February 6. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
353 
Now, supposing the house to be twenty-three feet 
long, there is not a possible rule that can be given as to 
the most desirable width and height of the house, 
further than the wishes of the proprietor, and what he 
wishes chiody to grow in such a house. What would 
bo a very common and a very convenient form for such 
a house twenty-three feet long, would bo a width inside 
of from ten to twelve feet; height in front six feet; 
height at hack ten or eleven feet. Suppose that two- 
and-a-half to three feet of this front height is a nine- 
inch wall, and that this wall goes round the ends of tho 
house, and that all above that is wood and glass, and 
you have the outline of the house at once. Suppose 
that along the front of the house, just level with the 
brick-work, you have a shelf some eighteen inches in 
width, then a path of three feet, and the back part of 
the house supplied with a stage, or stand, or pit, and 
the whole thing stands before you. A door, three feet 
wide, in each or one end, eighteen inches or so from 
tho front, just to escape the shelf when opened, reveals 
the whole affair as well as the finest copper-plate 
drawing; as it will at onco be obvious, that from the 
height in front to the height of the back wall will bo 
the hypotheuuso line for the rafters and their sashes, 
and that will be from eleven to thirteen feet, according 
as the back wall risos less or more above the front ono. 
Having got the brick-work up for such a form of a 
house, the next thing is to get a wall-sill all round, ex¬ 
cept at the doors. That at tho end may ho of much 
smaller dimensions; but that at front should bo, at least, 
good wood six inches wide and throe inches deep. 
Studs should be mortised into tho wall-plate at least 
four inches deop and two-and-a-half inches wide, and as 
many of them as will permit ono being at each ond, 
and the others divided so as to receive the five or sis 
sashes between them, the studs being so far cut in on 
the outside as to allow the sashes to fall in between 
them* These studs should again be mortisod into a 
wall-plate at tho necessary height, some six inches by 
four or five, and on this wall-plate the rafters are to be 
fixed in front, and at the back wall behind. Tho rafters 
cannot well bo less than six inches by three, the depth 
inside being rounded off not to obstruct the light. This 
would be quite sufficient if the sashes were in one piece, 
or if there were two pieces in the width of the roof, and 
only the upper one was intended to slide. If both were 
intended to be moved, the rafters woidd require to be 
an inch more in depth, as the top sash would require a 
cut in the side of the rafter of three-quarters-of-an-inch 
in width, and two inches in depth, in which to bo se¬ 
cured and slide freely; while the lower sash would 
require just as much more, in order that tho top saali 
may pass freely over it. This, it will be perceived, with 
the exception of the portion of the rafter left in the 
centre, takes away four inches of its depth at front. If 
the sashes of such a roof for a twelve-foot-wide house 
were fixed, the rafters need not be so strong; but, then, 
means must be taken to ventilate at tho point of the 
roof, or in the back wall, by other means ; and if such a 
thing can be easily done, as will be seen by-aud-by, 
there would be no necessity for rafters at all. 
For such a house, live or six sashes would be neces¬ 
sary, and the ends and sides of these should be made 
of good wood not much less than two inches square. 
The front pieces may be two iuches-aud-a-half broad 
and one inch-and-a quarter deep; so that the water from 
the glass may pass easily over it. The sash-bars, for 
glass averaging sixteen ounces to the foot, should not be 
less than an inch-and-a-half in depth, and a little less 
than one inch at the widest part; one-third of its depth, 
where the flat groove is cut out of the glass, to be bedded 
on. That flat part should be between a quarter and 
half-of-an-inch on each side of the sash-bar. The re¬ 
maining part, one inch in depth inside the house, should 
be bevilled off, so as to show a base a quarter-of-an- 
inch in width, which gives the house a much lighter 
appearance. 
When the sashes are put on, some people screw a 
thin piece of wood, about three inches wide, on to the 
middle part of the rafter loft between the sashes out¬ 
side, chiefly to prevent the rain beating in there; but, 
as being cheaper, lighter, and better every way, it is 
preferable to have a deepish, narrow groove cut into the 
rafter below tho place where the sides of the sashes 
rest, and this will allow all the moisture that finds its 
way in there to glide downwards, and find its exit at 
the front of tho house. 
Where the look of the structure is of great consequence, 
it will bo best to have the sash-bars for tho ends and 
front of the house done in the window-form, instead of 
the garden-sash way. The latter mode will be the 
cheapest. 
The whole of the above is written upon the supposition 
that the house is to be a very ornamental one, and that 
air is to be given by opening the front sashes, and sliding 
the top sashes, if the roof is to be in two divisions. It 
has been intimated, that if air has to be given by venti¬ 
lators at the point in the roof, or by openings in the back 
wall, there would be no necessity for the roof-sashes 
being moved. Were it not that it is desired to have 
two temperatures, in other words, two houses, by means 
of a division in a length of twenty-three feet, one ven¬ 
tilator in the centre of the roof, with windows to open 
at each end, near the top of the house, with the opening 
of the doors in extreme cases, would be quite sufficient, 
if the front sashes could be opened. Two divisions, to 
be kept at different temperatures, prevent this draught 
through the house, and, therefore, each division must 
have its mode of ventilation separate and distiuct from 
the other. Provided the sashes are fixed, and either 
wood or glass ventilators are fixed at the roof-point, 
moveable at pleasure, or in tho back wall; then, if 
economy demands it, the front glass may also be fixed, 
and tho air admitted by openings, covered with thick 
doors, in the wall below the glass; and then, suppos¬ 
ing the hot-water pipes are placed beneath the front 
shelf, the air would bo somewhat heated in cold weather, 
when it was necessary to give air at all in front, before 
it came to circulate among the plants. 
The description of the sash-bar given is the common 
one, the putty being placed on an inclined plane to the 
glass to throw off tho wot. The ground sash-bar of Sir 
Joseph Paxton has this advantage, that instead of the 
sash-bar beiug bevilled off’ above the glass by the putty, 
a groovo is cut for the reception of the glass, about a- 
quarter-of-an-inch deep, and as much in width, less or 
more, according to the size of the glass, and then the 
space above is rounded off something like the line 
across the top of a full-grown mushroom, which acts as 
an umbrella in keeping the small quantity of putty used 
secure from wind, sun, and wet. When made by ma¬ 
chinery, these ground sash-bars would present little 
difficulty. 
So much for the general mode; and now for the double 
Income-tax view of the question, combining both eco¬ 
nomy and elegance, if a little extra expense be gone to. 
Nothing can answor better than the mode our corres¬ 
pondent refers to, namely, dispensing with sash-bars 
altogether, and increasing in their stead the number of 
light rafters,—or you may call them, if you choose, large 
sash-bars. Such a system was entirely owing to the 
duty being removed from glass, so that there was no 
necessity for having a forest of sash-bars, in order to 
work up the cheap, petty little chips of glass, as the 
largest convenient squares of British plate may now be 
procured as cheap as the very chips from the glazier’s 
yard formerly. 
Mr. Kivers, I believe, was the first to introduce such a 
