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XVI. Description of a Greenhouse, in the Garden of Sir 

 Robert Preston, Bart., at Valleyfield in Perthshire. In 

 a Letter to the Secretary. By Mr. Alexander Stewart, 

 Corresponding Member of the Society. 



Read December 7, 1824. 



Sir, 



I am induced to send you the inclosed Sketch of the Green- 

 house at this place, as the form and arrangement of the stages 

 are very different from those commonly used, and which will 

 perhaps be considered an improvement, since it combines the 

 style of a Conservatory with that of a Greenhouse. The ad- 

 vantages which the stages possess over the common ones are 

 principally in their angular form, and from the manner in 

 which they are placed, intersecting each other, yet allowing 

 sufficient space for a person to walk between them, either to 

 examine or water all the plants, without interruption ; and 

 I think they display more surface to the light and air than 

 in the common mode of arrangement. It is also obvious, 

 that as the house fronts due south, there is no part of each 

 stage that has not its proper share of the rays of the sun, as 

 it passes. 



It is now about ten years since the idea of making these 

 stages struck me, and I am happy to say they have answered 

 my most sanguine expectations, and have met with the appro- 

 bation not only of my employer, but of most persons who have 



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