194 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



August, 1916. 



The Pleasures of a Home-Made Greenhouse 



G tO. Buidwin, F.R.ll.S., Torouto, Unt. 



THERE is satisfaction, pleasure and 

 often profit in the possession of 

 a modest gi-een-house, even 

 though it may be of your own construc- 

 tion. Their erection may be accomp- 

 lished with so little effort and expense 

 it is a wonder that more people do not 

 have them. The one shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration is nine feet 

 by fifteen feet, inside measurement. Be- 

 fore giving particulars of its cost and 

 construction. I would like to describe 

 the possibilities of such a green-house. 



About the fii-st of March the seeds of 

 flowers and vegetables to be grown in 

 it may be sown in pans and flats. The 

 seedlings are pricked out into other 

 flats, and placed on shelves as close to 

 the glass as possible. These are kept 

 growing on until the end of May, when 

 it is time to transplant them to the 

 garden. The shelves are removed, and 

 the side beds made ready for the cu- 

 cumbers and tomatoes. The long cu- 

 cumber "Telegraph" is trained up 

 wires on the south side of the house, 

 close to the glass until it reaches the 

 peak, when the heads are pinched out. 

 This makes the plants bush out. Cu- 

 cumibers 'require more sun than toma- 

 toes, so the latter are planted on the 

 north side, and trained up wires in 

 the same way as the cucumbers until 

 they meet at the peak of roof, when 

 they too are pinched at the head. 



Having fifteen feet of space, five 

 plants of each can be grown without 

 crowding. The accompanying illustra- 



tion of the cucumbers growing gives 

 an idea of the system followed, and the 

 quality of the plants. Along the bot- 

 tom there are two discharge pipes, one 

 and a quarter inches in diameter. The 

 return pipes are under the perforated 

 board on the extreme right, and are 

 used for heating in the winter. The to- 

 matoes are as prolific as when grown 

 outdoors, they are three weeks earlier 

 and of much better flavor, to my taste. 

 The only things to worry about in a 

 small house like this are the ventila- 

 tion and spraying the cucumbers with 

 cold water three times a day. Take 

 care not to let the spray go near the 

 tomatoes, as it has a tendency to make 

 the fruit split. Water them only at 

 the roots when required. One hundred 

 and twenty-seven cucumbers and three 

 baskets of ripe tomatoes were taken 

 from this little green-house last year. 



While thi.s is going on, chrysanthe- 

 mums are being got ready, which will 

 give hundreds of bloom during October 

 and November. I hold two silver medals 

 won at the Ontario Horticultural Exhi- 

 bition, for chrysanthemums grown in 

 this house. The rest of the time can 

 be devoted to the growing of salads, 

 and taking care of plants for the fol- 

 lowing year. 



This statement will, I trust, convince 

 the most sceptical that profit, combined 

 with pleasure, may be obtained from 

 such a green-house. Its construction 

 was simple. Enough second-hand 

 bricks were obtained to build the walls, 



eighteen inches below the ground, and 

 two feet above. The rafters and glass 

 were bought second-hand, when a city 

 florist pulled down his green-house in 

 order to build elsewhere. It is heated 

 with a Xo. 10 Jacket hot-water heater, 

 made by The Dominion Radiator Co. 

 The pipes and boiler cost twenty-eight 

 dollai*s. Two coats of paint completed 

 the construction, for a total outlay of 

 sixty-four dollars. I did the work my- 

 self, with a little assistance from a 

 neighbor, in cutting and screwing the 

 one and a quarter inch pipe used for 

 the radiators. If you continue grow- 

 ing vegetables all winter, two tons of 

 nut coal, at eight dollars a ton, will 

 be required, otherwise less than a ton 

 will give you all the heat required for 

 the chrysanthemums in the fall, and 

 raising seeds in the early spring. 



It is not too late to put up trellises 

 or stakes upon which to train tomato 

 vines. Stakes, as a rule, do not allow 

 the plants room to spread out enough. 

 A convenient form of trellis is made 

 from a barrel hoop with two or three 

 stakes nailed to it, so as to lift it eigh- 

 teen inches or two feet from the ground. 

 A second hoop may be also nailed to 

 these stakes for extra large or unusu- 

 ally small growing varieties. A hoop 

 is placed over each plant, the branches 

 of which are allowed to hang over the 

 top. 



One of the quiekest-gi'owing dwarf 

 annuals is sweet alyssum. Sow the 

 seeds as soon as the ground can be 

 worked in spring and you will be re- 

 paid with an abundance of snowy-w'hite 

 sweet-.scented flowers. 



This simple and inexipensive hom-eimade green/house, owned by Mr. Geo. Baldwin, of Tordnto, has produced lar^p oiiantities of flowers, vegetables 

 and pleasure for its owner. Note what Mr. Baldwin saiys about it in the article on this page. 



