168 THE ORCHID REVIEW. 
ideal house is, in my opinion, the nurseryman’s, viz., no glass side-lights, | 
and the ends protected. 
In small private collections, where the houses are of diverse shapes and 
sizes, the corridor, as an end protection, will be impracticable, but in all cases 
glass sides can be abolished, and as a substitute for the corridor, at least 
one end—the end with the colder aspect—built of brick. My experience of 
glass side-lights is that they keep the house cold out of all proportion to 
their size. Although double glass side-lights are but little met with in 
England, in the good private places on the Continent they are pretty 
common; I have more particularly in mind “ Villa Rothschild,” Vienna, 
where double glass sides are the rule. I might suggest double glass for 
the sides and ends as an intermediate course between single glass and brick. 
There should be not only enough piping in a house, but more than 
enough. Where three rows of pipes must be kept at boiling point to 
maintain the temperature, let there be five or six rows genially warm, and 
the house will be healthier. 
Air, light, and heat are essential to Orchids, as to other plants, anda 
great part of the secret of the successful Orchid grower is in blending and 
balancing these three to the best advantage. One must be sacrificed at the 
expense of the other; yet I maintain that by having’ side-lights on Orchid 
houses, heat is being sacrificed for light. Insummer, when light is abundant, | 
we could do very well without them on the plea of light. When the cold, dull 
days of winter come, they must perforce be covered up’ with mats, &c., and 
then, at a time when all the light available is valuable—were no such 
thing as heat required—our side-lights are useless and belie their name. — 
But side-lights are not generally meant by the designer for utility, but 
because they give the house a nicer appearance. Yet, surely here again 
their object is defeated, for a house hanging in tatters half the year is not a 
thing of beauty: I need not say that no amount of covering up equals a 
brick wall. The mats become sodden and act as refrigerators all round the 
house. 
The injurious effects of fire-heat during the winter cannot be over-stated 
The more fire-heat, the more damping is required, and no amount of care 
can keep a slim, openly constructed, exposed house at the required 
temperature and hygrometrically healthy. A fierce heat from the pipes is 
not only directly detrimental to the plants, but causes such pests as red- 
spider and thrip to flourish. 
Every Orchid house should have two stages: one a foot or more above 
the pipes, to hold coke or sand, and the staging proper, eight inches or a 
foot above the lower. The coke or sand in the lower staging or trough 
should be of a depth of at least four inches. If too shallow, the moisture is 
rapidly evaporated, necessitating more frequent damping than is advisable— 
