J20 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



than the atmosphere, and low beds 

 should always have a steam pipe up each 

 pathAvay. Few rose or carnation grow 

 ers want heating pipes beneath a bench, 

 but they want them on the sides of 

 benches, as equally distributed through 

 the house and among the plants as pos 

 sible. The more your pipes are dis 

 tributed and separated the better the 

 radiation and the greater the saving of 

 fuel. 



Ventilation. 



As stated early in this article, green 

 house architecture and construction has 

 become of such importance that it is 

 now specialized, and no matter how well 

 posted and experienced a florist may 

 be and building is with some a hobby 

 it will pay him to send a rough sketch 

 to some horticultural builder, who will 

 get out all his material so that his own 

 help or a country carpenter can put it 

 together. This should be done in every 

 case, large or small. The following sug 

 gestions may be of help in some cases. 



The ventilation of these houses, or 

 nny house, should be ample always. You 



frost, yet the sun be very bright, com 

 pelling us to put on a crack of air by 

 9 or 10 o clock. The ventilators, 

 if on the west side, would be frozen 

 and could be lifted only with great 

 trouble, while the sun has thawed the 

 ice on the east side. We do not think 

 that ventilation on both sides is neces 

 sary if ample is given on the east side. 



In houses running east and west, which 

 most rose and carnation houses do in the 

 north, the ventilation is usually at the 

 ridge and on the north side, because if 

 on the south side and there was a cut 

 ting wind from the north it would be 

 felt on the plants; the raised ventilator 

 prevents that. With a number of com 

 mercial rose houses, we have found 

 ventilators opening at the ridge on the 

 north side the most satisfactory. 



The dimensions for ventilators on a 20- 

 foot or 22-foot house should be two feet 

 six inches deep from ridge to bottom 

 of ventilator, and continuous the whole 

 way along the roof. It is plain to every 

 one that a 3-inch opening the whole way 

 is far better than a 6-inch opening for 

 the length of four feet, and then a space 

 of five or six feet with no opening. We 



Model Greenhouse, Showing Iron Gutter and Cypress Construction. 



may not need it except in summer, but 

 you want the means for the largest 

 amount of ventilation that is of benefit 

 to the plants in the hottest weather. Our 

 prevailing winds are from the west, and 

 a large proportion of the country is the 

 same. In houses running north and 

 south, we ventilate on the east side, es 

 pecially when the ventilator is hinged at 

 the ridge. There is also another ad 

 vantage in ventilating on the east side. 

 In February and March particularly, the 

 thermometer may indicate 15 degrees of 



have seen some very clearly defined cases 

 of failure of late that were unmistak 

 ably traceable to very inadequate ventila 

 tion. It costs no more in glass and little 

 more for the machines that operate the 

 sashes. 



In rose houses the better method is 

 doubtless mat where the ventilator opens 

 at the ridge, and with plants of a tropi 

 cal nature, like our palms, dracaenas, 

 orchids, ferns, etc., it must also be the 

 better system. For carnations and the 

 more cold-blooded plants, such as the 



azaleas, lilies, and our geraniums, the 

 ventilators hinged at the ridge will do, 

 but if all the ventilators open at the 

 ridge for every house you won t be far 

 wrong. 



1 cannot see any use in cutting off 

 the bars where the headers go in for 

 the ventilators to be hinged on, or it 

 may be close on. Let all the bars run 

 up to the ridge; you will get as much 

 ventilation, the bars will be stronger, 

 you will have a straighter roof, and 

 the labor is only a trifle more, if any. 



Usually plant houses lead out from 

 a continuous shed, which is of course 

 on the north end of them, so that there 

 is not a square foot of bench room that 

 has not the full light; more particularly 

 is this true of the 22-foot houses, where 

 the benches are removed from the walls. 



Where several of these houses are 

 built parallel and attached, only the two 

 outside ones can spread, and this brings 

 us to the question of 



Posts. 



Some men with sufficient capital can 

 afford to build brick walls on stone 

 foundations, and when the stonework 

 is two feet six inches or three feet in 

 the ground and dry work to near the sur 

 face of the ground it makes an excellent 

 drain, keeping the surface of the house 

 dry, which is an excellent state of af 

 fairs. I doubt whether an 8-inch brick 

 wall is much warmer than two thick 

 nesses of boards, and a 12-inch wall is 

 quite expensive. However, with those 

 that can afford it, it is certainly to be 

 commended. Wooden posts will for a 

 long time be used, and if of the right 

 material outlast any other portion of the 

 house. 



Locust is the nearest to cast iron of 

 any wood we know of, but good locust 

 posts are difficult to obtain and very 

 hard to work. Red cedar is most dur 

 able, light to handle and easy and 

 pleasant to work. Next in quality comes 

 cypress, which, when of good quality, 

 will last in the ground many years, and 

 the only other wood I know of suitable 

 for posts is what is generally known as 

 white or yellow cedar, which for the pur 

 pose is far inferior to the red cedar, al 

 though one-half the cost of the latter. 



A post that is dressed 5x5 or 4x6 is 

 large enough for ordinary houses. It 

 is well to have all parts set firmly in 

 the ground, especially the outside ones, 

 although the posts must not be trusted 

 to keep the walls plumb, however well 

 set. If the posthole is dug a few 

 inches on all sides larger than the post 

 and when the posts are set perfectly 

 true and straight by the aid of two 

 lines, one near the top and one near 

 the bottom, and the excavation filled 

 in with concrete, gravel and cement, 

 which should be carried above the sur 

 face as high as possible, you have 

 fastened the posts as firmly as it is 

 possible to do. 



The tops of the posts should be cut 

 off square. Now, how do you get this 

 line so that the plate shall be a per 

 fect line? Not with a swinging line, 

 surely, for you can never get a perfect 



