290 THE COTTAGE GARDENER. February 5. 
j admiration for their beauty—confidence that gardeners 
! could make them answer—but very great doubts indeed 
\ as to the cheapness and economy which they ai-e to 
I introduce; not only in the first cost, but in future 
j management and saving, in heating and protecting 
mediums. The statements, enquiries, and praises that 
have reached us, dwell chiefly on the importance and 
economy, ultimately, of getting rid of these mediums 
altogether, while our opinion on the matter is, that 
success will mainly depend not upon the want, but the 
presence , of one or both of these mediums in addition to 
the glass. Our reasons we have not room here to give. 
That such beautiful walls will be erected we have no 
doubt; but the absence of a necessity for careful 
attention, or their being economical, will constitute, in 
our opinion, slender claims to their recommendation. 
I should like very well to enclose with glass present 
existing walls; but I would con over the matter a thou¬ 
sand times before I would pull such a wall down to put 
a glass one in its place. 
There are two matters here worthy of being noted 
down by those friends who, like many of our correspond¬ 
ents lately, wish to possess an economical house First, 
if you want advice, consult these pages, and any intelli¬ 
gent gardener or nurseryman near you, and most likely 
in all essential matters you will find perfect agreement, 
and on that advice you may safely act. But, secondly, 
if you want to see a model, where economy and fitness 
for a defined object are apparent, visit the nursery 
rather than the gentleman’s garden. How is this ? I 
will tell you. 
Until lately, and too much even now, very provokingly, 
when a house was to be built, the opinion of each and 
every one that could talk about columns and pilasters, 
and refined taste, was considered of far more importance 
than the ideas of the gai-dener, whose very experience 
would have pointed at once to the essentials. Hence 
many of the disappointments and hard up-hill work that 
gardeners have to contend with. Often a few cheap 
alterations would be of great service, but the faintest 
breathings about such filings are nipped in the bud, 
with something like “If once begun, there is no saying 
where the ending would be.” Splendid exceptions, fine 
models of houses, you will find in numerous private esta¬ 
blishments, but as the rule, look for these in a commer¬ 
cial establishment. It would be ruinous for a nursery¬ 
man to be encumbered with an unsuitable house. If 
your means allow, usd ornament and fine workmanship 
at will, but the primary principles cannot be departed 
from with impunity. I may state here that I have not 
yet seen these cheap houses at Mr. Rivers’s, but twelve 
months ago, last autumn, I saw a very large double span- 
! r 9 °fcd house, built in a similar way, and boarding for 
side walls, filled with young roses, at Mr. Lane’s, of 
Berkhampstead. This huge house was heated by one 
j furnace and a short flue, on a modification of the Pol- 
, ma ise principle, and though the temperature was high, 
I the atmosphere was pleasant. I would have mentioned 
! this useful economical house before, but I lost the notes 
j I made. One thing I may mention, the boards were 
coloured, or painted, a light colour, which is the best in 
! such circumstances for well-seasoned wood ; if green, it 
should not be painted at all. Tarring wood, in such cir¬ 
cumstances, is next door to a slow process of charring. 
As a sequel, and in consonance with these remarks, 
I here introduce the statement of a correspondent: “ I 
propose building a house to boil roots for my pigs, ten 
feet long, six feet wide, inside* measure. At the back of 
it, facing the south, I propose having a greenhouse the 
same size, the partition wall between the two houses to 
be nine feet six inches high, of four-inch brick-work. 
My copper will^ bo placed against the wall, and nearly 
in the centre of the building; the heat from the copper 
j and chimney to heat the gjreenhouse or striking-house; 
a steam pipe from the copper to run through the green¬ 
house if necessary; water in the boiler to be heated on 
frosty nights. The back wall of the root-house to be six 
feet in height, of stone; roof, slate; the front wall of 
the greenhouse the same height, part stone, part glass. 
Would such a plan be likely to answer? Would the 
heat from the boiling daily injure the plants ? Would 
the heat from the copper, the flue round it, and the 
chimney against the partition wall, be sufficient to heat 
the greenhouse?” 
Now, this is just such a case as may be found in many 
a well-managed farm, and the carrying out of which 
would be no slight boon to the female part of the house¬ 
hold. In general cases, the best way to heat a house is 
to have the means of doing so separately; but then, in 
all such cases as these, the extra first expense would be 
an insuperable objection. One little difficulty there is, 
arising from our correspondent not having perfectly 
made up his mind, whether to have a greenhouse or a 
striking or propagating-house. Let us glance at the first. 
And first, the heat from the boiler and chimney will not 
be sufficient for such a house in severe weather, if an 
average temperature of 45° in winter is to be maintained. 
If the glass goes up to the point of the roof, there will be 
about eighty feet of radiating surface, less the wood the 
roof contains. With roof fixed, and accommodation for 
wood ventilators, there will still be sixty or seventy feet, 
and then, with three feet-and-a-half to four feet upright 
glass in front, there would be thirty or forty feet more. 
Now, the chief means of counteracting the radiation of 
heat from this, would be the heat of the chimney, but 
only one side of that would affect the partition wall, 
and that is four inches thick. The chief part of the 
heat would spend itself in heating the boiling-house; 
and though, by this means, the partition wall would be 
comfortable, it would not be hot enough to keep sharp 
frost out. But without resorting to steam or hot water, 
could nothing else be done? We think there could. 
Instead of having the boiler in the middle, it may be 
placed near one end, and then, instead of taking the 
flue right up into the chimney, it might pass through 
the partition wall, along the bouse, at the back or other¬ 
wise, and ascend in a chimney at the farther end. If, 
for such a house, a damper was placed in the chimney, 
it would be seldom indeed a fire would be required at 
night. 
Then, again, without this Hue, instead of the four- 
inch brick-work, an iron plate might be fixed in the 
partition wall, against the boiler, and in addition, a close 
chamber, from six to twelve inches wide, might be 
formed round the boiler and its flues, with two openings 
from that chamber into the house; one at the bottom 
for the cold air entering, and one at the top for the issue 
of the hot air. If it should be necessary to keep on a 
small fire at night, then by using a closish lid for the 
boiler, a damper for the chimney, a fair portion of heat 
would be forced through the upper opening. 
But, secondly, would the heat from the chimney, and 
these means, injure the plants when the boiler was 
used all day ? In the case of the chimney, it would not, 
if air was given above it. In the case of the flue, 
vessels of water could be set on it, and more air would 
be required; and in the case of the chambers, the holes 
could be stopped at pleasure, and when opened, the air, 
if deemed necessary, might pass over vessels of water. 
Thirdly, would any of these means beat our proposed 
steam-pipe ? I think not, but with steam so applied, I 
have had no great experience. But for choking them 
with the roots, I would have advised two small pipes for 
circulating hot-water, with cocks or plugs, to put on or 
off heat at pleasure. As it is, care must be taken that 
some careless boy does not clog your steam-pipe. It 
should be placed near the top of the boiler, with means 
of shutting it up at pleasure. I would take the pipe 
