40 STRUCTURES ADAPTED TO PARTICULAR PURPOSES. 



may be applied. The one here represented is what we have 

 formerly used for the culture of grape vines, French beans, and 

 strawberries, during winter; and where fermenting manure is to 

 be had in abundance, it is probably the most economical house 

 for this kind of forcing. 



Fig. 4 is the plan of a forcing pit. This house is 80 feet long, 

 in two divisions of 40 feet each. It is chiefly intended for forc- 

 ing vines in pots, and is furnished with a bed, b, which is filled 

 with fermenting materials for plunging the vines in, and supplying 

 them with bottom heat. A shelf, c, elevated to within about 20 

 inches of the glass, on the back wall, and extending the whole 

 length of the house, is intended for forcing strawberries in pots ; 

 d is another shelf, for the same purpose, on the front wall. 



We have designed this pit with the view to procure the great- 

 est accommodation in the given space, at the smallest expenditure 

 for construction, keeping strictly in view the purposes for which 

 it is intended. For winter forcing, we decidedly approve of this 

 kind of house above all others, i. e., where utility only is consid- 

 ered in regard to it. The cost of this house is only four hundred 

 dollars, or eight dollars per linear foot. 



A house for winter forcing should never exceed 40 feet in 

 length, even where the operations are extensive. Thirty or 35 

 feet is considered, by the best gardeners, the most desirable 

 length. If the range be a greater length, and the operations 

 very extensive, it should be subdivided into either of the dimen- 

 sions here stated, and each division heated by a separate appara- 

 tus. 



There is no branch of gardening that requires a greater amount 

 of skill, or is more calculated to display the mastership of the 

 gardener's art, than winter forcing. It is absolute folly for any 

 novice in gardening to attempt it. To be successful in produc- 

 ing the luxuries of summer, in winter or early spring, requires a 

 great degree of skill, vigilance, constant and persevering energy. 

 The most unwearied attention is requisite, from the day the 

 house is started into work, until the productions are all fully 

 matured. Scarcely a day passes but something happens, tend- 

 ing to thwart the object of our labors. Heat or cold, wind or 



