102 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



regard to the summer decoration of the greenhouse. The 

 stoves are what are called double houses ; that is, they 

 consist of glazed frame-work on both sides, and have a 

 span roof. They are situated at each end of the large 

 greenhouse, and project at right angles from it. They 

 are quite new, having been built from designs prepared by 

 Mr Donkelaar, on his return from his travels. They are 

 very high in the front or upright glass, not less than six- 

 teen feet ; while the rafters, both upright and sloping, are 

 very thick, and the glazed sashes between them not more 

 than three feet wide. This has a bad effect. Mr Hay re- 

 marked, that the houses are not sufficiently wide in pro- 

 portion to their height : and the tan-pit in the middle, 

 and the surrounding foot-path, are much too narrow. 

 Both the hot-houses and the greenhouse are provided with 

 wooden shutters, which constantly remain attached to the 

 rafters, but in a folded state. Even in this state, they pro- 

 ject about ten inches, and must have the effect of exclud- 

 ing the oblique rays of the sun, while at the same time 

 they give the houses rather a clumsy appearance. Du- 

 ring the severe weather of winter, as the gardener told us, 

 the shutters of the stoves are kept closed night and day, so 

 that the plants remain in darkness. The shutters of the 

 greenhouse, however, are closed only at night. Fuel, it 

 must be remembered, is a scarce and costly article in many 

 parts of the Continent ; and it is believed to be rather dif- 

 ficult to keep up the temperature of a hot-house by means 

 of a fire made with billets of wood. At the same time, 

 the cold is often very intense. In these circumstances, 

 the importance and utility of shutters must be evident. 

 Upon the whoie, although these stoves are rather heavy- 

 looking structures, they are the best houses for tropical 

 plants which we have hitherto met with in our trip. The 



