54 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ing earth and manure in or out and for passing plants in when 

 planting. It is far more convenient than using the wheel or hand 

 barrow. 



The glass mostly used for greenhouses is ten by twelve inches, 

 or ten by fourteen inches, although some houses are built with 

 glass fourteen by sixteen inches, and even sixteen by twenty-four 

 inches, where light is important and expense is a minor considera- 

 tion. The glass should be of good quality, free from blisters and 

 lenses, and not crooked, but flat and by all means double thick. 



The muntins or sash bars if supported as they usually are by 

 purlines every six or seven feet, are best made of two by one and 

 a quarter inches cypress, rebated to receive the glass and grooved 

 at the sides so as to catch the drip from the melting frost or leak- 

 ing glass. The purlines of two by four inches C3'press, are 

 sometimes supported on posts made by driving into the ground 

 pieces of one inch steam pipe, which are then cut ofl' in line with 

 a pipe cutter, and the purUne is bored on the under side half-way 

 through to receive the pipes. This kind of post casts little 

 shadow, does not rust away quickly, and is sufl3ciently stiff. 



Ample ventilation must be provided by frequent sashes hung 

 with suitable fastenings ; some near the top of the house, others 

 near the ground on the south side ; and for this purpose it is 

 usual to have from eighteen inches to three feet of the glass 

 perpendicular on the south side. 



"Where several greenhouses are to be built near each other they 

 may all be heated b}' one boiler b}' steam, but I like to have them 

 about twenty feet apart in order to work a cart between them, 

 and to give more light and divide the risk of fire, and also to give 

 room for clearing the snow from the glass. 



The heating of large greenhouses, especially where several are 

 to be used in one establishment, is done far more satisfactorily by 

 steam than by any other method. Those who object to it are 

 usually those who have not tried it. The advantages are having 

 complete and perfect control of the temperature, and economy of 

 labor and of fuel. The economy of fuel is most apparent in large 

 establishments where a night fireman is employed. Mr. E. M. 

 Wood, of Natick, informed me that he saved nearly one-third of 

 his coal bill by using steam in place of hot water, and with far 

 less labor and more perfect results ; the saving in his case 

 amounted to two hundred tons of coal per year. In small estab- 



