96 



AiWALS OF HORTICULTURE. 



map, page 105). The area in the rear was bounded upon, the 

 back, next the margin of the Fair grounds, by the Annex green- 

 houses. The space in front of these houses was occupied by a 

 miscellaneous lot of displays, the most prominent of which 

 were a cone-like mound of cannas, yuccas and some other 

 plants ; an old-fashioned garden shown by New York, but which 

 contained some new-fashioned things ; a small display of young 

 apple trees, which were a part of the nursery exhibit. Some 

 of the ground was used for the propagating of annuals, which 

 were used in various decorations. Early in the season, the 

 border against the rear of the building was given to tulips, and 

 later to dahlias and other plants. The arrangement of the 

 rear grounds was strictly formal, and there was nothing, either 

 in the arrangement or planting, of more than ordinary merit. 



The Greenhouse Exhibits. The greenhouse displays at 

 the World's Fair were disposed, for the most part, upon the 

 lawn in the rear of the Horticultural Building, although three 

 of them were inside the building. The exhibits were not numer- 

 ous, but they represented the recent improvements in con- 

 struction, and they may be taken, as they stood, to indicate 

 the present stage of our progress in greenhouse building. One 

 familiar with the houses of twenty years ago saw great changes. 

 Large glass, exceedingly light framework, the free use of iron 

 in the construction, and the abandonment of the old point-and- 

 putty system of glazing, were the chief innovations ; and one 

 might add, also, the construction of portable houses. The 

 fears attending the use of iron for greenhouse construction 

 have now subsided, or have been overcome. Rafters only a 

 half inch thick and three inches deep, are strong enough to 

 hold a roof thirty feet high, without a post. Glass was both 

 lapped and butted in the various houses, although the lapped 

 was more used. Except in some patent systems of glazing, 

 wooden sash bars were still used. Some of these houses, par- 

 ticularly those erected by Lord & Burnham and Hitchings & Co., 

 were used for plant exhibits, the former for various New York 

 collections and the latter for Pennsylvania exhibits. 



The two most comprehensive displays were those of Hitch- 

 ings & Co. and Lord & Burnham, immediately back of the Hor- 

 ticultural dome. The former showed an admirable fancy palm 

 house, 34x50 feet, and 30 feet high, which was free from all 

 posts and troublesome braces. A greenhouse wing, 19x35 feet, 

 was attached at the rear. The entire plant, with slate and tile 

 benches, heated, can be built for $8,500. Lord & Burnham 

 showed a nest of three houses and a connecting workroom. 

 The largest house, of which the centre was a lily tank, was 25x 

 50 feet. The greenhouse wing was 20x33^ feet, and the rose 



