THE GREEN'-HOUSE. 221 



that no degree of cold should ever jeopardize the 

 safety or health of the plants. These particulars 

 are essentially necessary for the well-being of 

 gTeen-house plants, kept, as they always are, in 

 pots, and ranged on a graduated stage oF shelves 

 sloping from the back to the front ; or, if the 

 house be glazed all round, on a stage sloping 

 both ways from the centre. Or, instead of a 

 stage of shelves, a platform three feet from the 

 floor occupies the middle of the house, on which 

 the plants are placed according to their height, 

 each being easily seen from the path w^hich sur- 

 rounds the whole. Between the path and the 

 outside walls, grated shelves are placed, usually 

 over the flues, to serve as benches on which to 

 set the smallest plants, or pots of forced flowers. 

 Except orange trees, or very tall plants, none 

 are placed on the floor ; it is an advantage to the 

 plants to be near the glass, so as they are not 

 too much above the eye of the spectator. 



The flre-place is usually in a shed behind the 

 house, the shed being a useful appendage for 

 many purposes connected with the management 



