i8g5. 



• • • GARDENING, 



67 



AN AMATEUR S GREENHOUSE 



sunny windows, but the marguerite 

 (Pans daisy) and heliotrope and dahlias 

 like the sunshine. Either window is right 

 for the wall flower but it dislikes both a 

 high temperature and dry atmosphere. 

 Dahlias seldom bloom well through the 

 winter, at the same time they flower 

 beautifully in November and often in 

 December in the house orgreenhouse. For 

 this purpose get some of the dwarf varie- 

 ties or brilliant colored single ones, pot 

 them in August and after they have be- 

 come root bound treat them to a top- 

 dressing of fresh loam and manure, half 

 and half, or bi-weekly liquid stimulants. 

 Pot culture restricts their rankness of 

 growth, and induces floriferousness. 



Wateri.ng. — "The greenhouse man told 

 me to keep the plants 'soaked' all the 

 time with water, but I have read else- 

 where that you should not water them 

 until the soil begins to whiten or drj' on 

 top. Is there any generally rule?" 



Ans. Probably the florist knew from 

 experience that beginners arc more aptto 

 give too little than too much water to 

 their house plants, and advised accord- 

 ingly. No, don't water a plant that is 

 already soaking wet. "The soil beginning 

 to whiten on top" is a very unsafe rule; 

 any intelligent person can tell moderately 

 moist from wet soil; if jou cannot tell at 

 a glance feel the soil with the finger, or 

 ring the pot by hitting it with your 

 knuckles, if it gives a light ringing sound 

 it is quite dry, if a thud it is wet; or you 

 may lift it to feel if it is heavy or not. 

 When the soil whitens on top it is too dry 

 for most anything except geraniums. No, 

 there is no general rule. When the soil be- 

 gins to get dry give more water. 



Liquid manire.— "I have very strong 

 liquid manure made according to direc- 

 tions in Garde.ning. Do the plants need 

 it, and if so how much of it should be 

 used and how often?" 



.4ns. Be careful. While liquid manure 

 ma3' be given to strong, well-rooted 

 plants, it should never be given to poorly 

 rooted ones. Your begonias, unless they 

 are pot bound and strong gross-growing 

 sorts like rubra don't want it, it would 

 probably do, the azalea more harm than 



good. If the heliotrope has filled its pot 

 with roots, a little diluted liquid manure 

 once a week will help it; if the marguerite 

 is root bound a good soaking once a week 

 will do it good; if your sweet geranium 

 rose or oak one and grown for its green 

 shoots and leaves for cutting, as soon as 

 it is root bound give it a little now and 

 again. The dahlias will likely go to rest 

 pretty soon and w on't need a stimulant. 

 Never give liquid manure to a pot plant 

 that isn't root bound. 



"When should the azalea blosso.m?" 



Ans. According to variety and treat- 

 ment, between February and April. 



Stocks. — "I took up also some stocks 

 from my garden, one of the biennial Em- 

 peror variety and two "Cut and Come 

 Agains" that had not blossomed. With 

 one accord they refuse to live. They were 

 so quaint and pretty that this was a 

 great disappointment." 



Ans. Stocks, as a rule, lift badly. For 

 winter-flowering they are generally sown 

 in June and grown duringsummer in pots 

 plunged in the ground and mulched to 

 prevent them getting dry too frequently. 



The Greenhouse. 



AN flUWJTEUR'S OREENflOUSE. 



In presenting the following sketch of 

 my greenhouse I do not wish to impress 

 any one with the idea that I, for one 

 moment, think I have a model, or one 

 that cannot be improved upon; far from 

 it, it is simply what any person could 

 build at a very small cost; and it would 

 be a source of much enjoyment to any one 

 having the inclination and opportunity 

 to do so. Build your greenhouse as much 

 larger and better equipped as you can 

 afford, but do not wait until you can 

 afford to build what you have pictured in 

 your mind as best suited to your liking. 

 My greenhouse (if such it may be called) 

 cost me but sixtj'-five dollars complete, 

 including the Domestic Water Heater, 

 piping, etc. As the illustration will show- 



it is a lean-to built at the side of my 

 house with an eastern exposure; it is 12 

 feet 6 inches long by 6 feet 4 inches wide. 

 It is built on posts set in the ground, 

 four feet apart, along the outer edge; the 

 posts are covered on the outside with 

 rough boards, over which is paper, and 

 again weatherboards, or matched siding, 

 which thoroughly excludes the cold . and 

 makes a nice finish; upon this rests the 

 framevirork and glass sides. The top or 

 roof is made of sash, which can be 

 raised or removed entirely at pleasure. 

 Along the top, next to the house, is a row 

 of ventilators on hinges which are raised 

 or lowered from the inside. The entrance 

 is from the cellarway, as the ground was 

 excavated to the cellar floor level, to 

 [)crmit of head room and allow the roof 

 to come under the dining room window. 

 The bench on which the plants, or rather 

 the pots, rest is four by twelve feet, and 

 it also extends across one end. 



Wnen I first built the greenhouse I was 

 at a loss to know how to heat so small 

 a space, as I did not like the idea of using 

 an oil stove, which is so often recom- 

 mended, I therefore utilized a small coal 

 stove, placed the same in the cellar, and 

 made a coil of 1-inch wrought iron pipe, 

 for the inside of the stove, then ran 75 

 feet of 114-inch pipe through the cellar 

 wall, and under the bench, up to a small 

 expansion tank in the comer, as shown 

 in the cross section, making a complete 

 hot water sj-stem, the same as is used in 

 the kitchen for domestic purposes. The 

 stove part was not very satisfactorj-; 

 when the fire would leave the pipes the 

 water would not heat properly to main- 



AN AMATEURS GREENHOnSE. 



tain the temperature during the night. 

 The sec md year I looked around for 

 something better to heat with, and found 

 it in Hitchings & Co.'s Domestic Water 

 Heater, a small inexpensive affair which 

 did the work to perfection with little or 

 no trouble, and which I could leave for 

 ten or twelve hours without attention, 

 and feel satisfied the temperature would 

 not fall below 60°. I have since sold the 

 heater, and am now using one of the 

 same firm's base burning heaters. No. 23; 

 in addition to heating my greenhouse I 

 heat two rooms in my dwelling. I 

 mention the fact as it reduces the cost of 

 heating the greenhouse to a very nominal 

 figure. 



The friend to whom I sold the Domestic 

 Water Heater uses it to heat a green- 

 house (exposed on all sides) ten bv fifteen 

 feet, in a very satisfactory manner. He 

 uses it under one end of the bench, which 

 is bricked off', about four feet square, 

 covers the brick work with iron, on 

 which he puts sand and uses same as a 

 propagating bench, the door of the fire- 

 place opens outside, and he finds it works 

 splendidly, with no dust or gas in the 

 house. 



