CHAPTER. If 
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORCING-HOUSE. 
It 1s of the greatest importance that the most particu- 
lar attention be given to the construction of the forcing- 
house, for it is by means of this structure that the gar- 
dener is to make and maintain the climate in which his 
crops are to be grown. It is not the purpose of this book, 
however, to give a manual of instructions for the building 
of glass houses, but it may be advisable to make a few 
summary statements respecting some of the features which 
are particularly useful to forcing-houses, and then refer the 
reader to other treatises for more detailed instruction.* 
TYPES AND FORMS OF HOUSES. 
Forcing-houses should be of the simplest possible con- 
struction. Every feature in their make-up should be char- 
acterized by directness. The walks and benches should be 
straight and of uniform width. The greatest possible 
amount of space should be reserved for the actual grow- 
ing of the plants, by making the walks narrow (not more 
than two feet in most commercial houses) and by carrying « 
the heating pipes and construction timbers out of the reach 
of the plants to be grown. The side walls of forcing-houses 
*The best current American text upon the subject is Taft’s ‘‘ Green- 
house Construction,’ published by the Orange Judd Co. The reader 
may also find some suggestions upon these and similar topics in Wink- 
ler’s ‘‘ Vegetable Forcing,’ Columbus, O., 1896; and also in Dreer’s 
‘Vegetables Under Glass,’’ which comes to hand just as these pages 
are going through the press. 
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