The Fern House. 
35 
looks west; letter C north; the garden-walk passes by 
the side of the house along the line A, and past the gap 
B ; and as long as that remains a gap, it is abominably 
ugly. It is twelve years ago since I filled up the gap B 
with a lean-to greenhouse, with the slope of the roof 
looking west, and the door on the side which looks 
north. Fig. 1 is the back wall of the house, fig. 2 the 
end wall, fig. 3 the door, fig. 4 the front. This was at 
first used as a small show-house, for, being easy of 
access, always in sight, and in a shady position, it served 
the double purpose of displaying a few good things in 
a place where it was convenient to see them, and also, 
by reason of its cool, shady position, keeping them 
longer in perfection than they would have remained in 
