52G 



THE PRACTICAL GARDENER 



tlie form best calculated for the admission of the greatest num- 

 ber of the sun's rays. And this has been " considered (by 

 some) as the ultimatum in regard to the principle and perfec- 

 tion of form;" while others, and by far the greater number, 

 still prefer the sloping roof, suiting the angle of elevation to 

 the purposes for which they are intended, and relying more 

 upon good management, than upon nice points of philosophi- 

 cal reasoning, as regards the form of the house. Sufficient 

 time has not yet elapsed, to prove the superiority of curviHnear 

 roofs over those that are straight, as affecting the plants that 

 may be placed under them. I.t, therefore,- remains as yet a 

 matter of taste only as to which of them has the best effect in 

 garden scenery, and as taste is governed by no fixed laws, it is 

 not likely to be speedily determined. In houses built expressly 

 for the cultivation of exotic flowering plants, " fancy may have 

 its full sway ;" and houses for those purposes may be built 

 upon principles of taste, with less injurious effects to the in- 

 mates ; but in houses built expressly for the purpose of ac- 

 celerating or cultivating exotic fruits, the principle of the de- 

 sign, as regards architectural beauty or taste, is of much less 

 importance than the consideration of the end in view. 



Some few curvilinear houses have been erected in this coun- 

 try, but they have chiefly been for the cultivation of flowering 

 plants, ^^'hcthcr it be that their expense in the first erection, 

 their inconveniency, or the efllect that they produce as a garden 

 structure, have operated as a drawback, is not certain, but they 

 are not rising much in repute. That their expense in the first 

 erection is considerably more than that of houses built upon 

 the more common principle cannot be denied, inasmuch as a 

 great part of tlie materials, if of wood, is cut to waste, and 

 their formation more difficult for the tradesman to execute; 

 and above all, if the sashes be made moveable, which should 

 be the case with all houses, whether they be ventilated by the 

 sashes, or by means of ventilators properly constructed, and 

 placed both in the front parapet-wall, and likewise near the 

 top of the back one, they are, in that case, incapable of bemg 

 made rain-proof. For houses entirely constructed for culti- 

 vating flowering plants, they may, with less impropriety, be 

 made of fanciful shapes and curvilinear roofs ; but for houses 



