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JOUBNAL OF HORTICDLTDEE AKD COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 



[ April 6, 1871. 



to guard againBt the one by using more fire heat, and happily 

 where that is most wanted there the necessary material is 

 generally to be found in the greatest abundance, but much fire 

 heat brings with it the necestity for much moisture, otherwise 

 numerous evils follow in its suit, and in any case, and especially 

 in the latter ease, ventilation must be insured. The object of 

 that ventilation may be simply to afford a supply of fresh air, 

 without which plants, lite animals, cannot live, or it may be 

 to dry up damp, or lastly, it may be to lower the temperature ; 

 but whatever be the object, there can be no question that the 

 admission of large bodies of air is extremely injarious to plants 

 growing in an atmosphere heated to a great degree above that 

 of the external air, as in hothouses in winter. Accordingly 

 great care has to be taken in ventilating at that season to 

 avoid exposing the plants to sudden chiBs and draughts, 

 much watchfulness of the weather has to be exercised to seize 

 favourable moments for admitting air, and many devices are 

 adopted to prevent that air striking directly on the inmates of 

 heated structures. It is sifted through netting or wirework, 

 and made to pass over the hot-water pipes or other heating 

 surfaces, and it has evi;n been carried by air drains through 

 heated borders, before being allowed to come in contact with 

 the foliage. By such means, with care and judgment, excellent 

 results have been obtained, but still an efBcient mode of winter 

 ventilation, one which would render the cultivator tolerably i 

 independent of the state of the weather, has long been a de- | 

 sideratum, and this ilr. Ormson, of Chelsea, claims to have 

 achieved. Last July he exhibited at Oxford a model of his • 

 system, which was noticed at the time in the pages of this 

 Journal, and which was highly approved of by those who saw j 

 it. It was, however, only a model, though snflicient to show 

 the principle, but now he has erected at his works at Stanley 

 Bridge a house of which the following is a brief description. 



The dimensions are not a matter of consequence, as they, of , 

 coarse, may be varied according to circumstances ; however, 

 the length of the lean-to is 28 feet 2 inches, the width 16 feet 

 9 inches. The rafters, 4 feet apart, are hollow, to carry off the 

 heated air to ventilators in the back wall, the amount permitted 

 to escape being regulated at will. The hollow in the rafters is 

 concealed by an iron grating of an ornamental character, through 

 the perforations in which the heated air passes. The whole is 

 glazed with large squares of very strong glass, that which Mr. 

 Ormson employs for such houses being 32-oz. The pqnares in | 

 front are 2 feet wide by 19 inches long, those in the roof about 

 1 foot 10 inches by I'foot 9 inches, and they overlap about a 

 quarter of an inch ; grooves in the rafters and sash-bars carry ■ 

 down the condensed moisture to a gutter in front which is en- , 

 tirely concealed ; and in glazing the whole of the putty is 

 under the woodwork, and, therefore, not exposed to the action 

 of the weather. The house is very light, from the large squares 

 and small amoimt of woodwork employed, at the same time its 

 appearance is elegant, and it is evidently very strong. The j 

 great features, however, are the means of heating and venti- 

 lation. Summer ventilation is secured by the front sashes 

 opening outwards simultaneously by a rod and lever arm, and j 

 similarly those at the apes of the roof are lifted up by a lever I 

 with a balance weight, which is so adjusted that the touch 

 of the finger will open the whole of them to any extent. ! 

 This balance weight is intended to be concealed beneath the 

 floor. 



It is, however, the method by which ventilation is secured in 

 winter that constitutes the important difference between this 

 house and all others. The heating medium in front consists 

 of hollow cylinders 3 feet long, with an outside diameter of 

 1 foot, and an inside diameter of 6 inches ; the hot water cir- 

 culates in the interval, the heating surface being more than 

 equal to that of four 4-inch pipes. The circulation is main- 

 tained by 3-inch pipes connecting the cylinders with each other. 

 We now come to the mode of admitting air in winter, which, 

 after^ the foregoing explanations, will be easily understood. 

 Passing from the centre of each cylinder is an airway to the 

 outside, into which the external air can pass on a sliding ven- 

 tilator, similar to those used in railway carriages, being pushed 

 back. The cold air has therefore to pass through the centre of 

 the heated cylinder and up among the four connecting pipes 

 before entering the house, and can be heated to such an extent 

 that fresh air may be admitted without perceptibly lowering 

 the temperature. Moreover, it is not admitted in a direct 

 current, but is forced to take a course at right angles to that by 

 which it enters the cylinders, again to pass out of these at 

 right angles, and then, being in the centre of the intervals 

 between the rafters, must turn laterally right and left before 



passing up the hollow of the rafters to the ventilators in the 

 back wall, which are opened and closed together by a rod. 



In addition to the heated cylinders in front, ordinary piping 

 is used to obtain the requisite temperature, the quantity of 

 such piping employed at any time being regulated by valves ; 

 and to afford the requisite amount of moisture, evaporation 

 troughs are provided, both on the cylinders and ordinary piping. 



AD^^CE TO YOUXG VIOLET-GROWERS. 



Will yon tell me and my sisters how to grow Violets ? We 

 have had for more than two months lots of Crocuses, Hya- 

 cinths, Tulips. Cinerarias, Primulas, and other early-spring 

 flowers in-doors, and our spring flower garden is already be- 

 ginning to look bright with Hepaticas, Primroses, Crocuses, 

 Scillas, and other beauties — but we have no Violets. This 

 seems a mistake. A friend of ours brought us the other day a 

 nice bunch of Czar Violets, plucked from the open grotmd, 

 and they filled our sitting-room with such a delightful per- 

 fume, that since then we have determined to try to grow them. 

 Last autumn we bought a few plants of Eussian Violets, put 

 them in pots, and placed them in a pit where we keep our 

 Geraniums in winter, but they have all died. We did not 

 mean them to die, but they did. Can we grow them from seed 

 in the same way as we grow mixed Pansies for our flower gar- 

 den ? We believe our " old Gooseberries," which we hope to 

 preserve for a long time to come, will tell us in their usual 

 good-natured way the best way to proceed. — Saeah Asn, Clahs.^ 

 AXD Ain Alice, Geranium Cottage, Beulali. 



lOh ! for a peep in and about Geranium Cottage in the 

 delightful region of Beulah ! We daresay our good friends 

 may wonder, but it is no less a fact, that for something like a 

 month past, though rejoicing in, we have been heartily and 

 actually weary of Violets. We love them dearly in moderation 

 — delight to inhale their odour as we pass by solitary plants or 

 even borders of them ; but it is anything but a pleasure when 

 vases and vessels of various forms are to be fiUed with them 

 in a confined place, to be scattered afterwards in large rooms. 

 Even there our opinion is that it is very easy to have too much 

 of even a sweet perfume. We have a strong belief that sweet- 

 scented flowers in rooms, or, indeed, flowers of any kind, that 

 are not growing in a healthy manner, are injarious. The 

 whole system of embellishment by flowers in rooms needs 

 thorough examination. What more common on festive occa- 

 sions than to find rooms unduly crowded with plants and ever- 

 green wrecths, as if the crowds of reasoning beings did not 

 enough pollute the air which for the time they were forced 

 to breathe. We have been obliged to go into the open air 

 when dressing epergnes with lots of Violets. A few will ever 

 be agreeable, and do no injury — masses of them in a confined 

 space are very trying to many people. We have no doubt our 

 readers will know well how to enjoy the rich scent without being 

 injured by too much of it in a limited space. 



There is a great diversity in different individuals as respects 

 scent. We have known some who declared that their highest 

 idea of luxury would be to lie among a mass of full-blossomed 

 Hyacinths. We never could manage to regulate a good-sized 

 bed in full bloom without experiencing a headache. 



One word here as to Violets, and especially to those who 

 love their rich perfame without its being at all overpowering. 

 Keep the flowers dry, and let them dry in a shady place. The 

 flowers will become like mummies, and still the scent will re- 

 main. We have known clothes mildly scented for from six to 

 twelve months by a few dried Violets. When gathered Violets 

 are placed in water, they will retain their apparent freshness 

 long after the scent is gone. They will actually have a scent 

 the other way, even when they look seemingly fresh. As stated 

 above, fresh blooms dried will retain their sweet scent for 

 months. 



We mention this because the best plan for having a moderate 

 scent of Violets in rooms is to have a few blooming plants in 

 a window, where they can enjoy the sunlight. Cat flowers, 

 and even sweet-scented plants, set in shady places — entrance 

 halls, staircases, i-c, are so many sources of unpleasantness 

 and disease to the human residents. We feel for plants in 

 such positions, much as we should for a man deprived of light 

 and pure air. A small posy of Violets will be very pleasing 

 where a greater number would be nauseating and depressing. 



But to our task. We cannot tell how the young ladies failed 

 with the Eussian Violet, except it be that they killed it from 

 over-kindness. It requires a certain amount of intelligence 



I 



