730 



TOWN AND SMALL SUBURBAN GARDENS. 



at a less cost for fitting up and fuel than 

 any boiler Mr Rivers has yet seen in 

 operation." 



"I have now four in full work," Mr 

 Rivers informs us ; " they have been 

 hitherto cast of three sizes — 14-inch, 16- 

 inch, and 18-inch. One of 14 inches, (14 

 inches square,) which holds just eight 

 quarts of water, is now heating an 

 orchard-house 40 feet by 12 : it does this 

 well, at a very small cost for fuel, coke, 

 &c. Another 16-inch boiler heats two 

 propagating pits with gutters, each 60 

 feet long by 6 feet, also most efficiently : 

 another also heats a propagating pit 60 

 feet long by 6 broad. These two last-men- 

 tioned boilers have superseded two of 

 those ribbed monstrosities which cost 

 four times the amount to 'set/ and 

 devoured four times the quantity of fuel 

 required by the above very simple form 

 of boiler. When used for heating houses, 

 the feeding and draught doors may be 

 outside, although I do not adopt this 

 plan ; but the stove should be, if possible, 

 inside, as the dry gentle heat of the stove, 

 with the moist heat from tanks or gutters, 

 forms a perfect combination." The cost 

 of these boilers is from £1, 10s. to £1, 15s. 

 each. 



In regard to structures suited to ama- 

 teurs of moderate pretensions, perhaps 

 there has been none so combining economy 

 of erection with fitness of purpose, at the 

 same time being portable if wished, (in 

 itself important to rent-paying owners,) 

 as those structures erected by Mr Rivers, 

 and known as orchard-houses, describ- 

 ed by him in his interesting little work 

 entitled " The Orchard-house ; or, the 

 Cultivation of Fruit Trees in Pots under 

 Glass. 1 ' To this work we would refer 

 amateurs, whether their intention be to 

 grow fruit-trees in pots set on the floor, 

 or flowering plants set, as usual, on benches 

 or stages. As the profits of the work are 

 to be applied to a very laudable purpose, 

 it will be supplied by the churchwardens, 

 Sawbridgeworth, Herts, on application to 

 them, enclosing thirty postage stamps. 

 Briefly, the whole may be described as a 

 huge garden-frame, constructed of timber, 

 covered with glass, and heated as above 

 described. It may be of any required 

 dimensions; and, to prevent its being 

 claimed as a fixture, we see no reason 

 why it should not stand on a course of 



bricks laid dry, to prevent the timbers 

 from rotting where they touch the ground. 

 In the present state of hothouse-building, 

 amateurs put themselves to a very unne- 

 cessary expense, and secure little advan- 

 tage, by building massive parapet walls, 

 and setting thereon a structure composed 

 of wall-plates, framed sashes, and rafters, 

 upon which there is about the same 

 amount of labour as the whole cost of 

 the materials. To give some idea of the 

 cost of such a structure, Mr Rivers has 

 given in his book a detailed estimate for 

 a "forcing-house 21 feet long, 12 feet 

 6 inches wide, 2 feet 9 inches high in 

 front, and 7 feet 6 inches at back." Total 

 cost, £17, 8s. 9d. 



Artificial heat is a rather dangerous 

 element in the hands of inexperienced 

 amateurs, as it is even with gardeners of 

 a certain class, more harm arising from 

 an injudicious use of it than the reverse. 

 We have given so many examples of 

 heating, even to the smallest (to be 

 useful) structures, that we can only re- 

 commend a modification of some of those, 

 which, if properly applied, will answer 

 all useful purposes, and may be applied 

 in all reasonable circumstances. Exclud- 

 ing cold by covering, and counteracting 

 damp by ventilation, a dry bottom, and 

 preventing the unnecessary application 

 of water during the dark and dead sea- 

 son, will do more for securing health and 

 vigour at the proper time to greenhouse 

 plants, than all the heat that could be 

 applied during winter, if these conditions 

 are not complied with. 



Villa gardens of the smallest size are 

 usually of the breadth of the front of the 

 house, their length corresponding with its 

 distance from the street, and consequently 

 are in form either squares or parallelo- 

 grams — forms, combined with their size, 

 affording the very minimum opportunity 

 of displaying taste in their arrangement. 

 All, therefore, must depend on the intro- 

 duction of such shrubs and flowers as will 

 adapt themselves to the situation, and 

 have some association with the sur- 

 rounding objects, which may be placed 

 in vases, or on raised platforms, which of 

 themselves would give a becoming cha- 

 racter, and elevate into greater impor- 

 tance the plants growing in them than 

 if they were merely rising out of the 

 ground. If the garden be well exposed 



