THE

AMERICAN

GARDENER'S MAGAZINE.

JUNE, 1836.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

ART. I. Some Account of the Camellia House and Stove, accompanied with Engravings, lately erected at Hawthorn Grove, Dorchester, the Residence of M. P. Wilder, Esq. By the CONDUCTORS.

But

THE green-house which formerly occupied the spot upon which the camellia house and stove, lately erected, stand, was very old, and almost totally unfit for the purposes for which it was intended, The wood-work was much decayed, and the sashes, which were glazed with glass nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness, were in a very bad condition. Under these circumstances, and the collection of plants continually increasing, Mr. Wilder contemplated the erection of a magnificent range of houses upon a different spot, adjacent to his dwelling, and which, for many reasons, gave it a great preference over the one where the present new one is built. from some disappointment in the procuring of a suitable person to superintend the work, and the season having far advanced, and there being some danger that the range would not be sufficiently completed to insure the safety of the plants before the setting in of cold weather, this idea was abandoned for the present, and the one fitted up of which we are about to describe. We believe it is Mr. Wilder's intention to carry his contemplated projections into effect as soon as circumstances will allow; but this one will answer all purposes for a few years, when, if the other houses are erected, it will be made into a forcing house, and divided into compartments, to include a peachery, grapery, and, perhaps, a pinery. We hope that all this will be done, and we are happy in being the medium, by his permission, of communicating the improvements which have thus far been made to the public.

The position of the new range is precisely the same of the old one, and the entrance to it is in nearly the same place; the back wall of the old one was built of stone against a high bank, which rises from the north side of the garden. This wall was continued on in a direct line to the length required, and the position being the same, the old part of the wall answered every purpose of a new one. The height not being great enough, it was carried up with brick work as far as required. The stone work answers as well as brick; and, in the country where bricks are not to be easily procured, we would suggest the erection of back walls with stone, especially when built against a bank. In the construction of the house, as regards light, air, heat, and convenience, every attention has been given. The location is well drained, and pains taken that the house should be as free as possible from all dampness. The facilities for water, which are too often neglected, are very good. The consumption of fuel is very moderate for the size of the house, and the method of heating, which will be particularly described, most excellent. The angle of the roof is greater than is usually given, and, although more than it need be, on some accounts is much better for carrying off water, and prevents the continual dripping which occurs in houses with flatter roofs, especially when poorly glazed. In the arrangement of the interior, the health of the plants has been the first object in view.

The dimensions of the range (figs. 5 and 6) are as follows:whole length, eighty-two feet; width, measuring inside, sixteen feet; height of the back wall, eighteen feet; of the front one, six feet, including the sashes. Both ends of the range are glass. The stove, which is separated from the conservatory or camellia house by a glass partition, and through which visiters pass, the entrance from the garden being at that end of the range, occupies twenty-eight feet; thus leaving the length of the former fifty-four feet. The entrance door (a), is thirty-eight inches wide and six feet high; the main walk (bb), through the range, runs from this to the other end, where a sliding door is made, to open in the summer season, which is of the same width as the door, and is covered with handsome marble tile; the door between the conservatory and stove slides instead of opening. In both compartments are stages for plants (c c), which contain seven shelves each, of about eight inches in width. At each end of the stage in the conservatory are spaces (d d), covered with trellis work, which are intended for placing on large specimens of plants that cannot be set upon the stage; these are about eight feet in length, and of the same width of the stage. In the stove is a similar space, but much smaller.

In the stove is a pit for plunging in such plants as require bottom heat to make them flourish well, and also for many uses in stove propagation. This pit is twenty-two feet long and four and a half wide; the back wall is about two feet four inches high

5

above the centre walk, and about five

and a half feet above

the front one.

walls are built of brick and are covered with a plank coping. The passage ways at each end of the house from the centre to the front walk, are about three feet wide, and are descended by three steps; those each side of the partition are descended by two on to a large flag-stone, level with the top of the flue, and one from that to the walk.

In the conservatory there is a front stage of the same length of the back one; at each end of this, also, corresponding with the back one, are spaces covered with lattice work, for middling sized plants to stand, to break the abrupt appearance of the ends of the stage. Over the hot-water pipes, which which run along parallel with the front wall, and immediately adjoining the side of the front sill, is a box (as seen in the section, fig. 6), about eight inches wide and six deep, for the purpose of laying in

the shoots of grape vines during the winter season when not in a growing state. This is an excellent plan where vines are intro

duced into a green-house, as it serves for a shelf, during the winter, for many small plants, and, as the shoots of the vines are not seen, the house has a very neat appearance. But we very much doubt the utility of introducing vines where a fine collection of plants are grown; both vines and plants are injured; the former producing small crops, and the latter becoming sickly from confined air and shade; both cannot be cultivated in a healthy state together. The practice of introducing vines into green-houses in this vicinity has become so general that we cannot refrain from making these remarks here, although a digression from our subject, and we sincerely hope that those persons who are desirous of cultivating this delicious fruit, will erect houses for their growth exclusively, and not destroy the beauty and health of choice collections of plants for the purpose of raising a few clusters of grapes. We trust that Mr. Wilder will not do so to the injury of his excellent collection. Under the stage in the stove is a cistern (e), into which water is introduced for the purpose of watering the plants. It is about twelve feet long, two feet wide, and three deep.

The back shed (h), is eleven feet wide and ten feet long, and of sufficient height to allow for the convenience of potting plants and other uses. The fire hole (i) is about four feet square and three and a half deep, which gives plenty of room for kindling fires. This shed communicates with the stove by a door. In the stove is a pump (k), for filling the cistern and the boiler, the water being brought by a pipe from a cistern outside of the house, large enough to contain sixteen hundred gallons. A ciss-pool (1), at the corner of the stove, drains off all water from every part of the range.

and

The furnace (m), is three feet high and three deep, and about two and a half in width. The furnace door is twelve wide and thirteen high, and the ash door twelve wide and seven high. The flue (n n), which is represented in part by the dotted lines, runs from the furnace across, underneath the walk, to the pit, and forming one end of that, is carried along, making one side of the walk and the front of the pit, to the other end of the conservatory, again running across, underneath the walk, is carried into the chimney (0), in the back wall. The flue is built twelve inches high inside, and eight inches in width, and is covered with twelve inch tile; at the corner of the pit, and at the opposite corner of the conservatory, are openings to the flue, fitted with soapstone doors, for the purpose of cleaning it out when foul. The boiler is set in the furnace, and will contain sixteen gallons; the pipes (pp) are four inches in diameter, and run, as represented by the dotted lines, to the corner of the stove; from thence across the front to the reservoir (q), at the corner of the conservatory. The reservoir is six feet long, fourteen inches high and thirteen wide; the pipes run through it, and are fitted with a stop-cock, so that the heat can be raised before all the water is warmed in the reservoir. To be sure of a sufficient command of heat in the stove, a steam apparatus is combined with the hot water system. A steam pipe, about an inch in diameter, is fitted into the boiler, and from thence runs round the bottom of the pit, as seen by dotted lines, heating a bed of stones, which warms the soil above, and the condensed water runs into the ciss-pool. This, Mr. Wilder states, he has found very useful, in severe cold weather, in keeping up an equal temperature in the soil. Some further remarks on the construction of the steam apparatus, together with a plan, will be made before. closing this article.

The length of the lower roof-sashes is twelve feet; that of the upper ones, seven feet; and the height of the front ones two feet; the width of each, three feet two inches. They are all glazed. with four rows of six-by-eight glass, with laps from a quarter to a half an inch. The under side of the sash rails are rounded off instead of being bevelled, as is usually done; which has a lighter appearance. The work, generally, is made with a regard to as much light as possible.

Having thus given the dimensions as accurately as our minutes will allow, some remarks upon the management of the steam apparatus remain to be noticed. The object of the steam pipe has been before stated; it cannot be used, however, at the same time that the hot water circulates from the boiler. To obviate this, stop-cocks are fitted into the hot water pipes about a foot from the boiler; more fire is then added to produce steam, which is carried off by the pipe, heating in its course the stones, &c., in the pit. The hot water pipes just inside of the conservatory, where they