1$ PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE. 



$1,500 to $2,000; let him select not more than two acres, 

 either on a lease of, say, 10 years, or by purchase, as near 

 to the business part of the town as practicable. The soil 

 should be of a quality that has borne good crops of Hay, 

 Corn, Potatoes, or other farm produce. Do not be induced 

 to go far from the business center of the town, because 

 land is cheap there ; it is better to pay $100 rent per acre 

 for, say, two acres, a mile from the center of the town, than 

 to buy land at that price three or four miles distant for 

 such a purpose. It is a fact beyond all question, that 

 whenever fine specimens of fruit, flowers, or vegetables 

 are offered for sale, a demand is created that did not be- 

 fore exist, and would not then have existed unless these 

 articles were placed before the eyes of the people. Pre- 

 suming, then, that the one or two acres is secured, if a 

 dwelling-house, stable, or other buildings are to be 

 erected, let them be placed, if practicable, on the north- 

 east corner, so that the part of the land to be cultivated, 

 or where greenhouses are to be erected, be not shaded. 

 If flowers are to be grown, of course a greenhouse or 

 some place where plants can be protected (see Greenhouse 

 Structures) is indispensable, and the proper construction 

 of that is a matter of importance. Perhaps the most ap- 

 propriate size for a beginner is one twenty feet wide by 

 fifty feet in length, which may be heated either by smoke- 

 flues or hot water circulating in iron pipes. At present 

 prices the house twenty feet wide would cost, if heated 

 by flue, about $9 per running foot ; if by hot- water, $15 

 per running foot. The details of construction are given 

 in other chapters of this work. This greenhouse, having 

 an area of 1,000 square feet, should produce a crop of 

 flowers and plants, when once properly stocked, which 

 should sell at retail for at least $1,000 each year. The 

 stock of plants to begin with, purchased from any whole- 

 sale florist, would cost from $100 to $200, according to 

 kinds. The annual cost of fuel, labor, etc., after it is in 



