September  26,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
297 
it  masks  an  ugly  wall. 
Having  fixed  on  the 
site,  the  next  point  is  to 
fix  on  the  material  to  use 
in  building.  And  let  me 
very  strongly  advise  wood, 
not  iron.  Iron  is  bitterly 
cold  in  winter  and  very  hot 
in  summer.  Many  a 
creeper  is  killed  by  the 
extra  intensity  of  the  cold 
in  winter  on  the  metal,  or 
by  being  literally  roas'ed 
on  one  of  our  very  lew  hot  . 
days  in  summer,  which 
can  occasionally  be  ex¬ 
ceedingly  hot.  Iron,  too, 
beautiful  as  it  is  in' 
wrought  -  iron  gates  and 
hanging  lamps,  and  even 
knockers,  is  not  a  suitable 
material  for  verandahs. 
The  Goddess  Flora  alto¬ 
gether  forbids  any  attempt  at  ornamental  ironwoik  in  her  domains 
beyond  the  aforesaid  gates  and  railiDgs,  where  such  things  are  needed. 
And  oh  !  eschew,  eschew  an  iron  roof  above  all  other  things,  however 
ornamentally  (?)  it  may  be  curved  and  finialled.  Its  heat  is  appalling 
on  even  a  moderately  warm  day,  and  its  cold  in  winter  equally 
extreme.  It  is  also  almost  impossible  for  the  gardener  to  get  about  on 
it  to  nail  up  or  to  clip  the  creepers,  and  it  is  ugliness  incarnate. 
The  next  point  is  that  a  verandah  should  be  made  of  a  sufficient 
width  to  allow  of  an  18  inch  wide  border  all  along  the  side  of  the 
house  for  flowers  and  creepers  to  grow  in.  But  I  had  better  now 
describe  my  own,  beginning  at  the  ground  level.  The  total  width 
from  the  house  to  the  outside  edge  is  8  feet  (see  vertical  section  plan), 
made  up  of  18  inches  of  border  (a),  with  a  slate  edging  (b)  1  inch 
thick,  5  feet  9  inches  of  tessellated  pavement  (c)  of  hard  tiles  in 
simple  pattern  bedded  on  concrete,  and  finished  off  with  8  inches  of 
stone  curb  (d)  outside. 
The  total  height  of  any  particular  verandah  must  be  governed 
by  the  height  of  the  windows,  but  as  a  mugh  guide,  the  extreme 
height  should  be  about  1  foot  above  the  windows  of  the  ground- 
floor  rooms.  In  my  own  case  the  total  height  is  9  feet  7  inches, 
the  last  7  inches  representing  the  plate  E  resting  on  the  iron 
bracket  F.  These  iron  brackets,  of  which  the  details  are  shown  in 
another  diagram,  are  let  into  the  wall  and  set  in  cement  at  con¬ 
venient  distances,  according  to  the  contour  of  the  house,  but  at 
about  6  feet  apart,  and  on  them  rests  the  plate  E,  which  furms  the 
back  of  the  whole  framework  of  the  roof  of  the  verandah.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  this  bracket  keeps  the  plate  e  from  coming  back  flat 
against  the  house,  and  leaves  an  open  air-space  of  4  inches  wide  for 
creepers  to  pass  through,  and  for  the  heated  air  lying  close  under 
the  glass  to  escape  by.  The  brackets  are  made  of  flat  wrought  iron 
f  inch  thick  and  1£  inch  wide,  and  consist  of  a  hor  zontal  main 
piece  about  1  foot  long,  the  last  3  inches  being  split  and  turned  out 
opposite  ways  to  give  a  good  hold  in  the  wall.  They  should  project 
altogether  63  inches  from  the  flat 
of  the  house,  so  as  to  leave  the 
4-inch  space  clear.  An  upright  piece 
of  the  same  iron  is  riveted  into  the 
last  mentioned  at  the  width  of  the 
plate — i.e.,  at  2£  inches  from  the 
front,  to  which  the  plate  E  is  bolted 
top  and  bottom.  The  whole  of  this 
is  further  supported  by  a  bracket 
piece  of  £  inch  round  wrought  iron, 
riveted  into  the  horizontal  mainpiece, 
and  firmly  screwed  into  a  wood 
block  cemented  into  the  wall.  A 
great  deal  of  the  strength  of  the  whole 
building  depends  on  the  construction 
and  firm  fixing  of  these  brackets. 
The  next  point  to  consider  is  the 
front  supports  of  the  roof.  These,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  outline  diagram 
of  the  front  woodwork,  are  mostly 
in  the  form  of  latticework,  the 
main  frame  of  which  is  made  of 
wood  2  inches  wide  by  2£  inches 
deep,  rabbited  in  the  centre  to  £ 
inch,  in  which  is  fitted  the  lattice- 
work,  of  ^  inch  by  1  inch  stuff, 
as  shown  in  the  woodcut  ;  the 
total  width  of  these  uprights  is 
15  inches.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  lower  3  feet  con¬ 
sists  of  two  divisions  with 
simple  diagonal  crossbits 
ltj-  inch  square.  These 
uprights  stand  on  stone 
blocks  6  inches  high,  4 
inches  wide,  aod  16^  inches 
long,  the  top  edge  being 
bevelled  all  round.  The 
front  plate,  resting  on  the 
top  of  these  supports,  is  the 
same  size  as  the  back  plate 
— viz.,  7  inches  by  2|- 
inches,  into  which  the 
rafters  are  mortised  at  llj 
inches  from  edge  to  edge. 
In  my  own  case,  in  order 
to  lighten  the  appearance, 
I  have  introduced  one  or 
two  plain  pillars  of  wood 
4  inches  square,  instead  of 
always  repeating  the  lattice 
ones,  where  from  the  span  of  the  arches  the  lattice  supports  would  have 
come  too  close  together.  The  spacing  and  span  of  the  arches  must 
always  depend  on  the  look-out  required  from  the  windows,  the  centres 
of  the  large  arches  or  springs  being  kept  opposite  the  centres  of  the 
•  principal  windows.  The  roof,  as  already  ment  oned,  is  made  of  rafters 
II3  inches  apart,  and  2  inches  wide  by  3|-  deep ;  the  heavy  appearance 
of  this  depth  is  relieved  by  the  lower  part  being  moulded.  The 
whole  is  glazed  with  rolled  glass,  each  sheet  being  1  foot  wide,  and 
the  whole  length  of  the  ratters  from  back  to  front  to  avoid  drip  at 
joints. 
In  order  to  guard  against  the  possibility  of  rain  getting  through  on 
to  the  windows  of  the  house,  it  might  be  as  well  to  let  a  strip  of 
sheet  zinc  or  lead  into  the  wall  exactly  over  the  windows  to  cover 
the  4  inch  air-space,  unless  the  creepers  are  sufficiently  thick,  as  in  my 
own  case,  to  make  this  unnecessary.  An  outside  border  of  about 
2\  feet  between  the  lawn  and  the  curb  stone  of  the  verandah  is  a  great 
improvement,  except  in  the  case  of  such  arches  as  are  wanted  for 
going  in  and  out,  and  to  keep  it  from  being  walked  on  I  have  fixed  a 
framework  (see  figure)  between  the  front  supports,  which  is  also  very 
useful  to  train  an  outside  lot  of  low  creepers  to.  They  also  add 
stiffness  and  firmness  to  the  whole  structure. 
One  word  as  to  the  colour  of  the  paint  to  be  used.  No  one 
should  be  dogmatic,  as  the  colour  Is  entirely  a  matter  of  taste,  and 
1  have  no  right  to  say  my  taste  in  such  matters  (or  in  any)  is  better 
than  my  neighbour’s,  I  only,  therefore,  say  what  I  personally  like 
and  dislike.  I  dislike  intensely  imitation  oak — paint  should  not  be 
ashamed  of  itself,  or  try  to  pose  as  what  it  is  not.  Again,  I  think  one 
single  colour,  and 
only  one  shade  of 
it, should  be  used; 
there  should  be 
no  attempt  to 
ornament  the 
woodwork  by 
different  shades 
or  colours  of 
paint.  There  are 
two  colours 
which  always 
seem  to  me  to 
harmonise  well 
with  plants  —  a 
warm  nut  brown 
and  seakale-leaf 
green.  Both  are, 
I  think,  good  for 
the  purpose. 
Myself,  I  have 
used  the  seakale- 
green,  and  many 
whose  opinion  is 
worth  having 
have  admired  it. 
The  colour  when 
first  put  on  must 
be  a  shade  darker 
green  than  a 
Seakale  leaf,  as 
the  colour  always 
fades  a  little  at 
once. 
WOO  BLOCK 
Detail  of  Bracket. 
