less expense, of wood, than of any metallic matter whatever. 

 There are few of the numerous visitors, who have seen them, that have not 

 supposed them to be iron, until informed of the contrary. 



" In one conservatory, Mr. Hornor has adopted an ingenious plan of 

 combining strength and lightness in the rafters. The roof is of an elliptical 

 form, and the sashes are fixed. The rafters are composed of one bar of 

 wrought-iron, three quarters of an inch thick, and 3 in. broad ; this bar of 

 iron is covered with deal timber, half an inch thick, and secured to the iron 

 bar with neat screw-bolts, so that they have the appearance of being wholly 

 of wood, and their size is consequently only l| in. thick, and 4 in. deep, 

 which has a very light and neat appearance, while it is sufficiently strong to 

 carry the weight of the roof. 



" If strength and lightness be really indispensable for hot-house rafters, this 

 appears to be the principle by which it can be effected, as by being covered 

 with wood, all the conducting powers of heat, cold, or electricity are cor- 

 rected, and the effects of contraction or expansion lessened, so as to be 

 attended with no bad consequence ; and iti s probable that rafters so con- 

 structed will be more durable than metaUic ones, exposed to the action of 

 the weather. However, the expense of such rafters is considerably more 

 than wooden ones of equally proportionable strength. 



" The rafters of the peach-house in the garden of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety are also strengthened, by having bars of iron introduced into them in 

 a similar way, as are the rafters in the conservatory of Mr. Hope, at Deep- 

 den ; both houses are designed by William Atkinson, Esq., and in both of 

 them the rafters are neat, light, and of sufficient strength to support any 

 weight ever likely to be applied to them. 



" Metallic bouses attract electricity, and to guard against this evil, it has 

 been recommended to cover with thick coats of paint. Most painters con- 

 sider that paint put on in thick bodies defeats the purpose for which it is 

 intended, by not adhering so closely to the body on which it is placed, as 

 thinner coats of the same material, and, instead of protecting the body of. 



