THE GARDENER'S MONTHL Y 



\Jamiary , 



half the injurious eflfect on plants that cold air 

 has. When plants get accidentally frozen, the 

 hest remedy in the world is to dip them at once 

 in cold water and set them in the shade to thaw. 



It is better to keep in heat in cold weather by 

 covering, where possible, than to allow it to es- 

 cape, calculating to make it good by fire-heat, 

 which is, at best, but a necessary evil. "Where 

 bloom is in demand, nothing less than 55° will 

 accomplish the object; though much above that 

 is not desirable, except for tropical hot-house 

 plants. Where these plants are obliged to be 

 wintered in a common green-house, they should 

 be kept rather dry, and not be encouraged much 

 to grow, or they may rot away. 



Ferneries are now so deservedly popular, that 

 we must have a word to say for them at times, 

 though their management is so simple, there is 

 little one can say. It is probably their ease of 

 management, and the great results obtained for 

 the little outlay of care, that has rendered them 

 so popular. It should not, however, be forgotten 

 that the cases in which they are enclosed is not 

 to keep out the air, but to keep in the moisture, 

 as Ferns will not thrive in the dry atmosphere of 

 heated rooms. A few minutes' airing every day 

 will, therefore, be of great benefit to them. De- 

 ca3'ed wood, (not pine), mixed with about half its 

 bulk of fibrous soil of any kind, and a very small 

 proportion (say a tenth of the bulk) of well-rotted 

 stable-manure, makes a good compost. Most 

 kinds particularly like well-drained pots. This 

 is usually eflected by filling a third of the pots 

 in Avhich the Ferns are to grow with old pots bro- 

 ken in pieces of about half an inch square, on 

 which a thin layer of moss is placed, before filling 

 the pots, to keep out the soil from choking the 

 drainage. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



A MODEL GREENHOUSE ESTABLISHMENT. 



BY WM. HALL, FULTONVILLE, N. Y. 



The Other day, being in N'ew York, I called 

 over to see the new greenhouse erections that I 

 had heard of being made by Peter Henderson, 

 on Jersey City Heights, thinking they might 

 interest some of your readers as they interested 

 me. With your leave, I will give a brief descrip- 

 tion of plan and extent of this establishment 

 that now covers a space of 300 by 400 feet, 

 an area of 120,000 square feet, or nearly three ! 



acres of greenhouses and pits, and which, I pre- 

 sume, is now the largest on this continent. Mr. 

 Henderson, as it is generally known, was one of 

 the first to adopt and recommend the low, nar- 

 row span roofed pits, joined together on what is 

 known as the "ridge and furrow plan," but this 

 season he has removed all that was left of that 

 class of houses, and has erected in their place 

 sixteen houses, each twenty feet wide by one 

 hundred long, and it is principally to describe 

 these, that to me seem models of greenhouse 

 structures, that I write this. I send a sketch of 

 an end section, giving height of walls, &c., which 

 will give an idea of how they are constructed. 



Scale of one-eight of an inch to a foot. 



S. B.— Side Benches. P.— Pipes. M. B.— Middle Benches. 



W.— Walks. G.— Glass. 



These sixteen houses, which form one ridge 

 and furrow block, have their two outer walls 

 built of hollow brick twelve inches thick, and 

 that portion of the ends not covered with glass 

 are also of brick; the inside gutters resting on 

 brick pieces. Every foot of the wood work is of 

 Yellow or Georgia Pine, both inside and out. 

 One of the most important improvements in the 

 construction of these houses is the construction 

 of the benches, which are formed of heavy roof- 

 ing slate, 10x18 inches; these are laid on Yellow 

 Pine bearers and covered with half an inch 

 cement, so as to make them completely water- 

 tight, except at points where the water can be 

 drained ofl' at pleasure. These, Mr. Henderson 

 assures me, have cost only about thirty per cent, 

 more than the ordinary board benches, and he 

 calculates that they will hold without repairs for 

 twenty j^ears. 



The packing shed and otfices, 350x20 feet 

 are at the north end of this range, under 

 the flooring of which are the boiler pits, and 

 here a precaution is taken that is worthy of 

 imitation , every boiler pit being arched with brick, 

 resting on iron bearers, so that there is no pos- 

 sibility of fire occuring from the furnaces. The 

 different temperatures necessary for the difterent 



