GREENHOUSES. 



391 



appropriate carvings and mouldings ; but 

 for houses dedicated merely to culture, as 

 this and the generality of greenhouses in 

 ordinary gardens are, all mouldings and 

 carvings should be dispensed with. All 

 rafters and astragals should present a 

 smooth and uniform surface, by merely 

 being chamfered off from the shoulder of 

 the rebate towards the lower point — always, 

 however, leaving a sufficient thickness 

 there in proportion to their depth. We 

 see no reason why this roof, dispensing 

 with rafters and framed sashes entirely, 

 and consequently reducing the expense 

 of the roof more than one-half, and at the 

 same time producing a much more light 

 and elegant structure, might not have 

 been all in one piece. The following 

 references will explain our figs. : a and 

 b spaces for large plants, c benches for 

 small do., d curb -stones, e hot -water 

 pipes, /stopcocks to turn the course of 

 hot water into division b, when not re- 

 quired in division a of ground-plan ; 

 g g cisterns for rain water under ground- 

 level ; h h, &c, doors; i semicircular stage 

 to fill up the lobby, as it were, that con- 

 nects the two parts of this house together; 

 h stoke-hole under ground, (but in the 

 case of the house at Kew this is the point 

 of entrance of the hot- water pipes, which 

 are heated by a boiler placed at some 

 distance.) The roof, as will be seen, is of 

 the span form, and placed at an angle of 

 30° — perhaps the pitch best suited for 

 houses of this form, and for such pur- 

 poses. It is glazed with sheet glass, in 

 lengths of only two panes to each side ; 

 and the upright side-lights have only one 

 pane, which gives the whole a light and 

 cheerful appearance. Such a house as 

 this may be imitated by any country 

 gentleman, as it is, perhaps, the most 

 economical, in proportion to the area 

 which it covers, of any house possessing 

 the same accommodation. For plant 

 cultivators upon a limited scale, we may 

 remark that, by throwing a glass partition 

 across the junction of the broader and 

 narrower divisions, a very complete plant 

 establishment might be formed by con- 

 verting the broader part into a store or 

 conservatory; and by dividing the nar- 

 rower compartments by glass screens and 

 doors, each wing into two, four sec- 

 tions of plants — say Ericas, Pelargoniums, 

 Orchids, &c. — may be cultivated. As a 



model, few better can be offered, as its 

 arrangements admit of contraction or ex- 

 tension by merely cutting off or adding 

 to the ends, and this without much 

 trouble or expense ; or either part may 

 be adopted and put into operation, to re- 

 main as a whole, or to be added to after- 

 wards. It is needless to say how easily 

 one or more parts of such a structure 

 may be heated — that division intended to 

 be kept the hottest to have the stoke- 

 hole and boiler attached to it. Much has 

 been said of late years about winter gar- 

 dens; here we have a very excellent 

 model, either as a whole for greenhouse 

 plants, or subdivided by glass partitions, 

 portable, or made to slide in panels 

 behind each other as high as the square 

 of the roof, or rather so high as to give 

 sufficient head-room. The principal ob- 

 ject in making these divisions portable is 

 to secure the power of throwing the whole 

 into one during summer, as well as to 

 enable the proprietor to cultivate as great 

 a variety of plants as possible. Such a 

 house, in a large establishment, would be 

 far more imposing than half-a-dozen de- 

 tached houses equal in extent, and, we 

 hesitate not to say, could be erected at less 

 than half the expense. As regards the rain- 

 water tanks, we can see no necessity for 

 placing them under ground. As the water 

 is supplied from a level sufficiently high, 

 these might have been better situated — 

 namely, under the plant tables, and above 

 the floor surface. With the exception of 

 this, and the objections already stated, 

 we think this house, as a whole, very 

 complete. 



The annexed fig. 535, is a perspective 

 view of the interior of a greenhouse built 



Fig. 535. 



by Mr W. Crosskill of Beverley, at Ever- 

 ingham Hall, and also at Sunderland- 



