402 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



opening the doors, and also the ridge, as 

 shown in the cross section. The whole 

 glass part of the roof is fixed, and com- 

 posed of a continuous range of astragals, 

 without rafters or framed sashes. The 

 ends are half hexagons. The heating 

 may either be by flues or hot-water pipes ; 

 in either case to be under the floor, but 

 enclosed in an air-chamber — the heat 

 being admitted into the house through 

 brass registers sunk in the stone pave- 

 ment, the whole floor being covered with 

 that material, and the plants arranged 

 in lines or in groups, so that a free pro- 

 menade may be left between the rows or 

 groups. Very little heat is required for 

 the orangery — merely the exclusion of 

 frost. The general entrances should be 

 at the two ends. The stoke-hole and fur- 

 nace are to be in a vault under ground, 

 and placed near the centre of the house. 

 The smoke is to be carried away through 

 a flue enclosed within a larger one, and 

 made to discharge itself where it will be 

 as little seen as possible. 



The orange'ry at Nuneham Courtenay, 

 laid out, as well as the original flower 

 garden, by Mason, was of humble pre- 

 tensions, and consisted of a roof, front, 

 and two ends, all of which were portable. 

 "When removed in spring, the ground 

 between the trees (for they were planted 

 in the soil) was turfed over, the whole 

 then appearing as a group of orange trees 

 growing on the lawn. These trees, as 

 well as the protecting frame, have long 

 ceased to exist. 



The first orange trees seen in England 

 were those at Beddington in Surrey ; and 

 according to Bray, (vide " Memoirs," vol. i. 

 p. 432,) " they were planted in the open 

 ground, and secured in winter only by a 

 tabernacle of boards and staves." They 

 are said by the same authority to have 

 been large and goodly trees, bearing 

 abundance of fruit, and to have stood one 

 hundred and twenty years. 



The most perfect form of an orangery 

 would be that of a highly architectural 

 conservatory, glass on all sides, from the 

 plinth at the ground to the roof glazed 

 with plate glass in large pieces. The 

 whole of the sides should be made so that 

 they can be removed during summer, like 

 the conservatory at Grovefield, fig. 511 

 — the house standing isolated upon an 

 open lawn. The roof we would glaze 



with obscured glass — not Hartley's pa- 

 tent, which, however good for pits and 

 houses of culture, would be ill adapted 

 for houses of the highest pretensions, on 

 account of the rough and coarse appear- 

 ance of that glass. In regard to heating, 

 little more is required except the exclu- 

 sion of frost ; but, for greater elegance, 

 we would carry the hot-water pipes under 

 the floor, imbedded in non-conducting 

 material, and place highly ornamental 

 vases through the house, into which the 

 heated water would flow, and give out its 

 heat by radiation. These would associate 

 well with the ornamental tubs or boxes in 

 which the trees should be grown ; and 

 during summer, when not required for 

 affording heat, a small tree growing in a 

 pot may be placed in each. 



The orangery, like the conservatory, is 

 to be regarded more as a structure for 

 the display of plants already grown than 

 as one for mere culture ; it follows that, 

 in its details, it should be rendered as 

 perfect, and as well fitted at all times for 

 a lounge or promenade, as the saloon or 

 gallery in the mansion. Hence the pro- 

 priety of having the trees grown in cases 

 of a very different character, as regards 

 artistic taste, from the monstrous tubs 

 and cubical boxes which we see in houses 

 of this kind, and also that something 

 better than a mud or tile floor should be 

 provided. There is, for this purpose, 

 nothing better than polished Portland 

 pavement kept perfectly white, like the 

 passages in the Royal Gardens at Frog- 

 more. Polished Caithness pavement, in 

 large slabs, oiled after being laid down, 

 would form no bad substitute for black 

 marble, — and next, and best of all, are the 

 encaustic tiles of Minton laid in orna- 

 mental patterns. 



§ 4. — HEATH-HOUSES. 



As no section of cultivated exotics 

 requires a greater degree of both sun, 

 light, and air, than the heaths, so no struc- 

 ture is so well adapted for them as a 

 span-roofed house having the ends point- 

 ing towards the north and south. There 

 are details also in the construction of 

 a span-roofed house that require especial 

 notice in order that it may be completely 

 fitted for this purpose. That ventilation 

 may be the more complete, it is advisable 



