262 LABOUR-SAVING HELPS. [Aug. 



LABO mi- SA VI NG HELPS. 



AMONGST many ingeuious helps for labour-saving indicated by 

 Mr. Jenkins, of Ohio, at the JSTurserymen's Convention 

 meeting in Chicago, the following may be suggestive : — 



AdjustaUe Hinged Sash. — Finding where we had uncovered 

 portions of the greenhouses for the benefit of summer showers, 

 that the plants flourished more than with all our careful watering, 

 we hinged the sash from about the centre of each, to short rods 

 attached to the benches, Ijy which means we readily and quickly 

 raise each sash to a perpendicular position, drop and lock it in a 

 cross-piece over the centre of each bed ; thus readily throwing 

 them open for the rains. 



Hinged Cranes. — We have covered a number of l^eds with muslin, 

 to shade the young plants, and avoid too rapid evaporation. Two 

 cranes are hinged at the ends of each bed, the arms strongly 

 braced, corresponding in length with the width of the muslin 

 covering. The latter is fastened all along the back edges of the 

 bed, and in front to a wire stretched taut between the two cranes. 

 The cranes and muslin attached can be raised to a perpendicular or 

 thrown entirely over, and a bed 50 feet long is uncovered in a 

 moment of time. 



Transplanting Boxes. — Starting many cuttings in the greenhouses 

 which we find advantageous to transplant in rows afterward, giving 

 them more room, we use, instead of pots, L-shaped boxes, easily 

 made by nailing together two thin boards, one 4 to 6 inches wide, 

 forming the side, and one 1 or 3 inches wide for the bottom ; 3 or 

 4 feet long — the length corresponding to the width of the border 

 in which they are placed. These, ranged together lengthways, 

 form a series of boxes, the back of one box making a side for the 

 one preceding it. In these, which economize every inch of space 

 under the glass, rows of twenty or more vines or plants are grown, 

 until 4 or 5 inches high, when, after being properly hardened off' 

 by removing the glass, the entire row is lifted in the box, without 

 destroying roots or soil, and turned out into the open furrows or 

 trench. They are thus transplanted as quickly as a single vine from 

 a pot, and positively without loss or any apparent checking of 

 growth. The boxes, after being dipped in hot lime water, appear 

 quite free from fungus, and as healthful to the plants as pots. 



