THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
April 17. 
| 44 
The Greek poets, and Latin also, are full of such per¬ 
sonification which nobody ever thought ot knocking down 
with such a bold objection as, the ocean “ knows nothing 1 
any more than any other inanimate object,” and, therefore, [ 
it cannot be cheered, nor can it smile with joy. , 
What will “ C. B. S.” say to the Psalmist’s figure, “ All the 
trees of the wood rejoice?” Or Jeremiah xvii. 8., “As a 
tree planted by the waters, that spreadetli out her roots by i 
the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, and shall not 
be careful in the year of drought.” 
What will “ C. B. S.” say about a tree seeing, or a tree 
being careful about anything? And will he tell on what 
grounds, as a mere figure of speech, he should so roughly 
assail a poor Vine advertised as “ not knowing how to shank,” 
! any more than these and thousands of other personifications 
of a like kind ? 
; Let him turn to Blair in his article on “personification,” and 
he will meet with the following:—“The first place is 
j unquestionably due to personification, or the figure by which 
! we attribute iife and action to inanimate objects.” “ It is 
' a figure, the use of which is very extensive, and its founda¬ 
tion laid deep in human nature.” Then, after saying that, 
« considered abstractly, it would appear to border on the 
extravagant and ridiculous, to speak of stones and trees, 
&c., as if they “ were living creatures,” he adds, of such 
objection, this would be “no more than childish conceit, 
which no person of taste could relish.” Let, then, “ C. B. S.,” 
instead of falling foul of an unlucky nurseryman, take the 
bull by the horns and have a tilt with Blair, and all those 
1 on whose authority and practice he defends personification. 
I fancy he would find that he had got beyond his mission. 
Now, I have written the above at the risk of being open 
to my own charge of “ much ado about nothing.” But it is 
not the mere flimsy, supercilious criticism of “C. B. S.” which 
I should have cared for; it is the over-bearing tone, the 
offensive assumption of “ woe betide him if I come across 
his path ” that I protest against; and I do think, Mr. Editor, 
that I have some right to ask your insertion of this as an 
attonement for introducing amongst us kindly, good-natured, 
brotherly gardeners, so pugnacious a person as “ C. B. S.”— 
Rusticus, A. B. 
AN AMATEUR HOTHOUSE. 
In resuming, at your suggestion, the subject of my green¬ 
house (see page 478, Vol. XIII.'), I may remark, that my 
object was not to have it put up at the cheapest cost. The 
price, therefore, stood me nearly £10. I (do not put any¬ 
thing on the tools purchased, as they are so useful for 
many things. Now, first of all, as to the expense : 
Best red wood, in lengths to 
order, at Id. per running foot, 
for 1 by 1% inches, and at l§d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 
per ditto, 2£ by 1£ inches ..217 0 
Machine planing .. .. 0 2 G 
- 2 19 G 
Carriage .. .. • • ..020 
250 feet of glass, 7 by 5 inches, and 
boxes .. • • • • ..240 
Note. Glass not all needed. 
Pipes .. .. •• ..113 
Eire and other bricks, and carriage of 
ditto and pipes .. .. ..080 
Mason for building, and lime and stone 
for furnace and flue .. ..0150 
Two cast mounted furnace doors and 
brander .. .. .. ..050 
Wood for door (all glazed) and for stage 0 15 0 
Large sci’ews, hinges, nails, glue, &c. @ 0 12 0 
Paint before puttying, and for putty (a} 0 10 0 
Note. Outside not yet fully painted. 
£9 11 9 
one-and-a-half inches wood, ten feet (the length), and two 
pieces, three feet ten inches (the height), and with the four 
formed the outer frame, morticing the shorter pieces into the 
ends of the long ones, and glueing and nailing. 
For the other side the same. 
For the one side of the roof, two of the long pieces, and 
two pieces four feet four inches, and with these formed a 
frame. 
For the other side of the roof the same. 
For the end, two pieces seven feet long (the width), and 
three feet ten inches (the height). The triangle fitted in 
separately. 
For the other end, with the door, the frame was a little 
more complicated, as it has to be morticed into the door 
lentils. 
Then, as to the smaller sized wood ; it will require to be 
all run out with an astragal plane to make room for the 
glass and putty; it will then be put across the frames, at 
such distances as to suit the size of glass. I took about 
half-an-inch off the back of the astragal, where it touched 
the frame; also sunk astragals another half-an-inch into 
the frame in which they are nailed. 
I then glazed with the frame flat on the grass, piling the 
one frame above the other as finished, and left the whole 
two or three weeks to let the putty dry. When lifted, not a 
single piece of glass slipped out. 
After the furnace and the brick wall was built, I took the 
sides and ends, and bolted them with screws going through 
the two frames and a nut fastening in the inside. The roof 
was set on the grass the distance it would stand when placed, 
one of the pieces overlapping the other, and these pierced 
for the top screws. One piece was lifted to its place, then 
the other, and the screws put in where formerly pierced. 
I have now to state one very important requirement for 
the stability of the structure. Before the brick wall was 
built, I sunk a strong square post at each side, in the middle, 
about three feet in the ground, at the proper distance for 
the side-frame being screwed to it. The posts are two 
or three inches higher than the side-frames, and form 
a support for them and for the roof; without these strong 
posts, I should have required an iron girder inside, which 
would have been in the way. The door is five feet eight 
inches high, by two feet two inches wide; the stage twenty 
inches high, but higher above the sand-bed ; passage two feet 
wide; from the passage to the apex of the roof seven-and-a- 
half feet. Air is given by a swing window, one foot ten inches 
wide, in the side, on the side of the post farthest from the 
door, and by another hatch window, one foot ten inches wide, 
on the roof. This hatch window should not be fastened until 
after the roof is fastened together, as by getting up through 
the opening it saves the going on the roof before it can bear 
any weight. The roof at the eaves is also fastened with 
strong screws, and nutted to the side frames. There is 
room enough for the screw-bolts, a little care being taken 
at piercing. I took no note of the time occupied with the 
house, and cannot say how long the time was, nor put a value 
on it. 
But, perhaps, my hints as to my greenhouse, No. 2, may 
be more practicable to many. I had scarcely completed 
No. 1, when, as I'was passing along the streets, 1 observed 
some workmen altering a shop to put in plate-glass window's. 
It struck me at once, that the old windows might be turned 
to account; I, therefore, made enquiry, and found I might 
have one or all at five shillings each. I took the four. I 
again resorted to my posts. I put these posts three feet in 
the ground, one at each end of the two windows placed 
lengthways, another at the joining of the two windows, and 
one in the middle of cacli window, securely screwing the 
windows to all the posts. I then put the other tw r o windows 
above, as a lean-to roof against the garden wall, making a 
small nick in the posts to allow the top windows to overlap 
the side windows, so as to carry over the rain. The lean-to 
roof has a few strong nails driven into the wall above it 
and below it to keep it firm. I got another smaller 
window in two pieces, which I have made into doors at each 
end. My garden wall was not high enough to allow my 
placing the windows for the sides on brick; it is, therefore, 
rather low ; but I intend it only as a summer stove-house, 
and I will dig a passage up the middle, and apply the earth 
taken out as a stage, as recommended in the The Cottage 
I will next detail the mode of procedure, which will answer 
some of the points referred to by you, and, perhaps, assist 
some one. 
For the side, I took the two pieces of thetwo-and-a-lialfby 
