316 FORCING DEPARTMENT. 



short, it is my own opinion, as well as that of many 

 others, that this climate will never, from either heat 

 or cold, expand or contract the copper bars, to such a 

 degree, as to cause breakage of glass. The Messrs. 

 Jones and Co., the manufacturers of our houses, are so 

 decidedly convinced of the fallacy of this argument 

 to the point in question, that I cannot avoid extract- 

 ing the following passage from their agreement of 

 contract, which, I think, is sufficient to set this 

 question at complete rest. " The houses," says the 

 document, " shall be constructed, and finished in 

 a better and more durable manner than any yet 

 erected in England. In proof of which, we hereby 

 engage and bind ourselves to supply all the glass 

 which may be broken by frost, expansion, or con- 

 traction, or from whatever cause, excepting hail or 

 accidents, during the space of fourteen years, for the 

 sum of 40s. per annum ; and should any part of the 

 frame-work,, sashes, or bars, -give way, during the 

 said space of fourteen years, from the time of erec- 

 tion, we hereby engage to repair them at our own 

 expense. In short, at the expiration of fourteen 

 years, the houses shall be left by us as good as when 

 first erected." 



Now, where, I would ask, shall we find a manufac- 

 turer of wood houses engaging to repair, in the like 

 manner, all the breakages, and to leave the houses 

 at the expiration of fourteen years as good as new ? The 

 truth is, we have many instances of wood roofs being 

 entirely worn out, in the space of from 14 to 20 

 years ; and we will cite, for instance, the range of 

 this description in His Grace the Duke of Northum- 



