400 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



is admitted to the roots, and complete 

 drainage secured by perforations in their 

 bottoms. The four sides are so con- 

 structed that they may be removed, 

 leaving the four corner columns, and the 

 top and bottom rails, which connect them 

 together, to form the skeleton of the case, 

 so that a free examination of the roots 

 may take place when required. Such 

 orange cases as these may be made of any 

 required size, and the sides may be filled 

 in with encaustic tiles of any pattern, 

 according to taste, from those portraying 

 the armorial bearings of the most ancient 

 family to the simplest and plainest tiles 

 used for ordinary purposes. 



Fig. 549 is a design from the same 



Fig. 549. 



respectable firm, but intended for trees or 

 plants of a much smaller size, and, therefore, 

 comes more directly under the denomina- 

 tion of an ornamental square flower-pot 

 or vase, but elevated upon a plinth sup- 

 ported at the four corners by feet, which 

 clear the bottom from the ground or plat- 

 form they are placed upon, and thereby 

 secure drainage and admit air to the roots. 

 The specimen sent us, from which our 

 figure is taken, is coloured, the ground of 

 the whole being green, the foliation and 

 band around the shield (represented in 

 our illustration as white,) is yellow, while 

 the shield itself is a dark red. Our taste 

 in this arrangement would be to make 

 the ground blue, the foliation and belt 

 yellow, and the shield bright red, which 

 would, according to Mr Owen Jones' 

 arrangement of colours, place the three 



primary ones in very nearly their proper 

 proportions to each other. Many other 

 elegant specimens have been sent us by 

 this firm : the two we have given may be 

 taken as a fair example of the whole. We 

 may here, however, remark that the pre- 

 judice existing amongst a portion of the 

 horticultural world against vases, tubs, 

 cases, or pots made of encaustic tiles or 

 hard burned pottery ware, is perfectly un- 

 founded, so long as there is ample drain- 

 age provided underneath them. 



Cast-iron boxes have been recommended 

 for their durability ; but they are objected 

 to on account of their tendency to rust in 

 the inside. Slate boxes are a more recent 

 invention ; and, as they last as long, nay 

 longer, than iron ones, and are not liable 

 to be affected by rust, they are much to 

 be preferred. In Italy, very handsome 

 earthenware vases are made for the smaller 

 trees; and these, being often of classic 

 forms, are better adapted for placing on 

 parapet walls, sides of steps, in the front 

 of balconies, &c, as they harmonise better 

 with the architectural forms that surround 

 them, and of which they are made to con- 

 stitute a part. 



The majority of the orangeries we have 

 seen on the Continent have opaque roofs, 

 and the older ones in England are also so 

 constructed, as that at Kew, and the two 

 at Hampton Court — which, by the way, 

 were originally designed as guard-rooms. 

 That at Windsor has one of the principal 

 terraces passing over it ; those at Stratton 

 Park, Tottenham Park, and Welbeck, 

 have glass roofs, as in ordinary conser- 

 vatories. That glass-roofed orangeries are 

 better fitted for the climate of Britain 

 there can be no doubt, the more especially 

 as the trees have to remain much longer 

 in them than in some other countries 

 where the season is sufficiently warm and 

 long for the young wood to become ma- 

 turely ripened, and, consequently, it re- 

 mains in a state of repose during most of 

 the period they are confined to their 

 gloomy abode. With us, on the contrary, 

 the four months during which they can 

 be safely trusted in the open air, form a 

 period much too short to enable them to 

 make their wood and ripen it sufficiently ; 

 consequently, when they are transferred 

 from light and air into a dark opaque- 

 roofed building, the transition is so great 

 that the energies of vegetation are checked; 



