366 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



marked g g — this pavement walk forms 

 a narrow terrace, with a rich open parapet, 

 fig. 504, divided into panels by square 



Fig. 504. 



pilasters, finished at top with elaborately 

 carved vases ; h h is the grass lawn ; j'ia 

 broad gravel walk, leading from other 

 walks to the steps of the pavement ter- 

 race ; k the position of the furnaces ; I 

 the direction of the smoke-flues from the 

 furnace to the chimney. 



The whole floor is paved with polished 

 Arbroath pavement. Formerly a cast- 

 iron stage occupied the centre of the 

 house, leaving a passage of four feet be- 

 tween it and the stone table. This was 

 removed some years ago, and as the plants 

 which occupy the house are large, they 

 stand upon the floor. 



For elaborate workmanship and ele- 

 gance of design, this house, as an archi- 

 tectural conservatory, is not equalled by 

 any we have seen, nor is there perhaps in 

 Britain a finer specimen. The arrange- 

 ments for heating are very properly un- 

 der the house, as has been already men- 

 tioned, and are therefore quite out of 

 sight. Two hot-water boilers are em- 

 ployed, though one would have been suffi- 

 cient ; and the pipes surround the house 

 under the side platform. We may here 

 observe, that the general error has been 



fallen into of connecting the stone plat- 

 form with the external wall of the house, 

 thus completely shutting off the plants 

 on it from participating in the least in 

 the heat arising from the pipes. We 

 may also state that this house was one of 

 the first, if not actually the very first, 

 heated in Scotland upon the hot-water 

 principle. Although it was glazed with 

 double thick glass, it has suffered much 

 from bad glazing, the laps being much 

 too broad. 



Many rather severe criticisms were 

 passed upon this house after it was fin- 

 ished j and it was very generally pre- 

 dicted that plants would not grow in it. 

 Such, however, is not the case ; for we 

 find that plants thrive as well in it as in 

 any of the other nine plant-houses erected 

 in the new garden by ourselves. The 

 ventilation is copious, and is effected by 

 the top lights sliding down over those 

 below them, and being suspended by ba- 

 lance weights and copper chains, as seen in 

 the cross section, which hang down round 

 the central column ; while the whole of 

 the side windows of the house, which are 

 in two lengths, open upwards and down- 

 wards. This, although very well during 

 the heat of summer, is by no means 

 adapted for winter ventilation ; for, as in 

 all cases of high side ventilation, the cold 

 air blows at once on the tender plants 

 within, before it becomes at all warmed 

 by the temperature of the house. This 

 might have been readily remedied by 

 bringing in air under the pavement walk, 

 and terminating these air-pipes close to 

 the floor under the hot-water ones. 



As another example of a detached ar- 

 chitectural conservatory, fig. 505, we 

 shall give one of those at Alton Towers, 

 the princely although extraordinary resi- 

 dence of the Earl of Shrewsbury. This 



Fig. 505. 



