February 21, 18S9. ] 
143 
JOURNAL OF TI0FTTCULTURE AND 
COTTAGE GARDEFER 
A TTENTION has been repeatedly called during recent years to 
the fact that large numbers of plants admirably adapted for 
culture under glass in this country have been greatly neglected. 
The house space has instead been occupied with plants requiring 
considerably more heat, and consequently expense in management, 
■while in many cases they are not so ornamental or useful. Tropical 
plants, it is true, possess a distinctiveness of character that renders 
them especially interesting in a climate like ours. Particularly is 
this so with regard to those valued chiefly for their foliage, such 
as Palms, Ferns, Cycads, &c. Many of the flowering plants from 
warmer lands are Talso remarkable for a richness of floral beauty or 
a wealth of fragrance that is unsurpassed by the natives of colder 
climes. Still, with all these recommendations, there is no question 
that stove plants of a typical character have declined in popularity, 
and this is due, no doubt, mainly to two facts ; the first is the expense 
incurred in their cultivation, and the second the discomfort experi¬ 
enced by many persons who can only inspect the occupants of their 
houses by subjecting themselves to a kind of perpetual vapour bath. 
Possibly another reason may be found in the circumstance that the 
demand which some years since arose for foliage plants led to so 
many being introduced, that flowering plants have been to a great 
extent crowded out of stoves, too many of these structures 
now presenting a comparatively dull appearance, uninteresting, 
except for the variety of leaf form and colouring they contain, and 
these, after all, will not compensate for lack of flowers. Tropical 
Orchids probably owe much popularity to their supplying an ad¬ 
mitted deficiency, for a grand bank of Cattleyas provides a floral 
feast that all can enjoy. 
Greenhouses and conservatories of a conventional character have, 
of course, long occupied an important position amongst garden 
structures, but attempts have been made to combine most of their 
advantages in what have been termed cool houses on a small scale, or 
winter gardens on a large one. They possess recommendations of no 
mean order, for while heat can be entirely dispensed with for a good 
portion of the year, they at no time require much expenditure in 
fuel, for the exclusion of heat is the principal object, and this can 
be accomplished without any great difficulty. Another point in 
their favour is, that the smaller houses can be erected at a slight 
cost; an abundance of light and ample means of ventilation, with 
sufficient heating power to maintain a temperature of about 45° 
in winter, are all that require urgent consideration. 
In greenhouses of the ordinary kind one becomes tired of the 
open stages and formal array of pots, the latter frequently more 
conspicuous than the plants themselves, and in cool houses of the 
type referred to here much more diversity of style in arrangement 
can be introduced, and beyond that a material saving in labour can 
be effected. Excellent examples of what may be accomplished in 
this way were afforded by the houses in the Late Mr. Joad's garden 
at Wimbledon, and much of the interest of the place centred in 
them. Similar experiments are occasionally brought under notice, 
but there is yet ample room for an advance in this direction. 
Scores of plants in greenhouses or conservatories are annually 
ruined by being placed on open stages over the hot-water pipes ; and 
in severe weather, when extra artificial heat becomes necessary, 
they are partially roasted, a process which very few, even of the 
most hardy, can endure. When a moisture-holding material is 
No. 452.—You XVIII., Third Series. 
provided upon which the pots can rest a step is taken in the right 
direction, and considerable advantage accrues to the plants, but still 
more can be done by making beds of suitable soil in which to plant 
out the permanent occupants of the house. Not only is labour 
saved in watering by this means, but under such conditions some 
which were quite unsatisfactory in pots make surprising progress, 
and develope their characters in the best possible style. It is 
equally applicable to the smallest of bulbs, and the largest of the 
Tree Ferns, Palms, or Araucarias which have a place in winter 
gardens, and in all cases the plants are less likely to suffer from 
any temporary neglect in attention to watering. 
Beds in small houses can be raised near the glass if necessary; 
they can be made in separate divisions, having in each the special 
soil required by their intended occupants, and it is only needful in 
the first place to see that adequate provision be made for drainage. 
Rockeries can be introduced at intervals, and besides diversifying 
the appearance of the house these are useful in affording a variety 
of sites for different plants. Taste can be exercised in numerous 
ways, and with sufficient roof climbers such a house con be easily 
rendered highly attractive and useful. 
As to the plants suited for cool houses a volume might be 
written, for the list is an extremely long one. The flora of the 
warm and cool temperate zone in both hemispheres is very large 
and most diversified, comprising thousands of plants that will not 
succeed out of doors in this country except in the most favoured 
districts. Many delicate plants also that are reputedly hardy are 
so much battered by the aveather out of doors that their beauty is 
effectually destroyed, and it is only under glass that they can be 
seen in iheir true condition. From Australia large numbers of 
both flowering and foliage plants are obtained that are well fitted 
for a cool house with a minimum temperature of 45' to 50". Then, 
too, from the Cape of Grood Hone multitudes of beautiful bulbs are 
secured that alone are worthy of a house devoted to their culture, 
and to these may be added the numerous Mesembryanthemums 
from the same district, many being beautiful though much- 
neglected plants. From China and Japan come many other 
interesting natives too tender for the outdoor garden, or at least 
much safer and more satisfactory with the protection of glass. 
Then, too, the warmer parts of the United States and California 
yield numberless lovely plants that can be equally well grown in a 
cool house, though soon failing in many gardens in borders. The 
south of Europe and northern Africa may be instanced as other 
districts from which can be drawn supplies for such houses, and it 
will be seen that there is no lack of material with which to adorn 
them. With a division across a house of the kind described one 
section could be devoted to the cool Orchids, the Odontoglossums, 
and Masdevallias, with other popular members of the same family 
which need a cool temperature but a constant humidity that is 
neither requisite nor beneficial for most of the other occupants 
from drier regions. Then, also, with them can be associated many 
graceful Ferns that thrive under similar conditions. 
It is regretable that more examples of these cool houses are not 
found in private gardens, but it has been fully proved in some that 
they are the most interesting and generally appreciated, while at 
Kew the temperate house has long shown what can be done in 
this direction, the small house in the herbaceous plant depart¬ 
ment being a more recent addition of the same character. 
In similar cases to the last named no artificial heat is required, 
as the house can be supplied from frames or other houses, being 
chiefly employed for the early flowering hardy plants or those 
which are soon injured out of doors. Sometimes, also, they can be 
had in flower in advance of their natural time, not by any attempt 
at absolute forcing, which causes a weakly drawn appearance in such 
plants that is quite unsatisfactory, but by placing them in other 
houses or frames where frost is excluded. Daffodils, for instance, 
are easily prepared in this way, and it is only quite recently that 
their merits have become recognised for such purposes. At the 
No. 2103.—Von. LXXX.. Old Series. 
