Types of Greenhouses for Vegetable Culture' 



VEGETABLE growing under glass 

 is be(X)mLng one of the im- 

 portant features of agricutture. 

 The demand for more vegetables dur- 

 ing the winter months is necessitat- 

 inj,' building more houses to grow 

 such crops as lettuce, tomatoes, and cu- 

 cumbers. The market is large and prices 

 good, and the main point which the 

 growers are trying to overcome is that 

 of cost of production. The improved 

 methods of growing and the improved 

 forms of construction are cutting this 

 down considerably. The following points 

 are those which interest the prospective 

 builder, and which may prove of some 

 value : 



SITE 



The selection of a suitable location 

 for a greenhouse plant demands careful 

 consideration. The progressive grower 

 looks ten years ahead and works toward 

 that end by building in an economical 

 position, using good materials and grows 

 produce of good quality which assure 

 him an increase in trade. The first point 

 which he should consider is location. 



Long hauls of fuel and supplies cut 

 down profits, and in locating a green- 

 house plant the proximity to a railroad 

 should be carefully considered. A man 

 seeking a fresh location should select 

 one close to a railroad, either steam or 

 electric, which hauls freight. Nowadays 

 the growers instal a siding and arrange 

 their coal chutes so that the handling of 

 coal is minimized. One handling is 

 sufficient where a siding is used and no 

 hauling is necessary. Some ' growers 

 erect a trestle work so that the coal is 

 simply dumped into the coal hoppers. 

 Coal is one of the largest items of ex- 

 pense which the growers have annually 

 to contend with, and anything that can 

 be saved in its handling adds so much 

 to the returns from the plant for the 

 year. If a distant market is to be sup- 

 plied in the future, shipping facilities 

 .should also be looked into and possibili- 

 ties of quick transportation either by 

 express or freight considered. 

 POINTS TO CONSIDER 



The grower who already has his land 

 and is now ready to build should con- 

 sider the following points and build ac- 

 cordingly. Ample means of drainage 

 should be obtained and cold, wet spots 

 avoided. There should be no possibility 

 of spring floods ever reaching the houses, 

 as was the case in several 'houses in the 

 United States this past season where 

 the crop was totally destroyed. Again 

 the house should not be located in the 

 direct line of drainage of any tract of 

 land, for trouble mav occur. 



•Extract from an address delivered at the 

 recent Annual OonvenUon of the Ontario Vege- 

 table Growers' Association. 



S. C. Johnson, B. S. A. 



If the houses are to be erected in the 

 path of the prevailing winds, wind- 

 breaks of .some description should be 

 provided to break the force of thfe wind 

 from a direct blow on the glass. Green- 

 house vegetable growers are realizing 

 the value of the windbreak more than 

 ever before, and are securing shelter by 

 means of high light board fences, clumps 

 of trees, and by planting rows of quick 

 growing trees. If windbreaks of trees 

 are used, the houses should be sufficient 

 distance away from them that there is 

 no danger of falling limbs. 



In selecting the site for his first house 

 the grower will do well to erect his house 

 so that he can either add to it or have 

 plenty of room for adding more houses 

 in a line with it. The house first built 

 should be of a size which can be dupli- 

 cated right alongside of it. Many of the 

 largest growers in the United States 

 started some ten years or more ago with 

 one small house, but at the same time 

 laid out their ground so that they could 

 expand and cover a certain area econ- 

 omically if the first venture proved a 

 success. Some now have five, six, and 

 ten acres under glass, with houses of 

 the same length, and all joined by a. main 

 alley. No tearing down and rebuilding 

 of 'houses was necessary, as each addi- 

 tional house went into the place left for 

 it at the start. 



FOUNDATIONS 



The question of foundation is the next 

 point to confront the builder. Cement 

 blocks, solid concrete, wooden sides 

 with a shallow concrete base, are com- 

 mon. Solid concrete is generally used 

 by growers. The walls are made eight 

 to twelve inches in width, and are set 

 in the ground to a depth of from eight 

 incihes to two feet as the grower sees 

 fit, or the form of construction requires. 

 The solid concrete is usually made in 

 the proportions of six by one, and care 

 is taken to keep all stones from the out- 

 side face in order to give an attractive 

 and clean cut appearance to it. 



Concrete blocks are rapidly coming 

 into favor for the sidewalks of a green- 

 house, and a good app)earance is given 

 by their use. The main p)oint about 

 blocks is that they should be so moufded 

 that they will fit the wall posts or lone 

 supports and not cause any extra cutting. 

 In many instances these blocks were 

 made by the growers during the winter 

 months. They are made in all lengths, 

 but the most common I have seen were 

 sixteen inches by eight and eight. The 

 cost of materials for a block this size is 

 estimated to be twelve cents. The price 

 of lumber has risen so much during later 

 years that it is advisable to build as 

 muoh of the foundation of concrete work 

 as is oossible_ Thp iinl<-«»pn fnr cAmont 



work is practically nothing, and a good 

 solid, Ia.sting job is made at first. 



It is advisable in houses where benches 

 are to be used to leave doors along the 

 side walls whereby earth may be thrown 

 out or in. In smaller houses where no 

 side ventilation is thought advisable, 

 .these small doors should be put in in 

 the cement work for convenience. 



JOINED OR SEPARATE HOUSES 



Opinions of various growers in differ- 

 ent sections differ as to which type of 

 house is the better. Each has its own 

 supporters. Some prefer the joined 

 houses and others as emphatically assert 

 that they could not grow half the crops 

 they are now doing if they had to use 

 joined houses. In sections where land 

 is very valuable joined houses will cover 

 all available land space and returns can 

 be had from practically every inch. Con- 

 nected houses cost less in the initial cost 

 than separate ones, although the upkeep 

 expenses are greater for them. Separate 

 houses afford an easy control of side 

 ventilation. Growers now realize the 

 importance of this for their crops in late 

 fall and early spring; in fact, their use 

 is spread over the whole year. Side 

 ventilation can be secured and controlled 

 satisfactorily in the separate house, while 

 in the joined house side ventilation is 

 not so readily received when there are 

 several houses in the range. Separate 

 houses also give more light to the crop 

 owing to the increased amount of glass, 

 and with these houses the least amount 

 of shading is received by the plants ow- 

 ing to the distance from the ridge of 

 the next house. 



Separate houses are usually built with 

 a wider span, and while this does not 

 use more glass than two joined houses 

 the same width, the volume of air is in- 

 creased, improving conditions for the 

 plants. Some growers who have con- 

 nected houses have had trouble with 

 snow lodging at the gutters and break- 

 ing the glass on the roof. This is over- 

 come in the separate houses, and no 

 trouble has occurred where Iron cane 

 plates have been used. These seem to 

 be the main points about the separate 

 and joined houses, and there seems to be 

 no question as to which it is advisable 

 to build. 



Where land is not too high in value it 

 is best to select a good construction and 

 build separate houses and connect them 

 up by an alley house at one end or in 

 the centre. In some plants this alley 

 house is built large enough to accom- 

 modate beds or benches for growing 

 young plants, and there is no waste 

 room. With the separate hou.ses the 

 land between can be utilized by the grow- 

 ing of such crops as staked tomatoes. 



