410 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



it is span-roofed, the ends pointing north 

 and south. Tables of blue slate, feet 

 broad and 3| feet in height, run all round 

 the sides, and in the middle is a covered 

 pit, in 3 divisions, upon which the larger 

 specimens of plants stand. The boiler is 

 placed at the north end, and the entrance, 

 which consists of five Gothic arches, en- 

 riched with stained glass at the top, occu- 

 pies the south end. The roof is supported 

 by iron columns e. Ventilation is effected 

 by openings in the side walls a a. The 

 heating is by hot-water pipes b b, running 

 parallel with the passage c, and returning 

 again under the top ones. Under the 

 front platforms are placed flues d d, to be 

 used in addition to the pipes when re- 

 quired. In the centre pit are placed two 

 cisterns to receive the water which falls 

 on the roof; also a tan-pit, and another di- 

 vision of it covered with gravel, upon which 

 the plants are set. The foot passages are 4 

 feet broad, and pass all round the house. 

 The side platforms are laid with a slight 

 inclination towards the front walls, by 

 means of which water spilt on them, while 

 watering, runs off in that direction, in- 

 stead of towards the foot passage, which 

 is by this means kept quite dry. Climbers 

 of the choicest kinds are planted in small 

 beds in the middle platform, and are 

 trained over the roof both for ornament 

 and shade. The roof is of double sashes, 

 a plan not unfrequent on the Continent, 

 where glass is cheap, and the winters are 

 so much colder than with us. Experi- 

 ence has satisfied Mr Booth that such a 

 mode of roofing has many advantages ; it 

 economises fuel, an article expensive at 

 Hamburg ; and it also affords a moderate 

 degree of shade during summer, where the 

 sun's power is much greater than with us, 

 and where, without shading of some kind or 

 other, few plants, orchideous ones in parti- 

 cular, would prosper under its direct rays. 



The orchid house of Mr Lyon, of 

 Ladiston, Mullingar, is exhibited in the 

 annexed diagrams, figs. 563, 564. This 

 gentleman, who is possessed of the best 

 private collection of Epiphytes in Ireland, 

 has published a work on their culture, and 

 given a plan of his house, a copy of which 

 he has kindly presented us with. From 

 it we learn that the house is of the span- 

 roofed form, 45 feet long, and 16 feet 

 wide. The end at which the entrance is 

 placed is five-sided, a y and forms a lobby 



or ante-room, intended for visitors to re- 

 main in till sufficiently cooled to prevent 

 Fig. 563. 



danger by catching cold in leaving a 

 heated atmosphere and going out into a 

 colder one. From this, and Mr Lyon's 

 directions for culture, we learn that he con- 



Fig. 564. 



tinues to maintain a degree of temperature 

 much higher than most good cultivators 

 now approve of. The side walls are 5^ feet 

 high, without side lights ; and in them are 

 placed ventilators, eleven in number in 

 each side, and one also in each gable. The 

 sashes are fixed, and of the whole length 

 of the side of the roof. The plants are 

 arranged on stone shelves along the sides 

 b b, and also on a stage c, occupying the 

 middle, formed of pavement, and three 

 shelves on each side in height, as well as 

 at the ends; the centre one being hol- 

 lowed an inch deep. Mr Lyon, approv- 

 ing of the system followed by the late 

 Mr Clowes of Broughton Hall — namely, 

 of keeping his house at nearly the point 

 of saturation during the period of the 

 plants' growth — has arranged it so that 



