424 



PLANT-HOUSES. 



gold-coloured metal, the bases being of 

 polished wood lined with metal, and moving 

 on castors ; they are glazed with the best 

 sheet glass, and each has a door at the end. 

 Very fitting ornaments, we would say, for 

 any drawing-room. 



When the Wardian case was first 

 brought into notice, an opinion got abroad 

 that they must be constructed so as to be 

 perfectly air-tight, as if plants, more than 

 animals, could exist without that vital 

 element. They are in general fitted pretty 

 close, but by no means air-tight. The 

 principle which governs the health of 

 the plants in them is purely mechanical ; 

 the water which is in the soil or medium 

 the plants are set in, is turned into vapour 

 by the heat of the sun or room during the 

 day, and becomes condensed upon the in- 

 side of the glass, and is returned again, as 

 soon as the glass becomes so cold as to 

 condense the vapour on its under surface. 

 This process of evaporation and conden- 

 sation goes on day and night, governed 

 by the temperature of the room the case 

 is placed in ; and under these conditions 

 many plants luxuriate in an astonishing 

 degree. 



Fig. 584 represents a Wardian case 



Fig. 584. 



mounted on a stand, with castors, for the 

 more readily moving it about. The di- 

 mensions are as follows. The stand a is 

 22 inches in height, fitted with a groove 

 all round for the reception of the base b, 

 which is inches deep ; the glazed top 

 or cover c is 19|- inches high, making the 



whole height of the case 4 feet 2 inches. 

 The sides of the box are of mahogany, 1^- 

 inch in thickness, and the bottom of deal, 

 1^-inch thick, well framed and dovetailed 

 together, and strengthened with brass 

 bands, as seen in the sketch, and with two 

 cross bars beneath. The upper edge of 

 the box is furnished with a groove for the 

 reception of the glass roof, and this groove 

 is lined with brass, to prevent the wood 

 from rotting. The roof is composed of 

 brass, and glazed with the very best flat- 

 tened crown glass. The brass astragals 

 are grooved for the reception of the glass, 

 and not rebated, as in ordinary glazing. 

 The length of the case is 3 \ feet by 2 feet 

 in breadth. Eyed studs are cast on the 

 inner side of the ridge astragal, about half 

 an inch in length, for the purpose of sus- 

 pending small orchids or ferns from the 

 roof. The inside of the box is lined with 

 copper, and at one of the corners an aper- 

 ture is formed into which a copper tube, 

 2 inches long, is inserted, and furnished 

 with a cock for withdrawing any super- 

 fluous moisture that may at any time 

 accumulate within the box. One of the 

 panes in the roof is made to draw out, 

 being less firmly set in the groove of the 

 astragals — this provision is necessary for 

 the occasional arrangement of the plants, 

 but the general arrangement is made by 

 lifting the top off entirely. This is, how- 

 ever, seldom necessary, as plants both in 

 pots plunged in moss, and planted out in 

 proper soil, and well drained below, have 

 been kept in a healthy state from four to 

 nine months without removal. 



The necessity for adopting window 

 gardens, Wardian cases, or something 

 equivalent, by those who are fond of 

 having plants in their rooms, will, we 

 think, be strengthened by the following 

 remarks by Professor Lindley : — " What, 

 it may be asked, is there in the air of a sit- 

 ting-room which plants are thus unable to 

 support 1 Can anything be purer than the 

 atmosphere of an English drawing-room ? 

 Perhaps not ; but it is this purity which 

 in part inflicts the injury. Plants would 

 thrive better if it were otherwise — but it is 

 more especially its dryness. Let any one 

 measure the moisture of a sitting-room 

 and the open air, and he will see how great 

 a difference prevails. We have," says the 

 learned Professor, " this moment tested it 

 by Simmon's hygrometer : in the open air 



