\ 
GRI 
G R E- 
As to the length of thefe houfes, that muft be pro- 
portioned to the number of plants they are to contain, 
or the fancy of the owner ; but their depth fhould 
never be greater than their height in the clear, which 
in fmall,^ or middling houfes, may be fixteen or 
eighteen feet, but for large ones, from twenty to 
twenty-four feet, is a good proportion •, for if the 
Green-houfe is long, and too narrow, it will have a 
bad appearance both within and without, nor will it 
contain fo many plants, if proper room be allowed 
for paffing in front, and on the backfide: of the Hands 
on which the plants are placed ; and on the other hand, 
if the depth of the Green-houfe is more than twenty- 
four feet, there muft be more rows of plants placed 
to fill the houfe, than can with conveniency be reached 
in watering and cleaning ^ nor are houfes of too great 
depth fo proper for keeping of plants, as thofe of 
moderate fize. 
The windows in front fhould extend from about one 
foot and a half above the pavement, to within the 
fame diftance of the deling, which will admit of a 
cornice round the building, over the heads of the 
windows. As it is neceflary to have thefe windows fo 
long, it will be impoffible to make them in proportion 
as to their breadth •, for if in the largeft buildings the 
fafhes are more than feven, or feven feet and a half 
broad, they will be fo heavy and troublefome to move 
up and down, as to render it very difficult for one 
perfon to perform •, befides, their weight will occafion 
their foon decaying. There is alfo another incon- 
venience in having the windows too broad, which is 
that of fixing proper fhutters to them, in fuch a 
manner as that they may fall back clofe to the piers, 
fo as not to be incommodious, or when open to ob- 
ftrud any part of the rays of light from reaching the 
-plants. The piers between thefe windows fhould be 
as narrow as poffible to fupport the building, for which 
reafon I fhould chufe to have them of ftone, or of 
hard well-burnt bricks ; for if they are built with fine 
rubbed bricks, thofe are generally fo foft, that the 
piers will require to be made thicker, and the building 
will be lefs ftrong, efpecially if there are any rooms 
over the Green-houfe ; which is what I would always 
advife, as being of great ufe to keep the froft out in 
very hard winters. If thefe piers are made of ftone, I 
would advife them to be two feet and a half in dia- 
meter, worked as columns cylindrical, whereby the 
rays of the fun will not be taken off, or obftrufled 
by the corners of the piers, which it would be if they 
were fquare ; but if they are built with bricks, it will 
be proper to make them three feet in front, other- 
wife they will be too weak to fupport the building ; 
thefe I would alfo advife to be floped off toward the 
infide to admit the fun. 
At the back of the Green-houfe there may be erefted 
a houfe for tools, and for many other purpofes, which 
will be extremely ufeful, and will alfo prevent the froft 
from entering the houfe on the backfide, fo that the 
wall between thefe need not be more than two bricks 
and a half in thicknefs; whereas were it quite expofed 
behind, it ftiould be at leaft three bricks, or three and 
a half in thicknefs •, and by this contrivance, if you 
are willing to make a handfome building, and to have 
a noble room over the Green-houfe, you may make 
the room over the tool-houfe, and carry up the ftair- 
cafe in the back, fo as not to be feen in the Green- 
houfe, and hereby you may have a room twenty-five 
or thirty feet in width, and of a proportionable length ; 
and under this ftair-cafe there ftiould be a private door 
into the green-houfe, at which the gardener may enter 
In hard frofty weather, when it will not be fafe to open 
any of the glaftes in the front. The floor of the Green- 
houfe, which fhould be laid either \yith Bremen 
fquares, Purbeck ftone, or broad tiles, according to 
the fancy of the owner, muft be raifed two feet above 
the furface of the ground whereon the houfe is placed, 
which in dry ground will be fufficient ; but if the fi- 
tuation is moift and fpringy, and thereby fubjeft to 
damps, it fhould be raifed at leaft three feet above the 
furface ; and if the whole is arched with low brick 
arches under the floor, it will be of great fervice in 
preventing the damps rifing in winter, which are often 
very hurtful to the plants, efpecially in great thaws, 
when the air is often too cold to be admitted into the 
houfe, to take off the damps; Under the floor, about 
one foot from the front, I would advife a flue of one 
foot in width, and two feet deep, to be carried the 
whole length of the houfe, which may be returned 
againft the back wall, and carried up in proper fun- 
nels adjoining to the tool-houfe, three times over each 
other, by which the fmoke may pafs off. The fire- 
place may be contrived at one end of the houfe, and 
the door at which the fuel is put in, as alfo the afh- 
grate, may be contrived to open into the tool-houfe, 
fo that it may be quite hid from the fight, and be in 
the dry, and the fuel may be laid in the fame Hied, 
whereby it will always be ready for ufe. 
I fuppofe many people will be furprifed to fee me di- 
rect the making of flues under a Green-houfe, which 
has been difufed fo long, and by moft people thought 
of ill confequence, as indeed they have often proved, 
when under the direction of unfkilful managers, who 
have though t it neceflary, whenever the weather was cold 
to make fires therein ; but however injurious flues may 
have been under luch management, yet when fkilfully 
looked after they will be found of very great fervice ; 
for though perhaps it may happen, that there will be 
no neceffity to make any fires in them for two or three 
years together, as when the winters prove mild there 
will not, yet in very hard winters they will be ex- 
tremely ufeful to keep out the froft, which cannot be 
effedted any other way, but with great trouble and 
difficulty. 
Withinfide of the windows, in front of the Green- 
houfe, you fhould have good ftrong fhutters, which 
fhould be made with hinges to fold back, that they 
may fall back quite clofe to the piers, that the rays 
of the fun may not be obftrudted thereby. Thefe 
fhutters need not be above an inch and a half thick, 
or little more when wrought, which if made to join 
clofe, will be fufficient to keep out our common froft j 
and when the weather is fo cold as to endanger the 
freezing in the houfe, it is but making a fire in the 
oven, which will effedtually prevent it ; and without 
this conveniency it will be very troublefome, as I have 
often feen, where perfons have been obliged to nail 
mats before their windows, or to fluff the hollow fpace 
between the fhutters, and the glafs with Straw, which 
when done, is commonly fuffered to remain till the 
froft goes away-, which if it fhould continue very long, 
the keeping the Green-houfe clofely fhut up, will 
prove very injurious to the plants ; and as it fre- 
quently happens, that we have an hour or two of the 
fun-fhine in the middle of the day, in continued frofts, 
which is of great fervice to plants, when they can en- 
joy the rays thereof through the glaftes, fo when there 
is nothing more to do than to open the fhutters, which 
may be performed in a very fhort time, and as foon 
fhut again when the fun is clouded, the plants may 
have the benefit thereof whenever it appears j whereas, 
where there is fo much trouble to uncover, and as 
much to cover again, it would take up the whole time 
in uncovering and fhutting them up, and thereby the 
advantage of the fun’s influence would be loft. Be-* 
fides, where there is fo much trouble required to keep 
out the froft, it will be a great chance if it be not 
negledled by the gardener, for if he be not as fond 
of preferving his plants, and as much in love with 
them ^s his mafter, this labour will be thought too 
great py him ; and if he takes the pains to cover the 
glafte^ up with mats, &c. he will not care to take 
them away again until the weather alters, fo that the 
plants will be fhut up clofe during the whole con- 
tinuance of the froft. 
There are fome people who commonly make ufe of 
pots filled with charcoal to fet in their Green-houfe in 
very fevere frofts, but this is very dangerous to the 
perfons who attend thefe fires, and I have fometimes 
known they have been almoft fuffocated therewith, 
and at the fame time they are very injurious to the 
6 K plants 5 
