CHAPTER IV 



GLASS STRUCTURES AND THEIR ARRANGE- 

 MENT 



EARLY American greenhouses were deficient in ideal 

 light conditions. They were built principally of wood, 

 and many windows or glass shutters were inserted for 

 light. Previous to 1850 these glass areas were portable, 

 being similar to sash-houses of to-day, except that the roofs 

 were largely of wood. Present-day greenhouses contain 

 a maximum amount of glass and a minimum amount of 

 wood. An effort is made to increase the light efficiency 

 in every possible way, therefore it is necessary to eliminate, 

 by construction and arrangement of houses, every shade- 

 producing factor. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTION METHODS 



About 1855, Frederick A. Lord, founder of the present 

 firm of Lord & Burnham, erected in Buffalo, New York, 

 what is said to be the first permanent glass-roofed house. 

 This construction met with favor with the few men of that 

 period interested in flower-growing, and several houses sim- 

 ilar to Mr. Lord's were soon built. This was a beginning, 

 but the houses of that period were very crude and primi- 

 tive. The frame-work was of large dimensions, the glass 

 small in size, heavy and thick. Interior light conditions 

 were correspondingly poor. Still they were a vast im- 



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