206 HOME FLORICULTURE 



I have my houses built on walls of stone reaching 

 down below frost-line, thus affordinfj a solid and per- 

 manent foundation for them, and doing away with 

 all danger of heaving from frost. On top of this wall 

 sills are placed and two-by-fours set up, sixteen inches 

 apart, along them. On both sides of these two-by-fours 

 is a course of matched boarding. Over this tarred 

 sheathing paper is tacked. Inside there is a row of 

 matched ceiling boards, while on the outside there is 

 another thickness of paper, and another thickness of 

 matched boarding, then another thickness of paper, 

 after which the wall is finished with what is called 

 at the West "novelty siding" — a kind of matched clap- 

 boarding which gives a much better finish to the 

 outside of buildings than the ordinary clapboard. 

 Thus I obtain a wall in wliich there is an air space 

 from which all cold wind is excluded. It pays to 

 build well when you are at it, for the snugger and 

 tighter you have your walls the less fuel you will 

 have to use. 



The side walls are four and a half feet high. They 

 come up to the roof, no glass being needed on the 

 sides of such a building. The wall at the south 

 end is only three feet high ; above that the end is 

 filled in with sash. Get all the south sunshine you 

 can. The roof is all glass, with two sections on 

 each side which are hung with hinges at the top. 

 These lift for ventilation. The sash in the end is 

 double glazed, and these two thicknesses of glass 

 enable me to leave plants standing with their leaves 

 touching the inner thickness during our coldest winter 

 weather, something tliat I could not do with safety 

 if there were no double glazing. If thought preferable, 

 there can be two sets of sash, and the outer one 

 can be put on in fall and taken ofT in spring. The 

 space between the two panes answers a double purpose : 



