1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



21 



shutting off little light and not rotting out. 

 It was not possible to have the posts fall 

 vertically as they would come in the middle 

 of the walks. 



The glass used for covering the houses 

 was 10x12 double strength. The first cost is 

 less, and in case of breakage the repairs will 

 be considerably less than if a larger size is 

 used. Under all ordinary circumstances it 

 will not be wise to use smaller than 10x12 

 glass or to have the sash bars less than 12 

 inches apart. 



A number of glazing methods were em- 

 ployed. Two sections were put in with 

 Ga.sser's glazing strips between the panes. 

 This is a strip of zinc a halt inch wide and 

 of a length equal to the distance between 

 the sash bars. They are bent something 

 like the letter Z 

 and are placed be- 

 tween the panes 

 with one edge 

 under the upper 

 pane and the other 

 e.\tending over the 

 under one. 



A thin layer of 

 lead putty was 

 placed between 

 the strip and the 

 glass. This served 

 to cement the 

 glass to the zinc, 

 and made a joint 

 both air and 

 water tight. 



There Is no 

 danger of the 

 glass slipping 



down, and crack- 

 ed panes are less 

 likely to drop out 

 than when glazed 

 in the usual way. 

 So far as the roof 

 itself is concerned 

 it will be found a 

 profitable invest- 

 ment. The one 

 drawback is that 

 the strips shut out 

 some of the light. 

 An equal space 

 ^Yas covered with 



glass butted together. Beginning at thebot- 

 tom a pane was laid and securely fastened. 

 A thin layer of lead putty was then applied 

 to the lower edge of the next pane and this 

 was firmly pressed against the edge of the 

 pane below, pushing out all putty that was 

 not required to fill the irregularities in the 

 edges of the panes. They were thus 

 cemented together by a thin film of white 

 lead putty, making in reality one solid pane 

 in each row. The house lias now been in 

 use one winter and we have not been able 

 to find even a pin hole through which water 

 or air can pass. We find in this method all 

 of the good points of the zinc strip glazing, 

 and in addition the cost of the strip is saved, 

 while there is no loss of light. A matter of 

 considerable Importance in the dark season. 

 The resetting in case of breakage can be 

 performed fully as easily as in any other 

 method of glazing. In either of these 

 methods of glazing, the glass lies flat on the 

 sash bars, and there is no place underneath 

 that must be filled with paint or putty, or 

 left open to allow the entrance of water and 

 the rotting of the sash Ijars. 



On the remainder of the house the glass 

 was lapped one-eighth of an inch, and every 

 effort was made to have the joints as tight 

 as possilde. Yet the roof is not as tight as 

 could be wished, and slightly more glass is 

 required than when the panes are butted. 

 The doubling of the glass at the lap has 

 the eflfect also of lessening the amount of 

 light that can enter the house. 



An inproved sash bar and method of glaz- 

 ing is shown at the right upper corner of 

 illustration. So far as we have heard, it has 

 given general satisfaction. It can be used 

 either with butted glass or with Gasser's 

 glazing strip. 



so far as the grate and heating surface were 



concerned. 

 The pipes were arranged as follows : 

 In the steam house, two l'.^ inch pipes are 



carried to a point two feet below the ridge. 



and then gradually fall to the other end. 



The strip of wood can be drawn down I where they divide, each supplying three 



upon the glass by means of screws or by 

 nails. No putty need be used, although 

 paint putty is often run on to fill the crack. 



Whatever method of glazing is used, the 

 panes should fill the space between the sash 

 bars. 



Ventilators. The houses are arranged 

 with ventilators on each side of the rogf. 

 Three of these rows of ventilators are hinged 

 at the ridge, each sash being 5 feet 2 inches 

 by 2 feet 2 inches. The other row consists 



CROUNE) PLAN 



JntKrtor 0/ Steam Heated House. 

 GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION AND HEATING AT THE MICHIGAN EXPERIMENT STATION 



of narrow sash extending from the ridge to 

 the gutter. On one side of the east house 

 there are five of these sash, each 16 inches 

 by n feet 3 inches. These are designed to 

 lift up by means of iron levers so that they 

 will stand from four to six inches above and 

 parallel to the line of the roof. They will 

 seldom be needed during the winter, but 

 for summer ventilation I shall expect to 

 find them very eflicient. 



The ridge ventilators are attached to el- 

 bow joint fixtures that are connected with a 

 shaft of one inch gas pipe running through 

 the house just under the ridge. This en. 

 ables us to raise at the same time all the 

 ventilators that are attached to the shaft. 



Of the three machines tested the past 

 winter, namely the Evans, Hippard and 

 Scollay, all have worked to perfect satisfac- 

 tion. 



Steam and hot water heating. The 

 two houses being constructed exactly alike, 

 it afforded an excellent opportunity for 

 making a comparative test of the merits of 

 hot water and steam, for the heating of I 

 small greenhouses. Small wrought iron 

 pipes in the hot water heated house instead 

 of the four inch cast iron pipes that have 

 been almost universally used until the last 

 few years. 



The cost of the pipe is less, and it screws 

 together in long lengths instead of being 

 packed every nine feet or less. 



The heaters selected were Furman No 2, 

 and they were exactly alike for both houses, ' 



Iji inch returns; one of the returns is be- 

 neath the center bench, and the others are 

 fastened to the legs of the side benches. 

 The flow pipes are supported by brackets 

 clamped upon the center posts ; they are 

 provided with globe valves and with .Jen- 

 kins automatic air valves. There is in this 

 house 400 linear feet of 1)4 inch pipe with a 

 radiating surface of 200 feet. This gives 

 one foot of radiating surface to 31 cubic 

 feet of space, and one to .53-2 square feet Of 

 glass. 



The hot-water 

 house has two flow 

 pipes of the same 

 size and similar in 

 arrangement to 

 those in the steam 

 house, each of 

 which supplies a 

 \li inch return 

 pipe located be- 

 neath the center 

 bench. 



In addition, 

 there are two 2 

 nch fiow pipes 

 I V' 1^ .^VnJ ^^^^ of which sup- 

 rv'Qv::^ piles two 1»^ inch 

 ■^" " returns. These 



are all located on 

 the legs of the side 

 benches. In both 

 houses the pipes 

 rise to their high- 

 est point as soon 

 as they leave the 

 heater, and de- 

 scend uniformly 

 from that point. 



The hot house 

 contains 400 lineal 

 feet of 1}< inch 

 pipe and 100 feet 

 of 2 inch, with 275 

 sq. feet of radia- 

 ting surface, be- 

 ing one to 253^ cubic feet of space, or to 4 

 square feet of glass. 



In summing up the result, Prof. Taft says 

 that the test thus far made indicate that hot 

 water heating is both more economical and 

 more satisfactory than steam heating for 

 small greenhouses. The use of small 

 wrought-iron pipes from 1)^ to 2 inches in 

 diameter, according to the size of the house 

 (a smaller size even might be preferable for 

 the returns in a small house), will be found 

 desirable. For most purposes the combined 

 overhead and under bench system seems 

 better suited, than to have the pipes either 

 all overhead or under the benches. 



Prof .Taft gives us the following additional 

 information : 



Cost. The cost of the two houses, com- 

 plete with heating and ventilating appar- 

 atus all told was -J^OOO The heaters cost 

 $120 each, and the pipes, valves and other 

 fixtures, and labor in setting up, made the 

 cost of the heating apparatus in both houses 

 about -*4.50. One large heater would have 

 answered for both houses, and had this been 

 used instead of two small ones, a saving of 

 nearly fifty dollars would have been made 

 in the cost of the heating plant. The cost 

 of the iron posts, pipe purlins, braces, etc., 

 for both houses, and labor of putting up, 

 was in the vicinity of f50. and the ventila- 

 ting apparatus something over $T5. The 

 glass was obtained at a cost of $100. 



The story-and-a-half work room is much 

 larger than would be needed in an ordinary 



