88 PRACTICAL PLORICULTURE. 



hot water. In the case of hot water the dangerous point 

 is from the smoke pipe, which is in many cases placed 

 under the beams that support the flooring that covers 

 the furnace pit. In all such cases the beams should be 

 covered with asbestos, and an air space of at least nine 

 inches left between the beams and the smoke pipe. In 

 our own establishment all our furnace pits are covered 

 over with railroad iron for beams, over which brick 

 arches are sprung ; even the ladders used to get down to 

 the boilers are iron, thus using every precaution against 

 fire. This, though somewhat costly, is in the end much 

 cheaper than insurance, for thus protected there is hardly 

 a possibility of damage from fire. Our greenhouse 

 establishment was begun in 1848, nearly forty years ago, 

 and yet in all that time our total loss from fire was con 

 fined to the loss of the 10,000 plants above alluded, to 

 which at the season of the year it occurred was replaced 

 at an expense of, perhaps, $200. 



The Cost of Construction must necessarily be only 

 approximate, according to the manner in which the work 

 is done, when done, and the ever-changing cost of material 

 and labor. At this date, 1887, greenhouses, as shown in 

 figure 16, when finished and heated by hot water, com- 

 plete, would cost in this vicinity about $15 per running 

 foot; if by steam, $13 per running foot, or by flues, $9 per 

 running foot, less or more according to the extent less if 

 joined in blocks of three attached than when built singly. 



GREENHOUSES ATTACHED TO DWELLINGS. 



One of the most frequent inquiries made to me is : 

 " How can I attach a green-house to my dwelling-house ?" 

 Nothing is more simple, so far as the greenhouse is con- 

 cerned, but the difficulty is to heat a small structure of 

 this kind. Many may not know that even in this latitude, 



