The Canadian HoRTicuLTtrkist. 



135 



SMALL GREENHOUSES. 



0\V that the frosts of winter have made the outdoor garden 

 mostly a study in sepias, consolation is found in the 

 genial temperature of the greenhouse, and I wish to 

 make a plea to flower fanciers and owners of small 

 places to have one of these, no matter how unpreten- 

 tious. While there is now not one greenhouse to a 

 thousand gardens, this important adjunct would often 

 he added if it were generally known that a small house is not an expensive 

 structure, and that the maintenance is a trifle quite within the means of limited 

 purses. Modest things are the most that many of us can compass in this world, 

 and to wait for ideal things is simply to be ever without them. Granting that 

 a greenhouse is desired, the most practical plan is to go ahead and build one, 

 taking heed it shall not be a burden either in the first cost, or so extensive as to 

 require much labor for daily care. It is well to locate the greenhouse near the 

 dwelling, as it can there be better enjoyed. If the heater can be placed in the 

 cellar it will be a great advantage, both in saving space, in keeping dust away 

 from the plants, and for convenience of attention to the fire. A greenhouse is 

 a space enclosed by. low walls with a sloping glass-roof, in which there must be 

 arrangements for ventilation. The walls are best and most cheaply made of a 

 double thickness of boards with a lining of building-paper. These walls should 

 be nailed to upright posts at the corners, and to others at distances of three or four 

 feet. A drip board should be nailed on the top of each side wall at the same 

 slope as the proposed roof, and on its lower edge a narrow projecting strip must 

 he nailed to serve for a gutter. A two by six inch board will make a good ridge 

 for a small house, and may be adjusted at the proper height and in the centre, 

 or at one side, as it is intended to make a span or three-quarter span roofed 

 house. If the house is to be covered with garden sash it will be necessary only 

 to fasten a narrow s'rip, say, three-quarters by two inches, at every three feet ; 

 but for a glazed greenhouse, sash-bars are mortised in the ridge and drip-board, 

 at proper distances to receive the glass. Cross- bars will be necessary to meet 

 lower bars of ventilating sashes. The ends of the house are finished with sash- 

 bars, in which the glasses should be fastened and butted, rather than lapped. 

 This class of house may be built by any handy man used to carpenter's tools, 

 and will cost, for materials in a house ten by fifteen feet, about $75. It will be 

 found preferable to have side lights on the side walls, and these sashes will add 

 a little to the cost. It is advisable to have the inside of the house and all joints 

 covered with white-lead in oil, but for the outside I prefer emerald green in a 

 private garden. This color wears well, and the house is not such a staring 

 object in the garden. It is difficult to .sec why a greenhouse should be j)aintcd 



