8t0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov 



SECTIONAL VIEW OF LOW GREENHOUSES, OR PITS. 



A. Sash, 6x4 ft. B. 114-inch steam-pipe. C. Cemented bench, i l A ft. wide. D. Walk, 2 ft. wide and 6% ft. 

 from ridge. E. Yellow pine gutter, 10x4 inches. F. Front wall, 3% ft. high. G. Ground-level. 



with an iron bar for a lever, we now apply the or- 

 dinary hoisting apparatus, so that every alternate 

 sash on the south side can be lifted to a height of 

 nearly f&ur feet. This was the great desideratum 

 in our first erections of these low houses, whether of 

 fixed roofs or portable sashes, that for the purposes 

 for which such houses are best adapted— the grow- 

 ing of hardy and half-hardy stuff— sufficient venti- 

 lation could not be obtained. These low houses are 

 formed of sashes 6x4; the glass is double thick, 

 10x14. All sashes on the north side are screwed 

 down, also every alternate one on the south side, 

 the others being used for ventilation. This abun- 

 dant means of ventilation makes such houses 

 adaptable for any purpose that cold-frames or 

 sunken pits are generally used for, such as the 

 growing of violets, pansies, daisies, bulbs of all 

 kinds, or, in short, any plant whose nature rebels 

 against a high temperature in a dormant state. For 

 dormant hybrid roses, clematis, hydrangeas, and 

 carnations, we find them particularly useful, and 

 we never before have had such satisfactory results 

 from that class of plants. 



The space occupied by these houses on our place 

 is 300 feet long by 90 feet wide. The length is cross- 

 ed by two potting-sheds each 15 feet wide. As will 

 be seen by the ground plan, the paths are sunk, 

 the sides of which are held up by brick on edge 

 laid in cement; the benches are all cemented, thus 

 always presenting a clean, smooth surface on 

 which to set plants. The posts supporting the yel- 

 low pine gutters are locust, so that houses so built, 

 we believe, will stand for at least twenty-five years, 

 with but a trifle for repairs. The heating: is done 

 by steam, by three of Lord & Burnham's No. 5 hot- 

 water boilers with a steam-dome attachment. The 

 two l^-inch pipes in each house are attached to the 

 gutter-plate, as shown in the plan, which is suffi- 

 cient to keep out frost in coldest weather; if heat- 

 ed by hot-water it would require exactly the same 

 amount of four-inch pipe to do the same work. It 

 is in such conditions as we have here, however, 

 where steam has the advantage over hot-water, the 

 extreme point to be heated being nearly 600 feet 

 from the boiler-pit: it would hardly be practicable 

 to heat with hot water at such a distance. 



This block of pits was erected by Lord & Burn- 

 ham, and cost $7.50 per running foot, for each 

 house, complete. This, of course, far exceeds in 

 cost that of the ordinary sunken pits, which we 

 used for the same purposes, sometimes using them 

 as sunken hotbeds, heating by manure; but two 

 years' working of this new plant has convinced us 

 that we would have been many thousand dollars in 

 pocket had we made the erection years ago instead 

 of bungling along with the cold sunken pits, be- 

 cause, not only is there always loss by breakage in 

 matting up such pits, but often great loss to plants 

 is sustained from snow-storms when the pits have 

 to be kept closed. As a matter of fact, although 

 the area covered by these low houses is considera- 

 bly less than we had in sunken pits and cold 

 frames, our output of plants has been more than 

 doubled, and at much less expense in labor. 

 Against that, of course, is the cost of fuel, which 1 



estimate to be only about $500, as the temperature 

 is at all times low, but, taken all together, it is per- 

 haps the most satisfactory change in our green- 

 house plant that we have ever made. 



Although we use these houses only for half-hardy 

 stock, and keep them at a low temperature, of 

 course they can be used for other greenhouse stock 

 by increasing the heat; but for growing flowers in 

 winter, or for growing plants requiring a high tem- 

 perature, such houses are not so well adapted as 

 the modern rose-house, which I believe to be the 

 best for any purpose of flowering or fruiting plants 

 in winter. But most florists growing a general 

 stock always find a necessity for cold-frames or re- 

 tarding-pits, and for such purposes I doubt whether 

 this style of low greenhouses can be much improv- 

 ed upon. Peter Henderson. 



Jersey City, N. J., July 11, 1889. 



In addition to the above, the editor of the 

 American Florist adds the following : 



It should be added, that surplus water drains into 

 the cemented walk; and the houses having a slight 

 fall, the water flows easily in the side gutters to 

 one end, where it is carried off by a sewer. The 

 rafters and ridge-pole are of yellow pine. It will 

 also be noted, as shown in sketch of interior, that 

 each sash which is raised by the ventilating ma- 

 chinery is provided with two arms, one on each 

 side. At the apex of the roof the two rafters and 

 the ridge are solidly united by a small iron truss, 

 which is undoubtedly of considerable value in 

 strengthening the roof and keeping it in shape. 



INTERIOR OP LOW GREENHOUSES, OR PITS. 



