CHERRY, FIG, PLUM, AND APRICOT HOUSES. 



355 



section. Fig. 490 shows the front gutter, 

 with the fixed roof-sash attached, for 

 receiving the water that falls on the front 



Fig. 489. 



half of the roof, and which water is 

 carried along that gutter, which forms a 

 plain cornice, until it is carried down 



Fig. 490. 



Fig. 491. 



one or other of the hollow upright 

 columns, into tanks underground. Fig. 



491 is a section of one of 

 those hollow upright co- 

 lumns, with the necessary- 

 stops for keeping each sash 

 in its proper place. Fig. 



492 is a section of the cor- 

 ner columns, with similar 



provisions, but of a large size. Figs. 480 



and 481 show the mechanical appliances 



for front ventilation. In 

 Pig. 492. fig _ 4gl ig ghown how thig 



is secured to the side-rail 

 of an upright sash, and fig. 

 480 the rack and pinion, 

 which, when turned round, 

 either draws forward or 

 pushes back the front sashes 

 into their places again. In fig. 482 is 

 shown, by the line behind the front 

 uprights, and continued under the roof, 

 one of the conductors to which vines are 

 trained; and as these are placed at 10 feet 



distance from each other, their shadows, 

 or the amount of light intercepted, is 

 quite immaterial to the trees trained on 

 the back w r all. This trellis is also shown 

 in the elevation, fig. 479. The hollow 

 uprights in front, and the rafters, are all 

 of iron. The glass used is 1 6 oz. British 

 sheet, and is fixed in the astragals in the 

 usual manner, with the exception that, 

 instead of overlaps, the squares meet in 

 Snow's manner, which gives the struc- 

 ture a much lighter and more agreeable 

 appearance. 



From this it will be seen that, by the 

 movement in the centre of the house, top 

 ventilation is given or taken away ; while 

 that of the front is given, reduced, or 

 totally shut off, by a turn or two of the 

 handle of the rack and pinion placed 

 opposite, As an economical and efficient 

 mode of ventilation, we consider this the 

 very best we have seen ; while the whole 

 structure, for simplicity, efficiency, and 

 economy, meets our fullest approbation. 



§ 4." — CHEERY, FIG, PLUM, AND APRICOT 

 HOUSES. 



The forcing of cherries, figs, plums, 

 and apricots, has only been attempted 

 upon a limited scale in this country, 

 even in the gardens of royalty. For the 

 most part, the houses in which the cul- 

 ture of these fruits has been attempted 

 have hitherto been constructed upon the 

 same principle as vineries and peach- 

 houses ; the success, therefore, has been 

 various, and seldom satisfactory. That 

 all of them, with the probable exception 

 of the fig, require abundance of light and 

 ventilation is certain ; therefore the kind 

 of buildings best adapted to them must 

 possess these requisites to the fullest 

 extent. As curvilinear or span-roofed 

 houses possess these merits more than 

 lean-to houses do, they are no doubt best 

 adapted to the end in view. 



The structure represented in the an- 

 nexed diagram, fig. 493, we consider well 

 adapted for this purpose. The house is 

 62^ feet long, and 15 feet wide. It is 

 heated by hot-water pipes, the boiler and 

 stoke-hole being placed in the middle of 

 one end, the boiler being within the house, 

 and the pipes branching from it to the 

 right hand and to the left. The pipes are 



