24 THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORCING-HOUSE. 



house for a small or ordinary establishment, and is a good 

 type for the beginner. The same remarks may be made for 

 pjg 3 ( except that the unequal elevations of the walks and 

 beds make it unhandy. Such a side-hill house, however, 

 brings the glass very close to the greatest number of 

 plants, a result which is sometimes sought by elevat- 

 ing the benches in the center of even-span houses, but 

 this raises the beds so high as to make them awkward. 

 Fig. 4 is an excellent type of house. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are 

 probably the best types for very large establishments. 

 Fig. 7 (page 22) covers the entire back yard of a city lot. 

 These shed roofs are most easy to build and to keep in 

 repair. The absence of gutters is a most important feature, 

 for the gutter is the part of the frame which is most difficult 

 to properly construct and which generally soonest gives out. 

 It is advisable, in cases where an entire range or nest of 

 houses is to be permanently used for one given crop, to omit 

 entirely the side walls, and to simply place the plates and 

 gutters on the tops of posts or pillars, allowing the spaces 

 between the posts to remain open. This construction results 

 in throwing the whole range into practically a single house, 

 keeping the structure low, with considerable economy of 

 heat and labor. Such a construction is never admissible, 

 however, when it is expected that the different houses of 

 the range are to be used for the growing of plants re- 

 quiring different degrees of heat and moisture. The 

 range of nine houses shown at the left in Fig. 8 (page 

 23) are open beneath the gutters in this way, and Fig. 9 

 (page 25) is a crosswise view in them. The reader sees 

 a gutter near the top of the picture, with a steam pipe 

 running along the plate, and the man is sitting under the 

 second gutter. 



SOME OK THE STRUCTURAL DETAILS. 



The frame. The framing of a forcing-house is well 

 explained by Figs. 10 and n (pages 26 and 27). These 

 pictures represent the common rafter-and-sash-bar house. 



