32 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



On light soils and in dry seasons irrigation will be 

 of great value, but the mere wetting of the surface soil 

 will often do more harm than good. If irrigation is 

 used at all, it should be sufficient to wet the soil to a 

 depth of four or five inches, and the land should receive 

 a shallow cultivation before the surface has had time to 

 bake. 



CARNATION HOUSES. 



Although the character of the house in which car- 

 nations are grown has less to do with the success ob- 

 tained than with the rose and some of the other crops, 

 it will always be well to have the houses planned in 

 such a way as to secure for the plants the most favorable 

 conditions. While almost any shape of house will an- 

 swer, it will be found of advantage to consider the con- 

 ditions under which the plants are to be grown before 

 making a selection. The principal demand and the 

 highest price' for the flowers is during the dark, dull 

 weather of winter, and to secure blooms at that time it 

 is desirable that the house be constructed with a light 

 framework and large glass, and with such a pitch of the 

 roof as will secure the most light and heat from the sun. 

 This will generally be secured in a three-quarter span 

 house running east and west, and good results can be 

 obtained either with a long slope, or with the short 

 slope of the roof to the south (Fig. 7). Where a suit- 

 able location can be secured, a form of house that was 

 first designed for growing vegetables, with a lean-to roof 

 and a width of from thirty-five to fifty feet, will be 

 found well adapted to the carnation. If a slope to the 

 south of abcut fifteen degrees can be secured, the roof 

 can be given a slope of about twenty degrees, and the 

 north wall will not De unduly hisrh at the least width 

 mentioned, but for greater widths the house can be built 

 of a two-thirds span, or less, with from one-fourth to 

 one-eighth of its roof sloping to the north. If the 



