868 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



en open them when the sun comes out from 

 between the clouds, and close them again 

 when it goes back under the clouds, and I 

 really enjoy it, for the whole operation con- 

 sists simply in turning a crank. I do not 

 enjoy lifting sash at all, especially on a 

 windy day ; but I think that turning a crank 

 is just fun, especially when I can see a dozen 

 sash move in obedience to my will, and when 

 I can hold them at any point without a bit 

 of danger of the wind taking them from my 

 grasp and doing damage. It takes an expert 

 to handle sash without " putting his foot in 

 it " every now and then ; but any cheap boy 

 can turn a crank. Now, I am not a " crank ,1 

 myself, and have no ambition to be called 

 one ; but I do love cranks— that is, the kind I 

 have described. I think you now see what 

 I want. I want an arrangement whereby 

 we can get either glass sash or cloth frames 

 entirely out of our way by simply turning a 

 crank, and can also put them back exactly 

 in place, and have them held there safely by 

 turning the crank the other way. If you 

 want great power, the crank may be a very 

 long one. In my recent visits to large cities 

 I have been greatly interested in seeing two 

 men, with a crank for each, ten or twelve feet 

 long, move a great iron bridge, large enough 

 to permit great vessels to pass through, and 

 strong enough to hold heavy railway trains, 

 after the bridge was back again in place. 

 Yes, I have had visions for more than a year, 

 of a great glass structure to revolve on a 

 central pivot, just like these immense 

 bridges. Half of this structure would be 

 glass, and the other half an opening. One 

 or two men could turn it around so as to 

 present the glass toward the sun as it 

 marched through the heavens ; and when 

 the weather is warm enough, the open space 

 could be turned toward the sun, so as to get 

 the direct rays ; and when it rains, the whole 

 contents of the greenhouse could have the 

 benefit of the shower. If a steam-boiler is 

 used to heat the house, a little engine would 

 do the turning. In fact, a thermometer 

 could be made by electricity to revolve the 

 whole apparatus in obedience to changes of 

 temperature. But I think I should prefer 

 bossing the turning myself.* I have also 

 thought of a greenhouse set on wheels, to 

 run on a railway track. When the sun 

 shines, push it back out of the way ; when it 

 gets frosty, shove it forward. As, however, 

 it is risky business to move glass structures, 

 we could, if we choose, have the plant-beds 

 on wheels, and run them out for rain and 

 sunshine, running them in again when they 

 need protection. t The great objection to all 



* This great circular glass house should have the 

 lower edge of galvanized iron; and this lower edge, 

 where it revolves, should dip in a trough of water. 

 This would make it turn with great ease, and yet 

 be perfectly air-tight. When the water in the 

 trough freezes up, there would be no need of turn- 

 ing it; and the metal edge frozen fast in the trough 

 of water would make about as tight a joint as one 

 could ask for. If the circular house is not too 

 large, the owner could swing it at any time by 

 reaching one of the rafters overhead, and giving it 

 a push. Of course, the expense of such a structure 

 would be pretty heavy; and setting glass on a cir- 

 cuhir sloping roof is very expensive business. 



+ There is a pleasant feature about having the 

 plant-beds on wheels. For economy of space they 



these arrangements is, that we must have 

 twice as much ground as our garden occu- 

 pies. In great cities, where market-garden- 

 ing is mostly carried on, ground is quite ex- 

 pensive ; and keeping an extra piece of 

 ground, just for holding a glass house, or 

 plant-beds, occasionally, is quite expensive. 

 We want our glass sash or cloth frames 

 taken away somewhere so as to occupy but 

 little space. 



What objection is there, do you ask, to 

 Hitchings' apparatus for tipping the sash up 

 edgewise? Well, in the first place this 

 machinery does not tip the sash up so as to 

 let the rain strike every part of the plant- 

 beds. Perhaps it might be arranged to do 

 this. Another thing, it takes enormous 

 power to raise all the sash in a large green- 

 house up on one edge. Do you say, "Balance 

 them by a shaft through the middle, so as to 

 swing them on their centers' V Very good, 

 but still two difficulties present themselves. 

 If we have the glass near the plants (and it 

 is by far the better way), the sash will come 

 down unpleasantly in the way when the 

 weather is warm enough to have every thing 

 open. Another thing : A sash, to swing on 

 its middle, must have a great many openings 

 in the greenhouse— openings of such a char- 

 acter that it is quite difficult to have them 

 closed up tight when zero weather comes. 



Perhaps I should explain, that, in our lo- 

 cality, there is not a month in the year, and 

 very few weeks, when we do not have rain 

 more or less, even in the coldest part of the 

 winter; and when it is warm enough to rain, 

 it is warm enough to have every thing in the 

 open air. I have tested the matter on a 

 small scale, far enough to know that excel- 

 lent results can be obtained by such a con- 

 trivance as I have suggested. In fact, Peter 

 Henderson has figured a house for hardy 

 plants in the florists' line, made a good deal 

 on the plan I suggest. You will find it in 

 the American Florist for Aug. 1, 1889. You 

 can easily test the thing on a small scale by 

 making a plant-bed on the south side of 

 some building. If a wing comes out just 

 far enough to keep off west and northwest 

 winds, it will be an advantage. Now have 

 your sash hinged at the north side of your 

 bed, so that it may be turned over against 

 the wall of the building, and you have it. 

 Even if your bed is 30 feet long, a man at 

 each end and one in the middle would 

 throw the sash over against the building, 

 where it must be fastened, of course, to pre- 



could be pushed tight up against each other, occu- 

 pying all the space usually used for paths or alleys, 

 leaving room for only a single walk, on the south 

 side of the house, for instance, so a walk can be 

 made anywhere you wish by pushing the beds 

 apart — that is. spreading them wherever you want 

 to get in, instead of having the vacant space on the 

 south side, as mentioned. This arrangement would 

 also prevent dampness and mold, because the beds 

 could be moved apart so as to let the sun and air all 

 around them, underneath as well as overhead. The 

 principal expense would be a level substantial 

 track, with strong accurate wheels and axles, so 

 the beds would move with very little pushing. I 

 would adopt this plan were it not for ihe expense 

 of the extra ground that can not, as 1 see, be made 

 available for any other purpose: also the expense 

 of the track, wheels, and axles. Possibly the plant- 

 beds may be floated on water, like a canal boat, 

 cheaper than to put them on a car. 



