in the end. Use only the best materials, and these of the most durable kind. Remember that the alternations of temperature, and the constant moisture, speedily affect the best timber, and that poor material is sure to be soon rendered useless by dampness and decay.

But, as many are not able to build expensive structures, we propose to give a number of plans for buildings, of various cost.

Let us first, however, thoroughly understand the subject, and find out what we need.

There are many glass structures, all indiscriminately called "green-houses." In common parlance, any glass house for the growth of plants is a green-house; but, horticulturally, there are different names for structures of different forms, and adapted for different purposes. What, then, is the difference between a hot-house and a stove? a green-house and a hot-house? a conservatory and a green-house?

A Stove is a plant house, constructed with reference to obtaining a great degree of heat, where the temperature should never fall below seventy degrees Fahrenheit, and may rise even to one hundred and twenty degrees. The atmosphere is kept moist by constant evaporation of water,

and external air, when admitted, is tempered by passing over heated surfaces, lest the tender plant receive a chill. In this building are grown plants natives of the equator, and the East Indian orchids. It is often arranged so as to afford bottom heat, without which many of these plants do not succeed.

The term Hot-house, properly speaking, is synonymous with stove it is, however, used to designate any building in which artificial heat is used; a hot-house, or stove, being a house in which such a high temperature is maintained.

A Green-house is a glass structure, where the temperature ranges from forty to seventy degrees, and is calculated for the growth of those plants which will not bear the cold of our winters without injury. The term is, however, improperly and indiscriminately applied to any glass structure, either with or without fire heat.

The term "conservatory" is used properly to designate a show house, where the temperature ranges from forty to sixty degrees, and into which plants are removed when coming into bloom from the other houses. It is improperly applied, however, to any glass structure in which plants and flowers are grown.

The glass structures connected with parlors are also

called conservatories, and this signification of the word is generally accepted.

A Pit is a structure below the surface of the ground, generally excavated six to eight feet, and covered with a glass roof. From such a structure the frost is excluded with little expense, and a great heat may be maintained. It is usually a cheap building, used for propagation, growing roses, forcing vegetables, &c.

The glass structure which will be in general request is the green-house, and is adapted for the growth of most of our flowering plants. The same structure may be converted into a stove by merely increasing the power of the heating apparatus.

A green house may be "span-roofed" (Fig. 1),

or "lean-to" (Fig. 2),

FIG. 2.

FIG. 1.

that is, with both sides

of the roof of glass, or with a back wall of brick, stone, or wood, the roof and front being glass.

The former is better for the symmetrical and healthy growth of the plants, but requires powerful furnaces to maintain sufficient heat; the latter is more, economical, both in structure and heating, and is sufficient to grow most of our ordinary "green-house plants."

A span-roofed house should run north and south, so as to receive the greatest possible amount of sun in the winter; or, if this is impossible, it will be necessary to provide close shutters for all the northern exposure.

A "lean-to" house should run east and west, thus facing the south.

- Now, having selected our site, which should be sheltered from the north as much as possible, let us mark out a space, say forty feet long and twelve feet wide; around the outside of this excavate a trench, from two to four feet in depth, according to the nature of the soil (a damp, clayey soil requiring more depth than one of light, sandy consistency, the object being to get below the reach of the frost), and about one foot or more in width. This done, fill the trench to within a foot of the top with stones; on these build a nine-inch wall of brick or stone, laid in hydraulic cement, to the height of one foot above the surface level; on this lay a heavy wooden sill, which should be of seasoned pine, which bears exposure better than other woods.

Now for the carpenter work. You will have three feet of wood work, upright, in front, all round, both sides; you will need two lights, from eaves to cap, on each side, each six feet long and three to four feet wide. That would give

you ten lights, of four feet in width, on each side, for your house of forty feet. But as three feet gives us a more manageable light, it will be better to have one or two more, and make them of that width. The upper lights, on both sides, should slide or swing so as to afford easy ventilation; the lower should be stationary. The upright windows of the side should swing out, being hinged at the top; the ends of the house should be permanently glazed, with a door in one, or, if desirable, in each end.

The pitch of the roof should be forty-five degrees. Now, a house of this description could be built for about ten dollars per running foot. The glazing, of good serviceable glass, is included in this estimate, as well as hinges, ropes, and pulleys. The interior arrangement must vary according to the taste and means of the owner.

If it is desired to make it a winter garden, a broad path should be laid, in gravel or cement, all round, at a distance of about two feet from the side. The centre should be a bed of rich, prepared soil, in which large plants, such as acacias, abutilons, &c., should be planted. All around the side, and even with the bottom of the glass, a shelf should be built, about two feet wide, to be filled with flowering plants, in pots. Roses and other climbers

should be trained up the rafters.