THE GREENHOUSE AND ITS FLOWERS. 



better than the XL All compound, a preparation of Nicotine, which, while fatal to all insects, 

 will not injure the flowers. During the summer, too, use the syringe freely, especially 

 among the climbing plants, but it must be kept away from the flow ers. Damping down — that 

 is, w etting the paths underneath the stages and all vacant spots — is also of great service, as 

 it tends to maintain a humid atmosphere very beneficial to the plants. In the winter too 

 great an amount of moisture must be avoided, and a free circulation of air allowed when- 

 ever possible. A great many of the plants that are wintered in the greenhouse may he 

 placed out of doors during the summer, when the structure is available for other subjects 

 that bloom at that period but pass the winter in a more or less dormant state. 



With regard to the structure itself, it should every third year at least be thoroughly 

 overhauled, all defects made good, and the whole given two coats of paint, by which means 

 it will last a lifetime. Provision should be made for storing the rain water in a tank within 

 the house, as it is then always at a suitable temperature for watering the plants, and for 

 this purpose rain water, when it can be obtained, is preferable to any other. The con- 

 struction of a green- 

 house is a very simple 

 matter, and ready- 

 made erections 

 cost little, too, 

 but structures of an 

 ornamental character 

 are not always the 

 most useful. The very 

 high-pitched roof, ela- 

 borate top-ventilation, 

 and fanciful design so 

 f requently see n 

 a m o n g s t cons e r - 

 vatories and green- 

 houses attached to the 

 modern villa are abso- 

 lute death-traps to the 

 plants. More often 

 sickly plants result 

 not from indifferent 

 cultivation so much as 

 poorly ventilated and 

 constructed houses, 

 and it is money saved 

 to go to a good horti- 

 cultural builder, and 

 ask' him to put up a 

 plain, simple, and solid 



structure in which the plants can have plenty of light and stand no chance of being injured 

 through want of proper ventilation. 



Another point of great importance is not to make a living museum of the greenhouse. 

 It is folly to attempt to grow everything enumerated in the alphabetical list in this single 

 structure, because, of course, indoor plants differ as greatly in growth as those of the 

 mixed border. Nor is it wise to cover the roof with a thick - growth of climbing plants, 

 which simply promote lanky stems and colourless flowers upon the things below. By no 

 means dispense entirely with climbers, merely restrict them in growth and numbers. The 



THE GREENHOUSES AT ST RE A THA M HALL, EXETER 



