170 GARDEXIIs^G FOR PLEASURE. 



the glass will escape detection, and more or less burn 

 the leaves after the sun becomes strong, to counteract 

 which a slight shading had better be used on the glass 

 from April to September. We use naphtha, with just 

 enough white lead mixed in it to give it the appearance 

 of thin milk. This we put on with a syringe, which 

 sufficiently covers up all flaws in the gkss to prevent 

 burning, and at the same time tends to cool the house 

 from the violence of the sun's rays. Tiiis is by far the 

 cheapest and best shading we have ever used. It can be 

 graded to any degree of thickness, and costs only about 

 twenty-five cents per thousand square feet of glass, for 

 material and labor. 



In glazing, the method now almost universally adopted 

 is to bed the glass in putty, and tack it on top with 

 glazier's points, using no putty on the top. The glazier's 

 points are triangular, one corner of which is turned down, 

 so that, when it is driven in, it fits the lower edge of 

 each pane and prevents it from slipping down. A great 

 mistake is often made in giving the glass too much lap. 

 It should only be given just enough to cover the edge of 

 the pane (from one-eighth to one-fourth of an inch). If 

 given too much, the water gets in, and when it freezes it 

 cracks the glass. 



All who have had experience with greenhouses know 

 that, no matter how well the glazing has been done by bed- 

 ding the glass in putty, the water gets in at the crevices 

 sooner or later, rotting the putty, and, consequently, loos- 

 ening the glass. A simple plan to obviate this (which has 

 recently been introduced) is to pour along the junction 

 of the bar with the glass a thin line of white lead in oil 

 from the slender spout of a machine oil can, over which 

 is shaken dry sand. This at once hardens, and makes a 

 cement which effectually checks all leakage. This, care- 

 fully done, will make such a tight job that no repairs 

 will be necessary for many years. 



