is to secure a house that shall answer the purpose intended, and be a
complete working house in all its parts, without unnecessary expense.
The general outside appearance, Fig. 22, is similar to a plant house
before illustrated, the straight roof affording little opportunity for
architectural variety. By referring to Fig. 23, section, and Fig. 24,
ground plan, it will be observed that rafters to support the roof are
dispensed with, except two at each end to form the verge and finish. The
ridge and purlins are supported by light 2x3 inch posts, which rest upon
larger posts beneath the ground. This is a considerable saving, both in
material and workmanship. Posts set three feet into the ground form the
foundation for the sides and ends of the house. The sides are two feet
above the ground, and the entire structure is but ten feet in height,
enabling the gardener to reach nearly every part of the roof from the
ground. The posts may appear to be an objection, but in practice they
are found not to be so, but are useful to train the vines upon. Five
rows of vines are planted, two in the usual manner at the sides, and one
row along each line of posts. The object in planting thus, was to get
as much fruit as possible in the shortest space of time. These centre
vines will give several crops of good fruit before they will be much
interfered with by those trained upon the roof. 9x15 glass was used in
glazing, to lessen the expense of sash bars, the glass being laid the
15-inch way. This glass, being very true, has made a good roof, but
10x12 is as large a size as will usually be found to answer. This house
is distinguished from most of our other designs by the greater amount of
light admitted, owing to the absence of rafters and the less than usual
number of sash bars. The sides and ends are boarded perpendicularly, and
battened. Ventilators are provided on each side of the ridge and over
the doors, while the sashes hung in the doors furnish sufficient bottom
ventilation. It was desirable to have the house raised or appear higher
owing to the slight depression of the ground at the site, and for this
reason the border was all made above the surface two feet and a half in
height, composed largely of decayed sods, with an addition of muck, coal
and wood ashes and a small quantity of stable manure. It has been found
to work admirably, and preserve an even moisture throughout. Elevated
borders are highly recommended by some exotic grape growers, and our
experience with them is much in their favor. At present the inside
border is alone completed, as it was desirable to plant the vines, and
sufficient materials were not at hand to complete the whole. Vines were
planted the 1st of June, 1864.
DESIGN No. 8.
THE POLYPROSOPIC ROOF.
Polyprosopic is not a dictionary word, at least we cannot find it in our
two-volume large quarto edition of Webster, but Loudon makes use of it
to name a special form of roof sometimes made use of in the construction
of Horticultural buildings, the true meaning of which we believe is,
that the interior side or outline of the rafter is curvilinear and the
exterior formed of planes or faces.
A very extensive practice in the design and erection of Horticultural
buildings of all classes and for all purposes, from the low priced
commercial shed to the finished crystal palaces, that adorn our finest
country seats, has led us to a more thorough investigation of this now
very important subject, and we have been enabled by a long practical
experience in the construction and practical management of Horticultural
buildings to reach conclusions relative to form, combination, heating
and management that could not be arrived at in any other manner.
We have illustrated examples of the straight and curvilinear roofs, and
now give the polyprosopic roof, in which manner we have erected some
half dozen graperies and plant houses.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--_Perspective._]
This particular form of hot houses was described by Mr. Loudon in his
encyclopedia of gardening some thirty years ago, and he says, "he
considers it to be the _ne plus ultra_ of improvement as far as air and
light are concerned."
Mr. Leuchars in his practical treaties on hot-houses published some
twelve or fifteen years since, illustrates this form of house and says:
"It is by some considered superior to all other forms for winter
forcing."
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--_Section._]
Mr. James Cranston of Birmingham, England, has also adopted this form of
construction, which in many respects he considers ahead of all others.
It seems to have been very generally known and used by many builders of
glass-houses, and its numerous combinations of sliding, lifting, and
permanently fastened sash, has been public property for upwards of
thirty years. Although nearly approaching to the curvilinear, form it
lacks the graceful beauty of a continuous curved line, and as excessive
ventilation so necessary in the climate of England, is not required in
our dry sunny atmosphere, the lifting or sliding sash roof is not
considered so desirable as the continuous fixed roof, which is at once
the most beautiful and the most economical roof yet introduced.
The principal advantage of the Polyprosopic roof, is its portability,
that is, it can be made in sashes, and transported to any portion of the
country, thus obviating the necessity of painting and glazing in the hot
atmosphere of the interior, or loss of time from storms, etc., on
outside work. The fixed roof house can be sent anywhere primed, but the
glazing and second coat of paint must be done after the erection of the
building; either house we think equally well adapted to growing
purposes, but as a matter of beauty and economy we give the preference
to the fixed curvilinear roof.
The engraving is a view of a Plant House, erected by us for Mr. Geo. H.
Brown, on his beautiful estate of Millbrook, near Washington Hollow,
Duchess County, New York. The plan of the house gives two nearly equal
apartments, one to be used as a propagating and forcing house, and the
other as a conservatory or show house for plants and flowers. Both are
heated by the circulation of hot water and can be worked independently
of each other. Such houses add very much to the attractions of a country
estate, and impress a stranger with a higher degree of taste and
refinement, while the owner has added very much to his luxuries and
enjoyments.
DESIGN No. 9.
[Illustration: FIG. 27.--_Perspective View._]
[Illustration: FIG. 28.--_Ground Plan._]
In this design we give a small Green House which has been erected in a
substantial and permanent manner. The Green House is quite small, being
only 20 by 30 feet. It is intended to keep bedding plants, Camellias,
Oranges, and similar things, during the winter, and also to propagate
such plants as may be wanted for bedding purposes on a place of moderate
dimensions. This house runs east and west. Its position was determined
partly by the nature of the ground, but mainly by the propagating bed.
_Fig._ 28 is the ground plan. The large compartment is nearly twenty
feet square. The potting-room, which is at the west end of the house, is
eight by ten feet, and is fitted up with desks, drawers, and other
necessary conveniences. The furnace pit, at the same end of the house,
is eight by eight feet, and contains ample room for coal. The house is
heated by two four-inch pipes. The large compartment has a side table
for plants. On the north side of the house there is a propagating bed,
the bottom heat for which is supplied by a hot-air chamber. This hot-air
chamber is formed by simply inclosing a portion of the iron pipes. In
the plan there is a large table in the centre of this compartment; but
this was not put in, the owner adopting the suggestion of setting his
large plants on the floor of the house; a very excellent plan in itself,
but which was subsequently very much marred by filling in the whole
floor of the house to the depth of six inches with coarse pebbles, to
the injury, we think, of the subsequent well-being of the house. The
idea was, an appearance of neatness, the preservation of the tubs, and
to prevent the roots from running through; but an inch of nice gravel
would have secured the first without the objections that lie against the
thick coat of pebbles, while the other objects will not be secured; for
the tubs will rot, and the roots will not thus be prevented from running
through the pots. This object must be secured by other means than
pebbles. The pebbles are unpleasant to walk on, become heated, and dry
off the house too rapidly, to the manifest injury of the plants. We
merely mention the subject, that our readers may avoid a similar error,
and save themselves the money thus needlessly spent.
_Fig._ 72 is a perspective view of the house. The west end is boarded
and battened. This corresponds with the general design of the house, and
presents a neat finish. The sides, except the potting room, are of
glass, the sashes being about three feet high. Every other sash is hung
at the bottom, for the purpose of ventilation. The roof is a continuous
glazed roof, and is quite flat, which is a decided advantage to the
plants within. There are no ventilators in the roof, the top ventilation
being effected by means of the sashes over the doors at each end, which
are hung at the bottom for this purpose, and afford abundant ventilation
for a house the length of this one. There is an ornamental crest along
the ridge, and at each end a neat finial.
DESIGN No. 10.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--_Perspective View._]
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--_Section._]
Our next example is a Cold Grapery, erected at South Manchester,
Connecticut.
_Fig._ 29 is the perspective view of the house, and _Fig._ 30 is a
section. The house is twenty feet wide and sixty feet long. In _Fig._
30, _a_ is a stone wall, with a drain under it. _b_ is a hollow brick
wall. _d_, _d_, is the ground level of the house on the inside; the line
below _b_ is the level on the outside, but the earth is embanked
against the brick wall to within an inch of the sill. A small house is
shown at the north end which is used for tools, potting, &c. The border
is about three feet deep, and occupies the whole interior of the house.
There is no outside border. On the bottom is placed about one foot of
"tussocks" from a neighboring bog, which may in time decay. The border
is made up pretty freely of muck, with the addition of sand, loam,
charcoal dust, bone dust, etc. There is a row of vines, two feet and a
half apart, at each side of the house, at _d_, _d_. There are two other
rows at _e_, _e_. There are also a few vines at _c_, and at the ends of
the house. The rows at _d_, _d_, form fruiting canes half way up the
rafters; those at _e_, _e_, go to the roof with a naked trunk, and
furnish fruiting canes for the other half of the rafters. The fruiting
canes are thus very short, and easily managed. The house was planted in
the month of April, with such grapes as Black Hamburgh, Victoria
Hamburgh, Wilmot's Hamburgh, Golden Hamburgh, Muscat Hamburgh, Chasselas
Fontainebleau, Frontignans, Muscat of Alexandria, Syrian, Esperione,
Tokay, and some others. The plants were very small, and the wire worm
injured some of them so as to make it necessary to replant; but the
growth of those not injured was very good. A fine crop of Melons,
Tomatoes, Strawberries, etc., was taken from the house the first year.
The second year a few bunches of grapes were gathered, and every thing
went on finely.
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--_Ground Plan._]
This is the third year in which the house has been in operation. Our
last visit was in the early part of August, 1863, when we counted 734
bunches of grapes, weighing from one to seven pounds each, the Syrian
being the grape which reached the last figure. Almost as many bunches
were thinned out. In some cases too many are left, but they look very
fine. The Muscats are extremely well set, and some of the bunches will
weigh fully three pounds. The Black Hamburghs look quite as well; but
the finest show of fruit is on the Esperione. The large number of
bunches is owing to the manner of planting; so many could hardly be
taken the third season from a house planted in the ordinary way. The
canes, it will be borne in mind, are now only fruited about half their
length.
The exposure of this house is a very bleak one, and the climate cold
and fickle. In order to provide against a late spring frost, a coil of
one inch pipe was inclosed in brick work, with a fire chamber under it.
From this coil a single one inch pipe was carried around the house next
the side sashes. It is found to answer the purpose, having on one
occasion kept the frost out of the house, when the crop in the house of
a neighbor was destroyed. In many places, some resource of this kind is
necessary, and a small boiler with a single pipe will in most cases
prove sufficient.
DESIGN No. 11.
The following illustration is of a Plant House attached to a dwelling,
and is quite different in its plan from those before given. It was
designed and erected for J. C. Johnston, Esq., of Scarborough, N. Y.
It is built on the south side of the dwelling, and is entered from the
parlor as well as from the pleasure grounds. _Fig._ 32 is a perspective
view, which gives the reader a good idea of its general appearance,
though we can not help saying that in this case, at least, the picture
does not flatter; the house looks finer on the ground than in the
picture. The circular house on the southeast corner is strictly an
ornamental feature, and a very pretty one.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.--_Perspective View._]
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Ground Plan._]
The interior arrangement is shown in the ground plan, _Fig._ 33. The
house is divided into two compartments, A and B. The last is intended
for growing and propagating plants. The house is heated by hot water
pipes, the boiler being placed in the cellar of the dwelling, which is
entered by the steps, _f_; _e_ is a propagating tank, fitted with
sliding sashes. It is quite large enough to propagate all the plants the
owner will want; _d_, _d_, are beds about a foot deep, with a moderate
bottom heat, for plunging pots in when desired; _w_ is the walk. This
compartment is to be used for bringing plants into bloom, after which
they are to be taken to the show room or conservatory, marked A in the
plan. The arrangement of this compartment is such, that all the plants
in it may be seen from the parlor door or window, the steps leading to
which are marked _b_; _a_, _d_, _d_, are tables; _c_ would make a pretty
little fountain, but it is intended at present to put it in the form of
a rustic basket, and fill it with ornamental plants. The effect can not
be otherwise than good. Climbing plants of various kinds will be trained
up the mullions and rafters of the circular house, and allowed to hang
in festoons from the roof. When the house is filled with flowering and
ornamental-leaved plants, with climbers dependent from the roof, the
effect will be charming.
DESIGN No. 12.
COLD GRAPERIES FOR CITY LOTS.
In this illustration is given three graperies, designed and constructed
by us for Mr. John H. Sherwood of this city, which are among the first,
if not the first erected in New York, as an elegant, substantial and
attractive addition to three very superb palatial residences on Murray
Hill, near 5th Avenue. These latter are buildings, such as, in style and
workmanship, very few persons in this country, outside of New York, have
seen, and such as but few of the first class builders of New York are
competent to erect.
Centrally located in the aristocratic portion of a city noted for its
wealth, taste and influence, these Graperies will be carefully watched
as an index of what the future may do in the increased demand for houses
on city lots for Horticultural purposes.
A full sized lot in the city of New York is twenty-five feet wide by one
hundred feet in depth. The ground attached to each dwelling in this case
is equal to two full sized lots, being twenty-five feet wide and two
hundred feet in depth. The dwellings front on Fortieth Street, behind
which are the yards, twenty by twenty-five feet; the Graperies, which
are twenty-five feet by forty feet; then the coach houses, which front
on, and are entered from, Thirty-ninth Street, thus using the whole
space.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--_Perspective._]
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Ground Plan._]
The graperies are intended to be used without heat; but whenever
desirable, heating apparatus can be easily introduced, and the grape
season materially lengthened. For practical purposes only, and on open
grounds, it would, perhaps, have been better to have built the houses
lower; but as grapes are usually fruited next to the glass, the
principal objection to high houses for grape culture is the extra labor
in getting up to the vines for pruning and training. These houses are
purposely built higher than is now usual, to give a finer effect from
the drawing-room windows, and to secure, as far as possible, the
influence of the sun's rays.
By the use of glass houses on city lots, much enjoyment may be had by
all who have a desire to spend their time in growing fine fruits and
flowers. Pot vines and trees condense a vineyard and orchard into a
wonderfully small space, and border vines yield a harvest of glorious
fruit that surprise all not accustomed to seeing and eating such
luxuries. Our city lots, with rare exceptions, are well adapted to the
growth, under glass, of grapes and orchard fruit, and the forcing of
vegetables. There are many of them somewhat shaded during portions of
the day, yet the better protection is something of a compensation, and
besides that, it is still an open question whether sun-light is alone
essential in perfecting fruit; daylight in many cases does pretty well.
The failure to receive the sun's rays the entire day would not deter us
one moment from the erection of a horticultural building. Those who grow
fruit where all conditions are most favorable to success, do not enjoy
the same pleasure nor attain the same skill as those who battle with
difficulties; success easily acquired has not the same value as success
which is reached by persistent effort against adverse circumstances.
Unlike the garden of a country gentleman that blossoms and fruits and
passes away in a season, the horticultural building properly heated is a
perpetual pleasure, a garden the year round; vegetables and fruit and
flowers follow each other without intermission.
Very much is due to the foresight and energy of Mr. Sherwood, in
inaugurating the introduction of horticultural structures of this class
in New York. Few gentlemen of wealth have had the same opportunity, and
few less would have the courage to take the first bold step in this
matter. It cannot, however, by horticulturists, be looked upon as an
experiment, however much those inexperienced in such matters may be
disposed to criticise.
We are sure that Mr. Sherwood has done something that will advance the
cause of Horticulture, and equally sure that he will be successful in
the result. We shall feel much interested in his progress.
DESIGN No. 13.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--_Perspective._]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Ground Plan._]
In our present illustration we have an example of what may be done with
a wall. It was necessary, for certain purposes, to cut away an
embankment, and build a sustaining wall. After this had been done, we
were asked if the wall could not be devoted to some useful purpose, and
it was determined to build a lean-to grapery against it. The chief
difficulty in the way was the wet and springy nature of the ground at
the level marked water line in _Fig._ 38. It was found, however, that it
could be drained; but at certain seasons of the year surface water would
accumulate from the overflow of a milldam. But there is generally
some way to overcome difficulties. In this case, the border was placed
inside the house, and well raised, with a firm concrete bottom between
the ground and water lines, and suitable drains connecting with the main
drain under the front wall, to secure the requisite degree of dryness
inside. Up to the present time we believe every thing has gone on very
favorably. We have no doubt that many other places, now deemed useless,
might be converted into good graperies at an expense that the results
would fully warrant. In case this was successful, it was the owner's
purpose to extend the house along the wall at the left; and it was
therefore deemed best to insert the valley at the angle, to save future
expense in tearing down the end of the house.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.--_Section._]
_Fig._ 36 is a perspective view of the house, which, in connection with
_Fig._ 38 will give the reader a good idea of the general arrangement.
_Fig._ 37 is a plan.
DESIGN No. 14.
Our next illustration is a hot grapery. It is forty-one feet long and
twenty feet wide. _Fig._ 39 is a perspective view. It is covered with a
low, continuous, curvilinear roof, and is without side lights. The
omission of side lights materially lessens the cost of the house, and
secures additional warmth. In some cases, side lights serve no other
purpose than architectural effect. Graperies, propagating houses, and
plant houses generally may very well be constructed without them; some
of these houses, indeed, are very much better without them.
In the present instance, to prevent what is called a "squatty"
appearance, and also to give additional headway, the side walls were
carried up some twenty inches above the ground line. The house is thus
made to assume a handsome appearance. Air is introduced into the house
at the sides, through underground wooden air chambers opening on the
inside near the walk. Instead of these wooden air chambers, we now use
six inch glazed pipes, as being more convenient and durable. It is an
effective and excellent mode of introducing fresh air, without letting
it directly on the plants. Ventilation is effected by the sash over the
end doors, and also by ventilators placed along the ridge board.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--_Perspective._]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--_Ground Plan._]
_Fig._ 40 is the ground plan. At the north end a small room is
partitioned off for a boiler pit. On one side is a chest of drawers for
seeds, &c., and on the other some shelving. In connection with the
boiler pit is a coal bin, not, however, of very large capacity. The
house is heated by two four-inch pipes, the design being not to work the
house very early. The border is entirely inside the house, and is
composed principally of sod, muck, and gravel, with the addition of some
old manure and bone shavings. The vines have done well, annually
ripening a fine crop of fruit, and the house has in all respects proved
to be satisfactory.
DESIGN No. 15.
This is a plan of a range of houses designed and built for Joseph
Howland, Esq., of Matteawan, N. Y. It is a large and imposing structure,
befitting the character of Mr. Howland's ample grounds. It stands at the
north end of the kitchen garden, and conceals it from the dwelling, from
which the range is in full view. A part of the structure on the right,
used as a green house, not shown in ground plan, was built some four or
five years ago with the old sliding sash roof, which was found so
unsatisfactory that at the time of the erection of the new portion, this
roof was removed and replaced with a curvilinear fixed roof to
correspond with the rest.
It will be observed that the range is divided into two parts by a
road-way. The design of this was to enable the family to visit the
houses at any time in the carriage without exposure to the weather, and
enjoy the fruits, flowers, and temperature of tropical climates, without
the necessity of leaving their homes.
The north side of the middle houses is covered with boards and battened.
End ventilation being impracticable here, top ventilation is increased
so as to meet all requirements.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Ground Plan._]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Double Gate._]