80 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, November 10. 1857. 
The drawing No. 1 is an illustration of the ground plan 
of the building No. 2 a sectional view, showing the whole 
of the pipes connected with -the heating apparatus; and 
No. 3 is an end elevation. The length of the house is sixty 
feet, breadth forty-live feet and a half, and the height seven- 
teen feet from the ground level. The ventilation is amply 
provided for by openings in the basement wall e, and the 
top ventilation is by rows of small sashes, easily opened and 
shut at pleasure. The heating of the atmosphere of the 
house, it will be observed, is by means of four hot-water four- 
inch pipes, a, running entirely round it, whilst two similar 
pipes, b, heat the tanks. In addition to these four two-inch 
leaden pipes, d, circle round on the floor of the principal tank. 
The soil ol the centre tank is heated by the zigzag four- 
inch pipe c ; f, the pipe lor conducting off the waste water 
from the centre and side tanks; g, a four-inch pipe for run¬ 
ning off the water from the bottom of the tank, h, in which 
the Victoria is planted. The tank h is sixteen feet in 
diameter, and these tanks are laid with pavement and covered 
with lead. The large one is thirty-four feet in width, with 
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an ample walk round it three feet six inches wide, with a 
trellised floor, as are most of the principal houses at Chats- 
worth. The glass used in glazing is in sheets four feet long 
and ten inches wide. The floor of the house is raised some 
three feet six or seven inches from the ground level, thus 
giving it a light and elegant aspect, and at the same time 
affording facility for perfect ventilation from below. The 
entrances are opposite each other, and are reached by a 
flight of six stone steps. Round the base of the house some 
ornamental rockwork has been added, which contributes 
much towards improving the appearance of the buildiug. 
Although the Victoria has been proved to be a perennial, it 
nevertheless is capable of being grown to greater perfection 
as an annual, and this, consequently, is the system pursued 
at Chatsworth. The seed, therefore, is preserved from the 
time of gathering to the period of sowing in phials or covered 
glasses filled with water, and we may remark the plants here 
have always produced an abundance of seed ; but this has not 
uniformly been the case at numerous establishments distant 
both north and south, several of which this year, in conse¬ 
quence, have been obliged for a supply of plants to depend 
upon the liberality that animates the management of a cer¬ 
tain establishment amid the hills of Derbyshire. 
Last year we observed considerably over 100 seeds in a 
single capsule, and even from 200 to 300 are not unusual. 
The seed is usually sown here early in January, in shallow 
pans within a small tank, in a mixture of light loam and 
sand, and germinates freely at a temperature of 85°. The 
young plants are then transplanted into pots, and even¬ 
tually the plant selected for the large tank is placed in it 
after the leaves have attained a diameter of one foot, or a 
foot and a half, about the second or third week in April. 
The soil used consists of burnt loam, river sand, and 
manure, in the proportion of six loads of loam to one of 
river sand and two of manure, the whole well incorporated 
together, forming an excellent light, porous soil, somewhat 
resembling the rich alluvial beds of its native rivers. 
The next important consideration is the supply of water, 
and this in all cases should be rain or river water, procured 
as pure as possible, and a constant supply of which, properly 
