jl6 GARDEN AND FARM TOPICS. 



safe in all the average days of March, April, and May, to 

 have the sash of the hot-bed tilted up from an inch to 

 three inches at the back from 9 A. M. to 4 p. M. Much 

 will, of course, depend upon the activity of the heating 

 material in the hot-bed, the warmth of the weather, and 

 the character of the plants in the bed, so that we can 

 only give a loose general rule. Numbers of inexperienced 

 amateur cultivators often lose the entire contents of 

 their hot-beds by having omitted to ventilate them, and 

 on their return home from business at night find all the 

 contents scorched up ; or the danger of the other extreme 

 is, that the plants are frozen through neglect to cover 

 them at night. A hot-bed requires a certain amount of 

 attention, which must be given at the right time, or no 

 satisfactory results can be expected. 



COST OF CONSTRUCTION. 



Estimates of the cost of green-houses must necessarily 

 be only approximate, according as to how the work is 

 done, when done, and the ever-changing cost of material 

 and labor. In this vicinity, at this time, a green-house 

 20 x 100 would cost about $12 per running foot. If two 

 together, (ridge and furrow, as in Figure 4,) each 20x50, 

 about $10 per running foot for each house. A green- 

 house like Figure 3, attached to a dwelling, would cost 

 about $10 per running foot; and one 20x50, like Figures 

 i and 2, (curved roof and double pitch,) would cost pro- 

 portionately. (These estimates do not include heating.) 

 Heating by hot water would cost about two-thirds more, 

 making the cost complete about $1,650. If heated by 

 flues, as in Figures 7 and 8, only about two per cent, 

 more would be required, or say about $1,100 complete. 



