224 
HORTICULTURAL BUILDINGS. 
place we visited last summer, there were ten 
dishes of potatoes shown by one man ; and it 
so happened they were for the most part the 
finest, and he became entitled to the few 
prizes there were for that subject, while many 
other deserving men went without. There 
ought to be a large number of prizes, and a 
distinct provision that no man should show 
more than one exhibition of a sort ; that is, if 
there are ten prizes for round potatoes, and 
ten for kidney potatoes, a man should only 
show one dish of round, and one dish of 
kidney. Again, suppose there be ten prizes; 
the head prize might be 5s., the next 4.s. 6d. f 
the next 4s., and so on down to 6d. In this 
way, a few subjects highly useful to the 
cottager may be encouraged, and a good deal 
of that frippery which is of no real use, and 
to produce which there is neither talent nor 
industry wanted, may be dispensed with. 
HORTICULTURAL BUILDINGS. 
Perhaps there has not been at any period 
within the last few years so many persons 
newly engaged in gardening ; and certainly, 
not for a much longer period, so many con- 
templating, or actually engaged in, the con- 
struction of Horticultural buildings. That 
some persons make this branch of the business 
their chief occupation is well known ; and 
there are those who would fancy from this 
circumstance, that these would be much lower 
in their prices than the builders of ordinary 
houses. Now this is a wrong impression ; 
manifestly doing, however unintentionally, an 
injustice to a large body of skilful men. There 
is not a single point in the construction of a 
hot-house, stove, green-house, conservatory, 
or other plant-house, which is not as simple 
as the most ordinary carpenter's, bricklayer's, 
and plumber and glazier's work. There is, 
therefore, nothing to prevent an ordinary 
builder from executing the work as cheap and 
as well as anybody. All he wants is, the 
dimensions of the space you require inside, in 
height, width, and length ; the general form, 
"whether it is to be a ridge roof, or a lean-to 
roof, or a fancy iron one, and what size you 
like the panes of glass. The repeal of the 
duty on glass will have so reduced the price 
of that material, as to encourage everybody to 
have at least a green-house ; and this induces 
us to publish a few remarks by a practical 
gardener upon the subject of Horticultural 
buildings. We do not preach the doctrine of 
" every man his own builder," but we do 
recommend people to be their own directors 
as to the room they require, and certain 
other peculiarities, of which they must be the 
best judges; and so far as the uses of each 
of the different varieties of plant-houses go, 
the hints will be found useful, and may be 
depended on to answer their several purposes. 
The Stove. — This rather inaptly-named 
house is understood to be built upon a plan 
which enables us to give a much stronger heat 
than any other description of house requires ; 
and, independently of being constructed with 
a means of conveying a larger quantity of 
heat than other houses, it is always understood 
to have an inner apartment, in which tan, or 
other fermenting matter, is placed, to give 
bottom heat to pots which are plunged in it, 
or placed on it. The building is constructed 
to give all the combined advantages of a tan- 
pit, and a highly-heated building. The most 
common, and, until we have seen better, we 
shall be apt to think the most effective, plan, 
is that of some of our ancestors. A house 
built in all respects like a lean-to green-house, 
say the width from back to front (although 
there is nothing to limit the size in airy way) 
