UKEENUOUSE 



GREENHOUSE 



687 



to the light adapted to the plants for which it is pro- 

 vided. 



It will readily be seen that to locate and plan a range 

 of glass to the best advantage requires skill and expe- 

 rience 111 a communication recently received by the 



d Plant-house. 



writer from a superintendent of one of the most i 

 portant botanic gardens iu the country, it was remarked 

 that "when the architect prevails, the gardener fails 

 It is also true to a greater degree than in almost any 

 other class of buildings that the beginner or aniateu 

 who undertakes to phin and construct his own Green 

 house is likely to pay well for his experience, and will 

 at least sympathize with the "lawyer who pleaded his 

 own cause and found he had a fool for a client." This 

 is perfectly true, as many know to their cost. To plan a 

 Greenhouse satisfactorily the designer must have a 

 practical knowledge of the requirements. To meet this 

 increasing demand, specialists can be found, known as 

 ''horticultural architects,'* who devote their entire 

 time to this branch of work. 



Grading. — The floor of the Greenhouse should be a 

 few inches above the outside grade. As most Green- 

 houses are necessarily built low to accommodate the 

 plants, a small terrace around them adds to the elevn- 

 ■ tion and the good appearance of the structure. It will 

 usually be best to keep the floor of a Greenhonse all on 

 one level. When the variation in the grade of the ground 

 is not too great, the floor line should be at the highest 

 point of the grade. In the case of a long 

 house, the floor line is sometimes made the 

 same as the natural grade, but such an ar- 

 rangement is to be avoided whfu possible. 

 For locations on a hillside, the different 

 apartments may have different floor levels, 

 with necessary steps between 

 them. 



All the sod and loam should be 

 removed from the space to be 

 covered by a Greenhouse, and all 

 the filling necessary made with 

 subsoil. The latter should be laid 

 in thin layers and each wet down 

 and thoroughly tamped. Loam 

 used for filling under a Green- 

 house is apt to become sour, and 

 will continue to settle for a long 

 time, causing much trouble and 

 annoyance. 



Foil vrlntions. — Too much care ^. 

 cannot be given to the preparation 

 of good foundations. These are 

 usually of brick, butmay bemade 

 of stone or concrete. The brick 

 walls take up less room in the 

 house than stone, and are usually 



less expensive. The foundu tion walls should be extended 

 down to a point below the frost line, generally 3 or 4 feet 

 deep, and are usually raised about 2 feet above the grade. 



An inexpensive wall of rubble stone work or of concrete 

 is all that is needed in the ground. The part of the wall 

 showing above grade may be of plain brick or faced with 

 stone, to correspond with the construction of other 

 surrounding buildings. A good substitute for these 

 masonry walls is found in the use of cast-iron 

 posts in connection with double boarding. A 

 1 emovable base at the ground line, which can 

 readily be renewed, adds very much to the 

 ^ alue of this construction, making it durable 

 and satisfactory. It has been quite exten- 

 sively adopted by florists in houses for 

 commercial purposes and for small and inex- 

 pensi\ e Greenhouses. It is recommended for 

 such houses. 



Fiameivork. — The construction best 

 adapted for conservatories, park houses and 

 Greenhouses, and for private places where 

 the improvements are desired to be permanent 

 m chdiacter and attractive in appearance, is 

 the combination of iron and wood. In this 

 sjstem, the main frame which supports the 

 ^\ eight and strain is of iron or steel, wood 

 being used iu the frames for the setting of 

 the glass, and to form a non-conductor, of 

 , "~" great advantage in the heating of the house. 



1 -^ The iron work in this style of construction 

 usually consists of cast-iron sills capping 

 the foundation walls, wrought-iron rafters 

 setting on the sills, about 8 feet apart and 

 running from sill to ridge, forming the side post and 

 rafter in one piece, cast-iron gutters, and angle-iron 

 purlins between the rafters, all securely bracketed and 

 bolted together, forming a complete framework of 

 metal, light, strong and durable. The wood used con- 

 sists of light sash bars for the setting of the glass, 

 sashes for ventilation, and doors. This woodwork beiug 

 entirely supported by the metal frame, and not beiug 

 used where it will be continually wet, will be found as 

 durable as any other material, and for many reasons 

 belter adapted for the requirements of a Greenhouse 

 roof. This combination system of metal and wood con- 

 struction has been extensively adopted by florists and 

 large growers of cut-flowers, though generally with the 

 cast-iron post style of foundation. The first cost is 

 somewhat increased over an all-wood construction, but 

 in view of its greater durability and saving in repairs, 

 it will be found in the end 



990. Even-span curvilinear Greenhouse. 



With cast-iron piping. 



angle-iron plate is substituted for the gutter, so framed 

 as to allow the snow and ice to slide over it, keeping 

 the roof entirely clear from such accumulations, which 



