142 BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



ture for fuel, and thus the matter cannot be settled on the mere 

 basis of so much capital expenditure, any more than the cost of a 

 motor-car can be calculated exclusively on the amount of purchase 

 money. But the fact remains that without the provision for heating 

 the special advantages of glass are greatly reduced. 



A second matter that shall have our consideration is whether 

 we will be satisfied with a house or houses for plants alone, or 

 whether, when we are building, we will establish a fruit-house as 

 well. It is important to settle this point at the outset, because 

 two houses can be heated from the same boiler as well as one, 

 provided the latter is of sufficient power. Time available for 

 managing the houses, and suitability of site, are other points 

 demanding consideration, and although they are secondary ones, 

 they should not be overlooked. 



Cost of Glass-houses. The cost of building and heating glass- 

 houses, and the choice of site, may well receive a little special 

 consideration. When we have disposed of them we can proceed 

 to the selection and cultivation of the best plants with a clear 

 conscience. While the cost of glass depends to some extent upon 

 its area, it does not turn upon that alone. There are degrees 

 of solidity in the framework of horticultural buildings, just as 

 there are in vehicles. There are differences in design, degrees of 

 detail, greater or less ornament, elaboration, " finish." There are 

 different qualities of glass, different systems of ventilation, different 

 methods of glazing. The intending purchaser may find that he 

 can buy a greenhouse ten feet long by eight feet wide for ^5, 

 and be astonished to find, when he goes to a firm that deals 

 principally in larger houses, that instead of asking 10 for a house 

 twenty feet by sixteen they ask 20 or more. In the matter of 

 glass-houses in private gardens it is not the rule that the pro- 

 portionate cost decreases with greater size ; it generally increases. 



The explanation of the cheapness of small greenhouses is that, 

 as they are in great demand, the timber for them can be cut up 



