214 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 



soft and growing onions we had in our 

 stock, but we used our sets that began to 

 grow, and all of our old onions of every de- 

 scription. Any thing in the shape of an 

 onion with a sprout to it can be turned to 

 protitable use in this way. While at Colum- 

 bus last winter, in visiting one of their 

 vegetable-greenhouses I found the gardener 

 doing exactly this very thing. I do not know 

 Avhere he got it, for I supposed that Mr. 

 Weed was original in the idea. The nicest 

 kind of onions for this treatment, however, , 

 is what Gregory calls the Egyptian, or win- 

 ter onion. One of these onions, by giving it 

 a little more time, will make a whole bunch 

 of sprouts, and they will grow to much 

 larger size than any common onion. Per- 

 haps I should explain that these onions 

 raised in greenhouses are not expected to 

 form bulbs, but only long green shoots. 

 They also seem to do rather best where the 

 box is placed over the steam-pipes ; but as 

 they do not require any light of any account, 

 the whole process may be carried on under 

 the ordinary l)enches. At this writing, 

 March 8, our third crop of onions is nearly 

 ready to sell, from the same box. The box 

 is perhaps 2 feet wide, 12 feet long, and 18 

 inches deep. The onions are set in the box, 

 with about two inches of earth under them, 

 and as near together as they can be squeezed 

 together. The ground under them is made 

 very rich with guano and stable manure. 



I have before mentioned the dripping of 

 water as an objectionable feature to green- 

 houses with the roof almost Hat. In our an- 

 nex, for instance, if we go in while it rains 

 hard, or attempt to work during rain, one 

 must expect to have water dripping down 

 the back of his neck every now and then. 

 Well, there is a remedy for this state of 

 affairs. The remedy is, however, most easi- 

 ly applied where, instead of loose sash, we 

 have a structure that takes 

 sash-bars from the ridge to 

 the eaves. These sash-bars 

 are made as shown in the 

 adjoining cut. 



These sash-bars ran "be 

 purchased for $2.00 per 100 

 feet, made of clear cypress. 

 They are made by John L. 

 Diez & Co., 580 N. Hal stead 

 St., Chicago, III. 



You will observe that the channel in the 

 sash-bar, just under the glass, carries all 

 the water outside the building to the eave- 

 spout. As these channels are lial)le to till 

 up, however, in cold weather, it is better to 



V'^Il BVH K)U 

 OKEl -NHOl'^I 



have a conductor just inside the house, 

 right along under the glass, close to the 

 outer wall. The drip may then be carried 

 into a cistern, and used to water the plants. 

 Now, this takes pretty much all the drip. 

 There will be some, however, where the 

 panes of glass lap ; and I have many times 

 thought it would be a very nice thing if we 

 could shut out the cold air that comes in be- 

 tween the lapping of the glass. This is now 

 done perfectly by two separate inventions. 

 Instead of having the glass lap, the ends are 

 simply pushed up together; that is, each 

 sheet of glass lies on a level with the one 

 beyond it. Now. to make the joint absolute- 

 ly tight, one of the plans is to put between 

 Ihe edges of the glass a strip of zinc folded 

 like this : \/\ A little soft putty is to be 

 rublied into the groove in the zinc strip, in 

 each side ; then put it between the sheets of 

 glass — a fold of zinc resting over one pane 

 and under the other. Crowd the glass sheets 

 up tight, and your joint is perfect. The 

 other arrangement is by having a strip of 

 zinc folded like the letter T. These strips 

 of zinc are much like the T tins used in hon- 

 ey-boxes for bee-hives, but they are much 

 smaller, however. The T part of the strip 

 goes under;; both sheets of glass, the tongue 

 going up between them. Now, to make all 

 these joints absolutely air and water tight, 

 and, in fV.ct, to make all joints of any kind 

 in greenhouses structures tight, we need to 

 use some thick w hite paint in an oil-can, as 

 directed by Peter Henderson. By means of 

 the oil-can run a slender stream of paint 

 where the glass touches the wood, and also 

 where the glass touches the zinc. Before 

 the paint has time to get dry, blow tine 

 white sand into the paint by means of one 

 Woodason's insect-powder bellows. 



This paint and sand together, by some 

 mysterious law of nature, form a cement 

 harder than the hardest stone; in fact, it 

 seems to me almost as hard and impervious 

 to water and frost as the glass itself. The 

 process is invaluable in patching up old 

 greenhouses. Fill the joint, or crevice, 

 with plenty of thick paint, then blow in the 

 sand ; and when it is thoroughly dry it 

 seems as if nothing could get it loose. Nev- 

 er put any putty where it is exposed to frost 

 and dampness, but use paint and sand in- 

 stead. Tlie zinc strips, bent in the form of 

 a letter T may be procured of the Cleveland 

 Window-glass Co. ,130 Champlain St., Cleve- 

 land, Ohio., and the other style of strips is 

 furnished by J. M. (iasser, 101 Euclid Ave., 

 Cleveland, O. 



