Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/258

240 wanted, and yet to grow them well and enjoy them thoroughly the shelter of glass is a sine qua non. From October to April, when out-door pleasures are few, and flowers of all kinds scarce, the alpine house is to be gay as a well-furnished jewel-casketin fact, it will be a jewel-casket if only our advice is carried out to the letter. In the third place, one of the great advantages of this house is that geraniums, verbenas, petunias, and other soft greenhouse plants of the same class, will not live in it, and so the gems it is to shelter will not be thrust out of their legitimate home by usurpers of their rights. In connection with this third advantage, it must be remarked that the collection should be at its best in winter, and therefore to make it a store place for bedding plants would be a violation of the scheme, for bedding plants offer no attractions in the dark season.

A cheap delight is to be looked for as the result of the development of the plan. But pray bear in mind, we are no advocates of sheds and shanties of obnoxious aspect for plant-houses. Experience has always taught that those who build at all should build well. First, then, choose a spot for the house where it will be easily accessible for yourself and friends in the winter season. It may, indeed, be connected with the dwelling, and made to open from one of the rooms, or it may be reached by a covered way. The only essential matters, however, are to select a convenient site, to make a good foundation and a drain, if necessary, to secure dryness in winter; to make the house run due north and south if possible, so that the sun will every day at noon stand opposite the south door; and, lastly, to preserve an open space outside at one or both ends of the house, so that if ever you feel inclined to lengthen it, you may do so without having to cut down trees or remove buildings. It must be remembered that this cool plant-house may be readily converted into a greenhouse proper, by means of a furnace and boiler and a service of hot-water pipes. It is one of the great advantages of building a house properly in the first instance, that you can apply it to many purposes afterwards, as inclination or circumstances may require. You may, at small expense, convert this sanctum into a greenhouse, a stove, a vinery, or a pine pit; therefore you are not doomed to be always a jeweller because you have speculated on the construction of a casket.

Now as to the plants. They must consist exclusively of