November 8, 1877. J 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEF. 



367 



squareB merely batting one against the other. This prevents 

 all neeessity tor sasLbars. I cut a nick in the bottom groove 



Top Venti'ator. 

 Scale 1 inch to the foo f 



Fig. 73.— Spoilt. 



- lOFt-- 



Fig. 72.— Seolion o! Houae. Scale one-quarter inch to the foot. 



in the centre of each pane, to allow rain to drain out of the 



groove. The panes of glass in the 



rafters are pushed np from the bottom, 



and butt one against the other. They 



are fastened at the bottom by a bent 



galvanised iron wire pin, which is 



screwed on the inside of the upper pan 



3 by 3, so that at any time in case of 



fracture the pin can be unscrewed and 



all the glass taken out. The spouts are fixed in the same way 



by strong iron crooks bent over to the top pane and screwed 



on to the inside. 



The water from the roof is carried into a tank made the 

 whole length of one side of the house, by cementing the outer 

 wall, and building an inner wall to carry the staging. The 

 staging over the taDk is of slate, with two rows of hot-water 

 pipes confined in the chamber underneath. Sliding venti- 

 lators, as a a, are put into the inner and outer walls. If both 

 ventilators are closed, the Bpace over the water tank acts as a 

 hot-air chamber, and keeps the slates at a temperature of from 

 90" to 100°. The heat is, however, entirely under control by 

 means of the double ventilators. 



On the opposite side the staging is open woodwork, laths 

 3 inches by 1 inch, half an inch apart, and nailed together in 

 4-feet lengths. Two rows of 4-inch pipes, one flow and one 

 return, are supported by the wooden staging, by wood pieceB 

 from the uprights into the wall. These wood pieces are 4 feet 

 apart, and gradually rising 1 inch at every upright from one 

 end of the house till the pipes reach to the highest point of 

 the flow, under the slate tank, on the other side. 



The house is 25 feet long, and contains a little over 90 feet 

 of pipe; but the flow is so peifect that there is hardly any 

 perceptible difference between the heat of the flow and return 

 pipeB where they enter the house. 



The boiler-hoUBe is at the opposite side of a path 5 feet wide, 

 at the end and as a continuation of a five-light frame, the flue 

 from the boiler heating the frame ; the boiler, a common small 

 saddle-baok, properly set, the fire playing through and all 

 round the boiler. 



The shelves are made of laths 3 inches by 1 inch, screwed 

 on to light flat iron bars, so as to be moveable in sections, and 

 to be taken out when required ; they are supported on wood 

 brackets tenoned into wooden uprights. The water tank is 

 made with a slight fall to the end farthest from the door; and 

 under the etagirig, which returns at the end, a small cistern is 

 made, about 2 feet Equare and 2 feet deep, to dip a can into, 

 the cistern being supplied from the tank by a tap. As there 

 are two rows of hot-water pipes over the water-tank, it helps 

 to keep the rain water during the winter at the temperature of 

 the house. 



Fig. 74.— Side c, 1 inch to the fcot. 

 Outer line glass. 



Fig. 75.— Section of rafter, 3 by 2 inches. 

 A a, Gin SB. 



Ventilation (a) under the wood staging is through openings 

 in the brick walls, with moveable shutters hung on hinges and 

 regulated by a string. The upper ventilator is a fixed pent with 

 moveable shutters hung on pivots, and also regulated by means 

 of Btrings. The ventilation is in all respects very efficient, and 

 there is always a slight current of air passing under the glass, 

 as the glaBS in the rafters does not touch the wall-pan by 

 three-eighths of an inch. This prevents water accumulating 

 on the wall-pan, and any rain which finds its way through the 

 butt joints runs down the inside into the spout, and though 

 there are no laps the house doeB not leak in the wette;t 

 weather. In summer weather the front row of glass can be 

 taken entirely out and Nottingham netting put in its place, or 

 one or two panes can be taken out and the others separatee'. 

 I frequently do this to harden plants previous to bedding- 

 out. 



The house runs east and west, but I should prefer to put it 

 up north and south. I never use any shading, but after the 

 first or second week in April put a slight wash of milk and 

 whiting with a very little paste outside on the south Bide ; this 

 when once dry will resist almost any amount of rain, and 

 breaks the scorching rays of the sun without interfering in any 

 way with the light. I do not claim any particular novelty, but 

 I have never seen any house exactly like it, and I built it for 

 the sake of accommodating aB many plants as I could, when 

 potted-off, in a small space. 



The house is only, as I stated, 25 feet long and 10 feet wide 

 outside measure, but I can put 2500 Geraniums in 4-inch pots 

 into it. I built it before I had seen any other house without 

 laps to the glass or putty, and I still like the form of rafter 

 better than any other I have seen, as by ploughing the groove 

 at an angle and then taking a slight shoulder off with the 

 chisel, a groove is left under the glass, down which any water 

 which is drawn to the rafter runs, instead of dripping into the 

 house. I have never seen any drip whatever from the rafter. 

 I can recommend the house to any amateur who wiBhes to 

 have a generally useful plant-house, and especially to those 

 gentlemen who expect their gardeners to turn out large quan- 



