THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



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I prefer the latter plan, and after 

 six years' trial of it have no fault or 

 failure in the least. You should have 

 at least a clear eight inches in width 

 of gutter, and the side pieces, whether 

 nailed on the side or on top, should 

 not be less than 2y 2 inches above gut- 

 ter before the bevel begins. The plan 

 for joining the gutter plates, explained 

 and illustrated in the work "How to 

 Grow Flowers," by the late Myron A. 

 Hunt, is excellent, and again I say, 

 after some years of adoption, I can see 

 no better way. 



A coarse saw groove is made in the 

 center of the thickness of the plate 

 three inches deep and one-eighth or a 

 trifle less wide. Both planks where 

 they will butt will be sawed, then get 

 a piece of sheet iron six inches broad 

 and the length of the breadth of the 

 gutter plate and the thickness of the 

 saw cuts, and after smearing it with 

 white lead drive it home in the saw 

 groove of one plate that is already in 

 place, and when the next plate is laid 

 that is also driven home. If the planks 

 have been sawed perfectly square, this 

 is an absolutely tight joint. We never 

 look for these joints to be over a post, 

 as the joint is as strong as any part of 

 the gutter. 



The Ridge. 



The ridge is 8x1% dressed. This al- 

 lows ample face for the bevel of the 

 bar, the groove for the glass to enter, 

 and three inches above the bar for the 

 ventilator if hinged at ridge, or bevel 

 of ventilator to close against if open- 

 ing at the ridge. 



The main support to keep a house 

 rigid and perfectly straight and true, 

 as long as it will stand, and that is, we 

 trust, a long time, is a l^-inch iron 

 pipe straight under the ridge. If the 

 ridge is thus supported the whole 

 weight is really^ taken off the walls. 

 In wind storms the roofs of our green- 

 houses are severely tested, and this 

 center support should be screwed into 

 a, fitting which has a shoulder that fits 

 under and screws on to side of "the 

 ridge. 



At the bottom or floor this should be 

 screwed into a circular plate which 

 should be screwed into a short post 

 securely set into the ground a couple 

 of feet. Some only rest the bottom of 

 this iron pipe on a stone. That is good 

 enough for all weight from above, but 

 in case of great wind storms, when a 

 vacuum is formed in the house, I have 

 seen the iron supports lifted clear off 

 the stone, which is a wrenching of the 

 roof and conducive to cracked glass. 



In houses such as we have endeav- 

 ored to describe, intended for plants 

 in pots, if planted out to smilax or as- 



paragus they would be on the ground, 

 and wheeling on the benches would 

 not be necessary. 



The neatest way to support the pur- 

 lins is by getting the fittings made by 

 Jennings Bros., of Philadelphia. They 

 are made to go over a l^-inch pipe 

 with a branch, one in each side, with 

 a socket for a 1-inch pipe. They are 

 fastened at any height on the center 

 l^-inch pipe by a set screw and have 

 knuckle joints so that the 1-inch pipe 

 leading from them can be set at any 

 angle. 



It will be readily seen that the 

 weight from the purlins pressing to a 

 common center must be the best of 

 support. The purlins, one on each side 

 of the ridge, should be situated about 

 half way between ridge and gutter or 

 plate; or if you use a heavy bar let it 

 be a little nearer the ridge than the 

 gutter, because it will keep the bars 

 more rigid near the ventilators. There 

 should be 1-inch gas pipe set every 

 eight feet (same distance apart as the 

 center posts). You must put in a T 

 into which will screw the 1-inch pipe 

 that leads from the fitting on center 

 post. 



The bars are fastened to the purlins 

 neatly and quickly by a steam fitter's 

 galvanized iron clip, which you buy 

 by the weight. The clip is screwed 

 into the bar with a %-inch screw and 



holds the bar firmly, but not so 

 firmly but what a rap with the 

 hammer will move it either way 

 when you are glazing. Be sure 

 that you get the pattern for the 

 bar the exact bevel both for the ridge 

 and plate. Nothing looks worse than 

 an ill fitting open joint at the heel of 

 the bar on the plate. Once get your 

 pattern correct and the mitre box laid 

 out right and you will have every 

 joint correct. 



When putting on the bars we put up 

 the ridge the whole length, nailing up 

 a. bar on each side every five or six 

 feet, but only temporarily, and then 

 the iron work is put up. By sighting 

 ilong the bars the fitting that controls 

 the purlins can be raised or lowered 

 till you can get an exactly straight 

 roof. 



Glazing has been dealt with in an- 

 >ther chapter. 



Cypress. 



It is a great pleasure to build houses 

 nowadays. You know you are putting 

 them up to stay. It is quickly done 

 and much of the pleasure arises from 

 the fact that you are building with a 

 material that is well nigh indestructi- 

 ble, and that is cypress lumber. Cy- 

 press can be procured in any lumber 

 market, but for greenhouse building 

 we should be afraid to trust it, and 

 we prefer to get our supply from firms 

 who make a specialty of greenhouse 

 material and have the facilities for 

 getting out material of any dimensions 

 you wish. 



In the material furnished for ten 

 nouses during the past seven years 

 by the Lockland Lumber Co., we have 

 yet to discover a single knot; and 

 what is more, neither in gutter plate, 

 wall plate, ends of bars or any part 

 or piece of the material have we> seen 

 decay, even to the depth of a sixteenth 

 of an inch. 



Painting. 



When you contemplate building get 

 the wood work on the ground at the 

 earliest possible moment, and get a 

 priming coat of paint, mostly linseed 

 oil, applied at once. And as soon as 

 the plates, ridge and bars are cut to 

 their lengths, another two coats 

 should be given. You can paint on 

 the ground just ten times as fast as 

 you can on the roof. 



As we butt our glass, there is no 

 need of any painting after the roof is 

 up and the glass in. The ends of the 

 bars are always given an extra dab of 

 thick paint just before they are nailed 

 up, and this should be done by a boy 

 who hands them up to the carpenter. 



I will mention here that no part of 

 the wood work where moisture can lie 

 should be flat. All parts should have 

 a bevel either in or out. 



General Notes. 



The length of a house is largely 

 your own choice. If for plants there 

 is a continual running backwards and 

 forwards to a shed at the end, carry- 

 ing often heavy flats of plants, and I 

 think 150 feet is long enough, and 125 

 feet is better. 



The soil or site on which green- 

 houses are built differs widely. I have 

 some covering a light loam and the 

 subsoil is gravel and shale. If a hose 

 were left running a whole night on 

 the floor of these houses the water 

 would have entirely disappeared a few 

 minutes after the faucet was shut off. 

 I have other houses where if the faucet 

 only leaks a trifle there is a pool of 

 water for hours. For several reasons 

 I think it very injurious to have the 

 surface of the green house a wet, damp 

 soil, retentive of moisture. This may 

 be all right for orchids, but for the 

 great majority of our plants, especially 

 roses, carnations, violets, and the great 

 bulk of our plants, a stagnant mois- 

 ture is just what we don't want. 



If your soil is a retentive clay, there 

 should be provision for draining it be- 

 fore you put up any structure. Dig a 



