314 



FRUIT-HOUSES. 



venient plan that may suggest itself. 

 This can readily be done without the 

 vines undergoing that twisting and dis- 

 tortion which is so liable to bruise and 

 injure them, when taking them out of the 

 houses as they are usually built. In the 

 present case all that difficulty is removed 

 without any danger of checking a free 

 circulation of the sap; and when the 

 vines are thus disposed of, and the front 

 sashes slid into the groove of the inner 

 wall, the house is not only enclosed and 

 in a fit state to apply to other purposes, 

 but the whole top lights, by projecting 

 over the outer wall, will be a great advan- 

 tage to the dormant vines by the protec- 

 tion thus afforded them from heavy 

 rains, and also by preventing icicles 

 from hanging about them, whereby they 

 receive more injury than from any other 

 cause. A free circulation of dry and 

 cold air is highly beneficial to them; at 

 the same time, a protection from too 

 much moisture is necessary — and by 

 adopting the above plan, they will have 

 the advantage of both." 



Reference to fig. — " a pillar or pilaster; 

 b b front lights ; c hollow space for vine 

 stems ; d shelf for plants ; e small pillar 

 for support of do. ; / hot- water pipes ; 

 g front path; h gutter to carry off rain 

 water." 



The two principal vineries in the royal 

 garden at Frogmore, of which the annexed 

 fig. 426 is a section, are each 102 feet 



Fig. 426. 



in length, 16 feet 6 inches wide, and 

 13 feet 6 inches high. They, like the 

 rest of the range, are constructed of metal, 

 the rafters being coped with wood to lessen 

 conduction, the wall-plates, &c, being of 

 cast-iron, the frame of the sashes of rolled 

 or wrought iron, and the astragals of 

 copper. They are glazed with British 



sheet glass in lengths from 24 to 30 

 inches each pane. They are heated by 

 hot-water pipes placed along the back and 

 front, the latter being furnished with 

 evaporating pans cast on them. The 

 mechanical contrivances for ventilating, 

 steaming, and regulating the temperature 

 are very complete. The front sashes are 

 opened and shut by a screw turned by a 

 removable handle, {vide fig. 385,) and the 

 top sashes slide down and are drawn up 

 by means of a half cog-wheel and catch, 

 and are kept in their places by flexible 

 copper wire chains. The ventilators in 

 the back wall are openings between 3 

 and 4 feet long each, and 6 inches deep, 

 and are placed at equal and convenient 

 distances apart. — Vide fig. 387. The 

 outside of these openings, a, is protected 

 by open grating; while the inner side, 

 b, is furnished with a shutter moving 

 on a pivot which extends the whole 

 length of the house, and is turned 

 by a handle, by which means all these 

 shutters are opened or shut in an instant. 

 Over the top pipe in front is an open 

 metallic trough, communicating by a 

 siphon with the pipe below it, so that an 

 open circulation of warm water may be 

 produced at the will of the operator. 

 Over these open troughs, again, is placed 

 a small perforated pipe containing cold 

 water, so that when it is necessary to 

 produce steam, a flange is turned, and 

 the cold water falling in the troughs pro- 

 duces this effect. By means of very 

 simple and efficient stopcocks, the whole 

 of the hot-water pipes may be wrought at 

 once, or part only, as is required. 



Fig. 427 shows the cross section of one 

 of the vineries recently erected in the 

 royal gardens at Frogmore, 80 feet in 

 length and 15 feet in width within the 

 walls. This house is on the half-span 

 principle, a form greatly superior to the 

 common lean-to vineries. The vines are 

 planted both along the back wall and 

 along the front of the house inside ; and, 

 as will be seen by our fig., are trained 

 in such a manner as to obtain the great- 

 est possible surface under the extent of 

 roof. Vines are also grown in pots — a 

 department in vine-culture in which Mr 

 Ingram has greatly distinguished himself. 

 Ventilation is effected by the front sashes 

 being made to open outwards, they being 

 attached to a rack-and-pinion movement, 



