GLASS STRUCTURES AND APPLIANCES. 



103 



too simple and cheap, if such will render their 

 culture possible to those who cannot otherwise afford 

 to grow such charming plants. The chief conditions 

 that command success are a sufficiency of heat, light, 

 moisture, and shade, as against sun- scorching, and 

 these are almost as much or more under con- 

 trol in small 

 houses than in 

 large ones. 

 Glazedwith 

 glass of good 

 quality, and the 

 surface kept 

 scrupulously 

 clean after- 

 Avards, it is as- 

 tonishing how 

 much pure light 

 can be passed 

 through a mere 

 glass roof; often 

 far more is thus 

 brought to bear 

 <Mrectly on the 

 plants than in 

 larger struc- 



Fi^. 28.— Section of Mr. Bvill's Orcliid-bouses. 



Henderson's, and other trade and private growers, it is 

 gratifying to note that a winter temperature of from 

 45" to 50*^ is all that is needful for their well-being. 

 Another point that powerfully impresses the amateur 

 is the effect of large masses of one particular family or 

 species of plants. 0. vexillariumi^ so varied in colour 



that it consti- 

 tutes a fine col- 

 lection of Or- 

 chids within the 

 compass of a 

 single species ; 

 and the same 

 might almost be 

 said of 0. Cris- 

 pium, and other 

 fine species. 



For single 

 amateur houses 

 a verj^ usual 

 size is about 

 thirty to thirty- 

 six feet long, 

 twelve feet wide 

 and six and a 

 halforsevenfeet 



"Wooden Plattorm 



Path 



_Wo o d e n_P I at f o OTL 



Fig. 29.— Ground-plan at Level oi" Platform. (The lines sliow the pipes.) 



tures in which inferior glass is used, and little regard 

 paid to keeping it clean afterwards. 



Still, span-roofed, domed, curvilinear, or ridge- 

 and-furrow houses are among the most suitable for 

 stove-plants and Orchids. Such forms on the whole, 

 under the greatest variety of circumstances, afford 

 the most direct and clearest light to the plants- 

 Figs. 28 and 29 show a section and plan of Mr. Bull's 

 series of eighteen houses, sixty feet long, eleven feet 

 wide, and seven feet high at the apex, the brick 

 wall at the side being two feet six inches, and the 

 «mall glass side lights one foot six inches, as seen 



the Ashburnham Nursery, King's Road, Chelsea. 

 In passing through such magnificent collections of 

 Odontoglossums, MasdevaUias, and other cool Orchids 

 as are to be found in thousands and tens of thousands 

 •at Mr. Bull's, Messrs. Veitch's, Williams and Sons', 



high to the eaves. Generally houses of this form and 

 width have a path down the centre, and a wide shelf 

 or stage about four and a half feet wide down either 

 side. A shelf is also frequently carried along within 

 a foot or eighteen inches, or two feet, of the ridge, 

 and this proves an excellent situation for small 

 plants, where- they are fully exposed to light and air. 

 In other cases climbers are carried along in the apex 

 of the span immediately over the path. Here the 

 climbers are not only seen to most advantage, but 

 they can be grown without injury to the plants. 

 Of more ambitious and showy houses we give an 

 illustration in Fig. 30, which has been engraved 

 from a fine design by Messrs. J. Weeks and Co. 

 This house is intended to be at least thirty feet 

 in width, and lofty in proportion, with a ventilating 

 ridge as well as side apparatus. The walls are repre- 



