1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



185 



20x30 ft , and some sash 20x20, arranged as by your 

 "What to Do." The Kawsons, of Arlington, gave me 

 the next big lift, getting me up off the ground with a 

 house eventually 83X()3, % span, 1!) ft. high at peak. 

 A good (leal of haid study evolved (among the lot of 

 us) the inclosed : and if I were putting up an acre of 

 house it would be on that princip'e. 



The long side to the north. The south side averages 

 at right angles to the .sun. at noon in November, De- 

 cember, and January. 



Answei- to i. — Here, north of 45°, in cold weather frost 

 would keep the sun out i f your house till it was nearly 

 off the east end, and at almost all times it would be at a 

 very acute an^le. either endwise of the glass or side wise 

 toward noon, giving quite a dense shade I should think. 

 The bottom sash along the front would give the best 

 possilile light (average) ; the top part would never give 

 its be.st ight till the sun had got so high toward spring 

 that whitewash would probably be of as much >ise as 

 more .sun. A snowfall on a mild day would not slip off 

 very well from the top part, and in cold drifti"g 

 weather would freeze on and keep most ot the light 

 out for a week at a time. To scrape it off breaks too 

 much glas^. 



Now, to take up the same points in the inclosed 

 photo. The sun starts and finishes at nearlj' right an- 

 gles to the ends, but doesn't shine very far down the 

 house at any time. It shines at once on all the front, 



give good reasons for so thinking. The large house is 

 50x200 inside; walks 24 inches wide up the middle. 

 We plant right on the ground. East and we.'-t wind 

 can not hit it much: north ditto; south catches it 

 well ; and don't you give this idea to any one without 

 telling him to find out how we brace against it or he 

 will get into trouble. A shutter 3 ft. wide the whole 

 length of the bick, opened by two leaves and 22 win- 

 dows in the front, operated by two wheels, give perfect 

 ventilation. I do not know of any other greenhouse 

 built with short side to the south, but have heard of a 

 small one. Our Montreal competitor, Mr. Legarre, 

 who has watched this house for three years, made five 

 or six visits on purpose, and told me if he ev-er built 

 again he would l>uild like it. 



If you can pick any thing of use to brother-garden- 

 ers out of this, do it ; if not, your waste-paper ba.sket 

 is large enough to hold it ; at any rate, I feel T have 

 paid niv debts in that line. Thos. Slack. 



Waterloo, P. Q., Jan. 8. 



Friend S , when I gave directions for mak- 

 ing that little greenhouse I did not intend it 

 should be a pattern for houses hundreds of feet 

 long. I was only thinking of an amateur 

 greenhouse for those who want it only for rec- 



GREENHOUSE FOR GROWING GRAND RAPIDS LETTUCE. SHORT SIDE FRONTING THE SOUTH ; 

 OWNED BY THOMAS SLACK, WATERLOO, OUHBEC. 



first at quite an acute angle, and gradually comes 

 around to right angles at noon, and so on till acute, 

 and at la.st nearly right angles to the west end. 

 A pipe under each stringer (five pipes) runs the 

 whole length of the hou.se near he glass in front 

 (the same on the back slo e, but seldom used); 

 assi.sted by the sun on the outside they verv soon cut 

 the frost and kt the bright sun directly in. The house 

 is 22 feet high on the front slope. This will allow all the 

 SU71 that shines on 50 feet of ground in November, De- 

 cember, and January, to enter without casting any 

 shade. Later on, as the sun rises higher it shines 

 through the back slope more each day, at an acute 

 angle, and at a sharper angle through the front. The 

 result is, we get all the sun possible -when we most 2vani 

 it, and in summer so little that we don't have to while- 

 wash ; and I never remetnber seeing the thermometer 

 over 95° to 100°; back slope is 45 ft. 



Answer 2. — Saving glass. Double-thick 20x20 glass 

 for our house was only one-sixth of the total cost of 

 house ; and, while proportionately higher than yours, 

 mostly owing to the high front, is Tuuch more than 

 offset by extra ventilating facilities and extra .•-unlight 

 obtained. As I write this afternoon, in the house after 

 Rawson's pattern, with the thermometer outside .5^ to 

 .10° below zero, inside 59°, and nearly all pipes on, glass 

 is a good deal frosted. Large house, no pipes on all 

 day; back all frosted thick, front clean, with brigh sun 

 shining in ; thermometer H0° It costs us too much to 

 save glass by building low. If the beveled corners of 

 your house are glass it would cost more to build than to 

 makf the whole thing square. With your command of 

 skillt d help it might be different. 



Ans2L>erj. — Low down out of the wind, and sloping 

 so that wind does not catch. Good ! first rate ; get it 

 if you can without losing too much in some other di- 

 rection. / don't think you can. 



Sunken paths, glass in zinc strips, and glass butted 

 together. I think this a delusion and a snare, and can 



reation or as a side issue. The house you 

 have so kindly described and photographed is 

 already in use to some extent among florists ; 

 but I believe it has not found general favor. 

 Perhaps as far north as you are it may be the 

 best arrangement. A good many may be de- 

 terred, by the expense of the glass, from car- 

 rying it up so high, but still it may be the 

 very best arrangement for growing Grand Rap- 

 ids lettuce. 



GROWING GRAND RAPIDS LETTUCE IN A HOUSE SPE- 

 CIALLY DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR 

 THAT PUiaPOSR. 



Growing Grand Rapids lettuce, like many other 

 things, is a great deal easier to do it when you know 

 how than it is to describe the various operations so 

 that another can succeed as well as yourself. Every 

 one will not go at the .same piece of work in the same 

 way, and yet may have equally good re.sults. Our plan, 

 after trying many, is as follows, and the requisites are : 



1. A light house with good facilities for controlling 

 ventilation, and temperature— 40° to 45° at night, and 

 60° to 70° in the day time. 



2. Good soil, either natural or made so by proper fer- 

 tilizers, and sufficient sand to make what is called a 

 good, quick soil. Ours was muck, a few inches deep, 

 and the meanest kind of hardpan ai:d stone-*. How 

 brought to its present good condition is too long a 

 story to tell. 



3. The best seed that can be procured. 



4. Good plants. 



5. Proper and necessary precautions to keep down 

 disease and insects. 



6. Strict attention to business in hand. 



