CUCUMBER AND MELON HOUSES. 



461 



and 12 inches distant from it. By a 

 slight alteration in admitting the cold air 

 at front, and by narrowing the bed in 

 which the plants grow, which could well 

 be afforded, a passage 2| feet wide might 

 be made along the front and ends, which 

 would greatly facilitate the operations of 

 culture. Again, the whole of the surface 

 under the bed might be formed into a 

 tank 4 inches deep, and thus a much 

 greater amount of heat be secured than is 

 given out by the two pipes and water 

 gutter. In this case, however, a separate 



boiler would be required for the tank, it 

 being so much lower than the hot-water 

 pipes. 



The cucumber and melon houses erected 

 by us at Poltalloch will be understood by 

 a glance at the annexed ground-plan and 

 section, figs. 651 and 652. These houses 

 are identical in size and arrangements. 

 They are both heated by one boiler, n. 

 placed at the end of the wall which sepa- 

 rates them, and supplying both top and 

 bottom heat. The pipes branch off from 

 the boiler to the right hand and to the 



Fig. 652. 



left, in both cases circulating under the 

 beds in which the plants are grown. They 

 are placed in a vault formed, as will be 

 seen by the section, of Caithness pave- 

 ment, a, 2 inches thick, and polished on 

 the side next the passage, as well as along 

 the top, and 6 inches down the inner side, 

 which is as far as the surface of the stone 

 is seen, set on edge to form the two sides 

 of the passage, and resting on the polished 

 pavement of the same description which 

 forms the floor. The top of the vault is 

 also formed of Caithness pavement, b b, 

 jointed but not polished, in large pieces, 

 and supported by being let into the side 

 walls at c c, and by resting on the 10-inch 

 brick piers d d d d. This also forms the 

 bottom of the beds of soil e e, in which 



the melons and cucumbers are planted. 

 The hot-water pipes flow and return 

 under the vaults, and are set clear of the 

 floor by being placed on cast-iron chairs 

 set upon brick piers, as shown at ffff: 

 these afford bottom heat, which is regu- 

 lated by allowing it, when too great, to 

 pass upwards into the house through the 

 3-inch pipes g g. Atmospheric heat is 

 obtained by a single flow-pipe, brought up 

 at the ends nearest the boiler, and made 

 to flow along the top of the side walls, as 

 at h h : this pipe is connected with the 

 pipes below, as shown by the bends in 

 section. 



The, plants are trained under the glass 

 to a wire trellis, as well as over the iron 

 arches which support the ventilators at 



