THE FLORISTS* MANUAL. 



J2J 



line by any cord, however taut. With a 

 10-foot straight-edge and level you first 

 get a level on the two end posts, the 

 two extreme ends, then if you wish to 

 drop two or three inches to the shed, 

 or the same from the shed, you measure 

 down the number of inches on the end 

 that you wish to drop, tack on a strip 

 of wood a few inches broad with a 

 straight top edge, and when it is nailed 

 on the post temporarily let it project 

 a i oot or so outside the line of posts and 

 perfectly level. Nail a similar piece 

 on the post at the other end and the 

 height you have decided on, dab a little 

 black paint on one of the strips and on 

 the other some white paint. 



Then a man (two men are better) 

 with a 2-foot spirit level held to the side 

 of all the intermediate posts will give 

 you an exact line. One man should 

 hold the spirit level, level and raise or 

 lower by order of the boss, who is sight 

 ing over one of the end strips. When 

 the top of the level is exactly even or 

 in a line with the tops of the strips 

 make a pencil mark on the post and 

 move to another. You will have a line 

 when your posts are cut off that is not 

 pretty near a line, but correct to a hair. 

 The reason the strips of wood should be 

 white and black is to help you sight, 

 -and it would be difficult to sight truly 

 if it were just the ordinary planed pine. 



I have described this operation seem 

 ingly at some length, but twenty posts 

 are marked quicker than I have described 

 it. It is the only way to get a true 

 line, and when established it is a guide 

 for your pipes and benches, or you can 

 level across to another run of posts if 

 need be, although with your corner 

 posts once correct this sighted line is 

 much truer than any straight edge. 



The top of post should be cut off 

 square _aud on it spiked the plate, which 

 should be broad enough to project an 

 inch over the post on the inside and four 

 inches outside of the posts, then when 

 the matched boarding and novelty siding 

 are nailed on there is still a projection 

 of two inches. 



The plate should be beveled both ways 

 and the heel of the bar being cut to 

 the bevel, it affords good solid nailing. 

 The outside bevel should be the same 

 f\s that of the slope of your roof. Posts 

 that support a gutter should never be 

 more than four feet from center to cen 

 ter. For outside posts we have got 

 iiloHg very well with posts eight feet 

 jipart. There is no great weight on the 

 outside plate and the two thicknesses 

 of siding help support it. 



The posts for partitions, or those that 



will support the gutter, should be sawed 

 at the same level as the corresponding 

 posts outside, and the gutter plate should 

 project equally on either side. If the 

 center posts are of red cedar 3x6 is just 

 as good as square. 



Gutters. 



Many a good dollar has been thrown 

 away in the days gone by in the won 

 derful construction of the gutter. Good 

 pine boards nailed in all sorts of com 

 plicated ways and then covered with 

 zinc, tin or galvanized iron, are only put 

 up to rot. The gutter now is a simple 

 affair and promises to last as long as 

 the ridge. It is simply a plank of the 

 clearest and soundest cypress and one 

 and three-quarters inches thick when 

 dressed, and either eight inches or twelve 

 inches wide. If eight inches then the 

 gutter pieces which the bars butt against 

 and are nailed, are screwed on the side 

 of the gutter plate, thus : 



8 INCHES 



Or if a foot wide then the pieces are 

 nailed on top of the gutter, as below: 



12 INCHES 



I prefer the latter plan, and after 

 six years trial of it have no fault or 

 failure in the least. You should have 

 at least a clear eight inches in width 

 of gutter, and the side pieces, whether 

 nailed on the side or on top, should 

 not be less than two and one-half inches 

 above gutter before the bevel begins. 

 The plan for joining the gutter plates, 

 explained and illustrated in the work 

 &quot;How to Grow Flowers,&quot; by the late 

 Myron A. Hunt, is excellent, and again 

 I say, after some years of adoption, I 

 can see no better way. 



A coarse saw groove is made in the 

 center of the thickness of the plate 

 three inches deep and one-eighth or a 

 trifle less wide. Both planks where they 

 will butt will be sawed, then get a piece 

 of sheet iron six inches broad and the 

 length of the breadth of the gutter 

 plate and the thickness of the saw cuts, 

 and after smearing it with white lead 

 drive it home in the saw groove of one 

 plate that is already in place, and when 

 the next plate is laid that is also driven 

 home. If the planks have been sawed 

 perfectly square, this is an abso 

 lutely tight joint. We never look for 

 these joints to be over a post, as the 

 joint is as strong as any part of the 

 gutter. 



There are many who still adhere to 

 wooden gutters. They may be as last 

 ing and have as many advantages, but 

 from experience in recent years I prefer 

 the cast iron or metal gutter. There 

 are several different kinds on the mar 

 ket. The metal gutters have one sub 

 stantial advantage over wood. In case 

 of a snowstorm with a steam pipe within 

 a foot of the gutter the snow will dis 

 appear almost as fast as it falls, and 

 this is not the ease with wooden gutters. 

 We thought when putting in iron gutters 

 in length of five feet seven inches and 

 150 feet total length that there would 

 be expansion and contraction. There is 

 not a parting of joints even visible. It 

 expands and contracts as one solid piece. 



The Ridge. 



This was formerly a very heavy piece 

 of lumber casting a lot of shade. Mod 

 ern builders realize this, and it is now 

 only four or five inches by one and one- 

 half inches. If you hinge at the ridge 

 the hinge is on -top of the ridge, if you 

 open ventilators at the ridge then the 

 cap closes over the ridge and there is 

 no strength needed in the ridge piece. 



The main support to keep a house 

 rigid and perfectly straight and true, 

 as long as it will stand, and that is, we 

 trust a long time, is a l^-inch iron 

 pipe straight under the ridge. If the 

 ridge is thus supported the whole weight 

 is really taken off the walls. In wind 

 storms the roofs of our greenhouses are 

 severely tested, and this center support 

 should be screwed into a fitting which 

 has a shoulder that fits under and 

 screws on to the side of the ridge. 



At the bottom or floor this should be 

 screwed into a circular plate which 

 should be screwed into a short post 

 securely set into the ground a couple 

 of feet. Some only rest the bottom of 

 this iron pipe on a stone. That is good 

 enough for all weight from above, but 

 in case of great wind storms, when a 

 vacuum is formed in the house, I have 

 seen the iron supports lifted clear off 

 the stone, which is a wrenching of the 

 roof and conducive to cracked glass. 



In houses such as we have endeav 

 ored to describe, intended for plants 

 in pots, if planted out to smilax or as 

 paragus they would be on the ground, 

 and wheeling on the benches would 

 not be necessary. 



The neatest way to support the pur 

 lins is by getting* the fittings made by 

 Jennings Bros., of Philadelphia. They 

 are made to go over a 1^-inch pipe 

 with a branch, one in each side, with 

 a socket for a 1-incto pipe. They are 

 fastened at any height on the center 

 1 i , -inch pipe by a set screw and have 



