46 



OASSELL'S POPULAR GAUDENINa. 



in the least necessarily lessening their efficiency or 

 area for the storage or display of plants. 



Still, in the main, the design of the conservator)' 

 should be its own chief ornament. In- detached 

 buildings there is vast scope for variety of design ; 

 but general opinion and practice seem pretty unani- 

 mous that some form of circular or span roof is at 

 once the most elegant, strong, and best for cultural 

 purposes. Many such are built of bent glass ; but 

 this is by no means necessary, and ■whether it is em- 

 ployed or not should be governed by the amount of 

 exposure or risk ; for such glass is expensive. Very 

 nearly, if not quit?, the same effect can be produced 

 by various methods of glazing with flat glass, as can 

 be seen by the representation in Fig. 24 of an ex- 

 cellent design by Messrs. W. E. Eendle and Co. 

 The glazing of green-houses and conservatories wiU, 

 however, receive separate treatment in a later article 

 of this series. 



House-top Conservatories. — Glass, through 

 being so long and so heavily taxed, is still by many 

 of the working classes considered a luxury beyond 

 their reach. On the contrary, it is now among the 

 cheapest of all roofing materials, taking into account 

 its durability ; being virtually indestructible, unless 

 in the case of accidents. Small areas, or in fact 

 arbas of almost any extent, may be enclosed with 

 glass at less cost than with any other substance. 

 When this fact is generally acted upon by archi- 

 tects, and stout glass is used to enclose portions or the 

 whole of the roofs of houses, a powerful stimulus 

 will be given to horticultural pi^rsuits, and a partial 

 or complete revolution effected in the house-building 

 of the day. Instead of almost universal sloping 

 roofs, and the devotion of the attics to dirt, 

 lumber, the spiders, and the bats or sparrows, flat 

 roofs, partially or whoUy covered with glass, would 

 convert the house-tops into covered gardens, or furnish 

 roomy or commanding sites for house-top conserva- 

 tories. Considering how scarce and dear gi'ound is 

 in or near to crowded towns, and how difficult it 

 often is to fimd room for the smallest glass-house 

 ■on balconies or against the house, the acquisition 

 of the whole or part of the area of the house-top 

 ior relaxation and gardening, would be an im- 

 mense advantage to the health and happiness of the 

 inmates. ' 



Prom the almost universal prevalency of sloping 

 opaque roof, of course such structures have hitherto 

 been rare. But they exist in sufficient numbers to 

 prove the practicability of growing plants, flowers, 

 and even fruit, to perfection in crowded cities. 

 The examples of good gardening on the leads, 

 balconies, and even areas of the streets of London 

 and other large towns, are most encouraging proofs 



of how much may be achieved under present diffi- 

 culties of the most trying character. 



Fig. 25 represents a house-top conservatory erected 

 some years ago by Messrs. Barr and Sugden ovei 

 their business premises in King Street, Covent 

 Garden, but which would be just as suitable for a 

 private house. How ornamental as well as useful 

 such structures may be made, can be seen at a 

 glance, and also how entirely independent of any 

 local advantages in the way of ground-space or 

 situation. 



But the chief merit of house-top conservatories is, in 

 fact, that they utilise so much space hitherto almost 

 worse than wasted, and convert it into the most useful 

 sanitary and horticultural purposes. Areas of im- 

 mense extent may thus be won for the most delight- 

 ful pursuits and the most healthful and pleasant 

 recreation. Almost any man may thus not only be 

 enabled to sit under his own Vine and Fig-tree, but 

 to enjoy this seemingly impossible luxury on his own 

 house-top, none daring to make him afraid. House- 

 top conservatories can readily be warmed from the 

 kitchen boilers or other fires of the dwelling-house. 

 Glass-houses such as that here shown, or even on a 

 less pretentious scale, would do inuch to add to the 

 beauty of detached houses, terraces, squares, or 

 streets, instead of proving the disfiguring blots and 

 eyesores against good taste or congruity, which" have 

 long been characteristic of so many of our conserva- 

 tories attached to dwellings. 



Storage, Staging. — It is astonishing what 

 enormous numbers of plants can be kept and 

 grown in small houses by a series of shelvinir 

 and other skilful expedients. Occasionallv in tall 

 houses, sheU upon sheK rise one above the other 

 from floor to roof-apex, and by the skilful use of 

 saucers under the pots, and careful watering, the 

 plants take but little harm. But the most common 

 and profitable method of storage is that of stages, 

 procediag in regular gradations from near the floor of 

 the house in front, to within a foot or so of its top, 

 like the steps of a stair with exceptionally fleet risers 

 and narrow steps. (See Fig. 26.) On this primitive 

 and still common stage, the plants can be placed 

 very closely together and yet not over-hang in any 

 way. 



^ In larger houses the centre stage (see Fig. 27) and 

 side shelves are the most provident of space. In 

 span-roofed houses, the centre stage has mostly one 

 broad shelf in the centre, and two or more on either 

 side, at lower or different levels. In lean-to con- 

 servatories, the centre stage is as it were cut in two, 

 and is only half the size. More frequently, however, 

 the greater height of the back wall aUows of one or 

 more shelves being added to the stage. 



