CHAPTER II. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORCING-HOUSE. 



IT is of the greatest importance that the most particu- 

 lar attention be given to the construction of the forcing- 

 house, for it is by means of this structure that the gar- 

 dener is to make and maintain the climate in which his 

 crops are to be grown. It is not the purpose of this book, 

 however, to give a manual of instructions for the building 

 of glass houses, but it may be advisable to make a few 

 summary statements respecting some of the features which 

 are particularly useful to forcing-houses, and then refer the 

 reader to other treatises for more detailed instruction.* 



TYPES AND FORMS OF HOUSES. 



Forcing-houses should be of the simplest possible con- 

 struction. Every feature in their make-up should be char- 

 acterized by directness. The walks and benches should be 

 straight and of uniform width. The greatest possible 

 amount of space should be reserved for the actual grow- 

 ing of the plants, by making the walks narrow (not more 

 than two feet in most commercial houses) and by carrying 

 the heating pipes and construction timbers out of the reach 

 of the plants to be grown. The side walls of forcing-houses 



*The best current American text upon the subject is Taft's "Green- 

 house Construction," published by the Orange Judd Co. The reader 

 may also find some suggestions upon these and similar topics in Wink- 

 ler's "Vegetable Forcing," Columbus, O., 1896; and also in Dreer's 

 "Vegetables Under Glass," which comes to hand just as these pages 

 are going through the press. 



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