R 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
October 2. 
2nd. To enable the constructor to satisfy with cheap¬ 
ness, and, at the same time, yield a fair profit to himself 
and give satisfaction to you, work must he done expedi¬ 
tiously, hut its varied stages must not be hurried pell- 
mell on each other. Time must he given. For instance, 
a bricklayer will build your wall quicker with large 
joints of mortar than with small ones; the latter will 
not only be the neatest, hut, if well done, by far the 
most lasting, and free from damp. Putty may he made 
of the host whitening and oil, and used almost imme¬ 
diately; hut it will possess no adhesive powers, equal to 
that as well made and duly fermented in a heap for 
several weeks Whatever coats of paint the sashes had 
before, they may he painted again whenever the surface 
of the putty is dry; hut peeling and blistering can only 
he prevented when the putty has stood long enough to 
dry thoroughly. 
3rd. Whenever, for a sufficient reason to yourself, 
quality and quantity came into conllict, decide upon the 
former; for instance, light rafters, and their sash-bars of 
the best timber, will he more satisfactory than much 
larger ones of inferior unseasoned wood. 1 have already 
mentioned somewhere, that by using wooden ventilators, 
and having the sash-bars strong, and fifteen or eighteen 
incites apart, rafters, and consequently the cost of form¬ 
ing them, might ho dispensed with altogether. The 
same of bricks : for most purposes a low wall of four- 
inch work, of the best material, well laid in good mortar 
mixed with sifted coal-ashes, and, better still, the upper 
layers placed in cement, with or without nine-inch piers 
every nine feet, will be more satisfactory than a nine- 
inch wall of soft porous bricks. In building pits, the 
upper part need never he more than one course thick at 
the top, where means of heating the interior exist. 
4th. “ How deep shall I sink my pits in the ground?” 
This will depend on what you want them for. If great 
warmth is needed, and by drainage and rendering the 
ground for a yard or so round the pit waterproof, damp, 
when not wanted, is excluded, you may go from one to 
several feet down, as the deeper you go the less heat 
will be taken off by the sides of the pit by winds and 
radiation, and the easier will the glass be protected if 
you think necessary. Where the object is merely to 
protect from frost and damp in winter, I would have the 
floor of the pit above the surface of the ground, and that 
lloor well grouted with lime and gravel to prevent the 
damp rising. In such raised pits, hollow walls, as econo¬ 
mising heat and preventive of damp, are of great im¬ 
portance, especially in places where it would be unde¬ 
sirable to have any sort of litter against them in winter. 
A hollow nine-inch wall will require only a few more 
bricks than a solid four-inch wall, and a hollow fourteen- 
inch wall, only a few more than a solid nine-inch. Any 
bricklayer will show you, in a few minutes, how it is done, 
better than I could do with pages of letter-press. I have 
had a fourteen-inch hollow wall, and for coolness in 
summer and warmth in winter, and freedom from damp 
at all times, it is invaluable. Confined air is one of the 
| best non-conductors of caloric. 
5th. Expense .—This is a matter that almost every 
| correspondent inquires about, and it is one that I must 
leave almost unanswered; first, because I have had but 
little to do in the contracting line, and that little, con¬ 
trasted with others, satisfies me that, to have work 
satisfactorily done, you must give a fair price, and apply 
to tradesmen who have a character to sustain ; and, 
secondly, because expense is so much regulated by local 
| circumstances. For instance, the best bricks may now 
j be got for about thirty shillings per thousand; but if 
these are to be driven or conveyed ten or twenty miles, 
a considerable per centage must necessarily be added, 
which the purchaser is apt to forget. The same with 
respect to timber: sashes may be liad, well-made, glazed, 
1 and complete, from 7d. to ] 2d. per square foot, accord¬ 
ing to the size of the timber and the quality of the glass ! 
used, though from 8d. to lOd. might be deemed an 
average sum. But if you employed a carpenter or an 
architect in the country to make them by hand, he could 
not do it so cheapty as where the wood was cut by 
machinery; but then, even here, you would gain some¬ 
thing in saving the carriage from great distances. In 
these days of the division of labour, and where carriage 
is at all commodious, the most economical plan is to ! 
employ those who follow plant-house building as a j 
regular trade. I have been speaking of houses glazed 
with good lfi or sheet-glass. Where small, inferior glass 
is used it would be cheaper, but not so much as to ) 
counterbalance for the unseemly appearance, as what is 
gained in the cheapness of the material is mostly lost in 
the extra expense for glazing, &c. By calculating the 
number of square feet of glass, you can thus approach 
the expense it should cost. Then, again, as to heating, 
one shilling is about the current price for a running 
foot of four-inch cast metal pipe ; but if you have many 
elbows, that must be an extra, and so will be fixing 
and the carriage; the latter, if far from a railway or 
canal, will be heavy. Where there is no danger from 
being trampled on, &c., galvanised iron pipes would be 
cheaper and lighter, and, though not tried, I think they 
would answer, merely soldered together; and for grecu- 
houses, where a brisk, quick heat is oftener wanted than 
a stationary one, they would be accommodating, as the 
very thickness of the metal pipe that enables it to keep 
heat long, causes it to give off heat more slowly. For a 
greenhouse, the most of which was glass, a foot of pipe 
would be required for six square feet of glass; but for 
this, and many other matters connected with this subject, 
see articles in March and elsewhere. Since that time 
our advertising columhs have supplied a desideratum 
that was then felt, namely, a cheap boiler for small 
houses. By turning back to August 31, it will be seen 
that Messrs. Burbage and Ilealy supply boilers from 
10 in., that will warm 50 feet of 4-inch pipe at £ I 15s., 
up to those that will heat the largest structure. If any 
thing could be desired, it would be one capable of heat¬ 
ing houses of half the size; but as it is, I have no doubt 
that the boiler will now be substituted in many places 
where Hues were seriously thought about. For a con¬ 
stant heat, these are still not to be sneered at; but for i 
sudden heats, to meet sudden frosts in cool greenhouses, 
they are far inferior to the pipe with hot water. Finally, 
whatever is resolved upon, let all be clearly settled, and 
a fair estimate given, beforehand, guarding against 
everything in the shape of extras, than the paying 
for which, I know nothing more disagreeable and 
disheartening. 
I find I must, to meet inquiries, crave a little more 
space. “ Ridge and furrow roofs, and span-roofs — which I 
are best ? ” Both are best according to circumstances ; 
but in the contemplated width of thirty-four feet, with 
any thing like architectural ornament at the sides, the 
ridge and furrow would be the neatest; or you might 
have a double-hipped roof, with a gutter in the centre. 
Propa,gating House, fifteen feet long, twelve feet wide, 
seven feet high at the back, and six in front, “ what will 
be the first expense ? ” This you must calculate from 
the above. “ What sized boiler? ” This must be regu¬ 
lated by what you want to do with it. Are you to have 
fermenting matter for bottom-heat, and pipes for top- 
heat, or are you to have a tank for the first, or pipes sur¬ 
rounded with open material, such as brick rubbish? We 
do not clearly see through the plan, but, as far as we do, 
we cannot say much in its favour. The sashes are more 
than the full length, and that would be unhandy, unless 
you have ventilators in the front and back wall; and 
there is nothing shown of the internal arrangement; 
besides which, the slope of only one inch to a foot, from 
the back wall to the front, would, in the cold mornings 
