218 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDEXIXG. 



squares are not, however, recommended for the glaz- 

 ing of portable lights, on account of their liability 

 to accidental breakage. Squares from 8 in. to 10 in. 

 in width and 12 in. to 16 in. in length, will be found 

 quite large enough ; indeed m:;ny, myself included, 

 prefer having them smaller, as breakages from the 

 houses can often be used up for repairs. Horti- 

 cultural glass of different qualities runs in numbers, 

 and becomes inferior as the figures increase. Firsts 

 and seconds may be good enough for picture frames, 

 thirds and fourths are generally sold for garden pur- 

 poses. Good thirds, of English make, will be found 

 excellent, and suitable for all ordinur}'- purposes. 



Putty, like all other mixtures, varies in quality; 

 none, however, but the best is suitable for horti- 

 cultural purposes, and it should be kept for some 

 'time before it is used. Formerly it was made by 

 hand, but the manufacture of puttj^ by steam power 

 has now become a trade in itself, and the dealer who 

 supplies glass will not be slow to offer the best 

 •quality at a very reasonable price. If obtained in 

 •casks of one or two hundred-weight it will keep 

 for years, and improve with age, as the oil and 

 whitening become thoroughly incorporated. If 

 new putty, which is generally very soft, must be 

 used, then as much dry red lead as will give proper 

 •substance may be worked in with good effect. 



Glazing. — One of the cardinal points is a good bed 

 for the glass to rest upon ; putty in sufficient 

 quantity to squeeze out when the pane is pressed 

 down should, therefore, be laid evenly along the 

 rebates, as it is always better to cut off waste than 

 to have to fill up slack places when the bedding- 

 is dressed off. Some glaziers make a practice of 

 sprigging in the panes to prevent them from moving ; 

 but this is a bad method, as the pressure brought to 

 bear upon the corners of panes that do not fit close, 

 ■combined with contraction and expansion, is the 

 cause of much breakage. Small triangular pieces of 

 zinc or copper, like Fig. 44, \ in., may, however, be 



A used with advantage when necessary, not 

 otherwise, as they are flat, more elastic 

 than sprigs, and half an inch broad where 

 Fig, 44, they clip the edge of the glass. The laps 

 should not exceed a quarter-inch, and the 

 panes should fit close upon each other, convex side 

 upwards, with a sixteenth of an inch play on each 

 side, to allow for contraction of the sashes. The 

 lights may be piled on each other for a few days to 

 give the putty time to harden, another important 

 point, before they are painted. When drj', lay on 

 two or three coats of good oil paint, in lieu of putty ; 

 allow the paint to extend about a quarter of an inch, 

 or the width of the shoulder of the sash-bar, over 

 the glass on each side, and finish with stone or any 

 other colour, according to taste. 



When glazing fixed roofs, the ovcrbps need not 

 exceed one-eighth of an inch, but great care must 

 be observed in placing and keeping the glass from 

 sliding before it is properly set. To secure this end, 

 narrow strips of lead, bent into the form of the 

 letter S (Fig. 45), should be inserted, two to each 

 lap, as the woi'k proceeds. 

 AVhen the squares are firm 

 in their bed they may be 

 taken out altogether, or 

 being kept close to the sash- Jg a^k 

 bars, no harm will be done ^^^^ 

 by leaving them in. Each ^^\,\ 

 lap will then, provided the 



glass is true, present an ^%tv 



opening equal to the thick- 



ness of the lead used. ^jg. 45. 



All upright glazing — i.e., 

 the ends and fronts of houses— is best performed 

 on the butt-joint principle. For this purpose the 

 squares are cut with perfectl}' straight edges, which 

 are placed together, edge to edge, instead of being 

 overlapped. 



KOCK, ALPINE, FEEN, AND WILD 

 GAEDENING. 



THJS IN-DOOR FERNERY. 

 By James Sheppaed. 



11HE beau ideal of an in-door femcr}' is to bring 

 more or less of nature's verdure, beauty of 

 form, and ireedom of disposition and arrangement 

 within reach of their adrnirers at all seasons of the 

 year. True, these may seldom reach up to the high 

 art reached by nature, nor afford the pleasure derived 

 from such lanes or groups of wild ferns as have been 

 hinted at rather than described in the chapter on 

 Hardy Ferneries ; but the nearer we can approach tc 

 these standai-ds of natural beauty, the more perfect 

 will our in-door ferneries become, and the deeper the 

 pleasure and more lasting the satisfaction they will 

 afford. In manj'" cases and circumstances the pro- 

 tection of glass will heighten the beauty and add 

 greatly to the vigour of even hardj^ ferns. For 

 example, the Royal Fern seldom looks so really 

 royal, unless just in the very few of its favourite 

 haunts, as in the so-called cool fernery under glass ; 

 and the same holds good of not a few other species 

 and A-arieties. Ferneries in smoky, dust-fouled 

 manufactiu'ing towns may be kept clean by a cover- 

 ing of glass ; and, thoroughly ventilated and judi- 

 ciously shaded, such in-door ferneries may comm^and 

 a cooler atmosphere than that ]3revailing in the open 

 air. Nor are coohiess and cleanliness the only 



