700 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



advantage to be adopted on a large scale. His 

 new houses are double span, running east and 

 west. The glass is all butted. His men told 

 me he would not have a lapped glass on the 

 premises ; and I was a good deal pleased to 

 find he indorsed my ideas on the subject. 



The different houses are not separated. They 

 cover the ground entirely. The gutter be- 

 tween the different roofs is supported by an 

 inverted U, the path being lengthwise under 

 the gutter. This inverted U is made of gas- 

 pipe, and conveys the drip under the floor out 

 of the way. 



What I wish to speak of particularly just 

 now is the arrangement of the beds. The Dale 

 people have decided on having the beds right 

 right down on the ground — that is, raised only 

 a little above the path where you walk, as I 

 shall explain. Mr. Dale, like myself and 

 many others, said some time ago that he want- 

 ed his beds made of something that would not 

 rot out and fall to pieces in two or three years 

 — no more wooden structures for holding the 

 dirt for growing plants. Well, he decided in 

 this way : Have your paths graded off level, 

 just as flat as the floor of a room ; then make 

 your beds by laying three courses of bricks so 

 as to make a wall clear around the outside of 

 the bed, 8 inches wide and 3 bricks high. 

 Now fill this bed with sand or some similar 

 material, clear up level with the top of the 

 bricks. Stroke it off with a stick so as to be 

 as flat as a table. On this table lay tiles close 

 to each other, crosswise of the bed. Let the 

 ends of the tiles stick over the ends of the 

 bricks into the paths an inch or two. The tiles 

 in the middle of the bed lie loosely on the 

 sand. The outside row — those that lie across 

 the brick wall — are laid in cement ; and on 

 top of these tiles, right over the brick wall un- 

 derneath them, a second row of bricks is stood 

 up edgewise. These bricks are set very firmly 

 and securely in good cement, and that is all 

 there is to the bed. The bricks used seemed 

 to me to be rather larger than common ones. 

 They are very accurately made — hard and true 

 and smooth. Now cover the tiles with your 

 potting-soil clear up to the top edge of the 

 bricks, and your bed is finished. The soil 

 reaches from down between the tiles to the top 

 of the bricks. There is, perhaps, four or five 

 inches of dirt for growing roses or other stuff. 

 I presume the roots will grow to some extent 

 down between the tiles. Any size of tiles will 

 do. The ones I describe are about 3 inches in 

 diameter. TLese tiles insure perfect drain- 

 age. 



The Dale people have tried sub-irrigation, 

 but they do not like it for their work. One of 

 the attendants said that, for rose-growing, one 

 plant may need three or four times as much 

 water as another. The only way to give each 

 one enough, and none of them too much, is to 

 water by hand with a hose. When I saw the 

 men making the beds it occurred to me a sin- 

 gle row of brick, even if set in the best cement, 

 would get struck with something and knocked 

 out of place ; but when I got along a little 

 further I saw that the heating-pipes, two in 

 number, were around the beds the whole 

 length of these buildings, right along by the 



side of this single tier of bricks. The upper 

 heating-pipe is a little higher than the bricks, 

 so as to be a protection. These pipes are sup- 

 ported about every four or five feet by means 

 of suitable cast-iron brackets set in the cement 

 and bricks when the bed is made. The two 

 rows of pipe are, I should judge, l)^-inch pipe. 

 The houses are all warmed by steam. The 

 buildings are rather low, the gutter being just 

 high enough to permit a man of average height 

 to pass along the path unber the U's. There 

 is another similar path under the ridge-pole of 

 each house. Here you are with a bed that will 

 never rot out, and I think the drainage will 

 never become clogged. When the one who 

 does the watering sees the water running out 

 of the tiles into the path, he knows he has put 

 on enough for the time being. 



They have tried overhead heating, but have 

 decided, at least for the roses, they want oiAy 

 the two pipes I have described. 



I said the floor of the greenhouses was level. 

 To secure a proper fall for the drip of the 

 steam-pipes, and also for the gutters, I believe 

 there is a little fall during the whole 840 feet. 

 Having these houses so close together, with 

 the roofs rather flat, produces some shading in 

 winter, but I believe they think it is not enoujih 

 to do any material injury. The frame of the 

 greenhouses is all iron. The supports that go 

 into the ground are all iron, so there is noth- 

 ing to rot out. The sash-bars are of wood. 

 There are no walls except clear to the outside, 

 surrounding the whole structure, and these 

 walls are of brick if I am correct. The venti- 

 lators run the whole length of these long 

 buildings, and they are operated automatically 

 by thermostats at regular intervals. The ther- 

 mostat communicates with a piece of mechan- 

 ism so that the water pressure does the work 

 of moving the ventilators, and they have this 

 arrangement so it works very satisfactorily. 

 The ventilation (or temperature) of the whole 

 range of houses stays just where they want it, 

 without any manipulation. They find auto- 

 matic ventilation all right, but not so with 

 automatic watering. Brains and water must 

 do/h be used in caring for the plants. The 

 long beds of handsome roses, as healthy as 

 roses can be, was ample proof of the wisdom 

 of the management and construction. 



In order to insure perfect drainage, so the 

 beds should never by any accident become 

 flooded, there is an underground passage large 

 enough to work in below the paths through 

 the houses. Through this passage the drip- 

 water from the steam-pipes is carried, and they 

 will always be accessible for repairs or changes. 

 Three immense steam-boilers warm the whole 

 plant. It might be economy in many ways to 

 scatter the sources of heat ; but they purchase 

 their coal by the train-load, and an automatic 

 carrier delivers it into a great bin in front 

 of the boilers ; and, if I am correct, an auto- 

 matic feeder carries it into the furnace ; so 

 there are obvious reasons for having the heat- 

 ing-apparatus all at one point, and this point 

 is below the general level of all the houses. 

 The grounds outside for the accommodation of 

 plants that do best in the open air are in full 

 accordance with this great glass structure. 



