THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



es, which are about 6 feet 6 inches 

 each. The paths being removed from 

 the walls gives you the ideal place to 

 hang your pipes, whether steam or hot 

 water. 



An improvement over the house just 

 described, and one that is giving the 

 owner the greatest satisfaction (after 

 a trial of several of them he has added 

 some more of the dimensions of 400x 

 22 feet), is 22 feet from outside to out- 

 side of posts. The south or short bar 

 is 9 feet, the long or north bar is 18 

 feet, and the walls 5 feet high. On 

 the south side there is a path next the 

 wall, then a 6-foot bench, then an- 

 other 6-foot bench, then again a path, 

 and against the north wall a 3-foot 

 bench. There is a li/i-inch pipe un- 

 der the ridge with a branch from that 

 supporting a purlin near ventilator 

 headers, and another row of 1%-inch 

 pipe supporting a purlin three feet 

 lower down the roof on the north side. 

 The ventilation in these south-span- 

 to-the-south houses is always on the 

 north side and open at the ridge. 



Now, happening to know several of 

 these houses, I can vouch for the very 

 excellent quality of the flowers that 

 are grown in them, and having two 

 of them myself, I am ready to accord 

 to them the several advantages and 

 merits they possess. They are easy 

 and cheap to build, much more so than 

 the long-span-to-the-south. They are 

 cheaply heated; less pipe will heat 

 them than either of the other two 

 styles. When there is any sun in our 

 dreary winter you must get the direct 

 rays, for the face of the south slope 

 is about at right angles with the rays 

 of the sun in our shortest days. They 

 are most decidedly the coolest houses 

 in summer, which is a decided advan- 

 tage, and last they can be built at- 

 tached with gutter and walls only 

 separating them. 



The front or south bench being 

 some two feet from the wall there is 

 not the slightest shade from the ridge 

 of the house on the south. The fact 

 of these houses being in a block, and 

 the roof of one largely breaking the 

 force of the wind to the north, is a 

 great saving of fuel. I can only say 

 that some of the best rose growers 

 of the country, having adopted this 

 style of house seven or eight years 

 ago, are highly satisfied with them and 

 are still building more, and the quality 

 of their product is evidence of their 

 not being far wrong. 



The equal span house is to me about 

 the ideal. It may take more heat, but 

 it gives the best distribution of light. 

 An equal span of 22 ft. should always 

 be removed from another like house 20 

 ft. The walls should be 5 ft., a path 

 against each wall, and two more sep- ' 

 arating the benches, and three benches 

 each 5 ft. wide. This house would 

 take a 14 ft. bar, and in addition to the 

 main support in the center would need 

 a purlin on each side. 



Ample ventilation should be sup- 

 plied on the south side of the ridge 

 and opening at the ridge. Ventilation 

 could be put into the walls of this 





JflONINOER ( HAWTHORNEAv(ta70 



house, but you would not use it for 

 roses, and for carnations if shading is 

 attended to, I am convinced it is not 

 necessary, as carnations in our equal 

 span houses with only top ventilation 

 are often so vigorous and thriving at 

 the end of August that it seems a sac- 

 rifice to throw them away. 



We have on these equal span houses 

 some large ventilators on the north 

 side that are not worked by any ap- 

 paratus, and not used till settled warm 

 weather, when they are raised up a 

 foot or so on stout blocks, fastened 

 down with wire and left open till 

 planting time, or in some cases till 

 there is danger of the houses getting 

 too cold. I am sure that in carnation 

 houses these ventilators to be used on- 

 ly in our hot weather are of great use. 



Why a steep roof always makes a 

 lighter house than a flat roof is not 

 easy to explain, but it is so, and un- 

 mistakably so. Many times have I 

 compared the light in the three dif- 

 ferent styles of houses on the same 

 day and the equal span at an angle of 

 about 45 degrees is much the lightest 

 appearing house, and I believe al- 

 though the short-span-to-the-south has 

 many advantages, particularly on the 

 score of economy of heat and space, 

 that the equal span, using the same 

 glass and bar, has the most perfect 

 diffusion of light and comes nearer 

 the ideal for producing high class flow- 

 ers. 



A violet house should run north and 

 south. You get all the light you wanfr 

 in the winter and you would get too 

 much sun in the early spring if the 

 house faced south. Under the head of 

 violets I will give you my idea of a 

 violet house. 



In conclusion all I have said about 

 any of these houses, both for plants 

 and flowers, applies only to those that 

 you are going to build under your own 

 supervision. If you have no mechan- 

 ical genius at all, engage a horticul- 

 tural builder. Some men have the 

 bump of destruction and some of con- 

 struction. The writer wishes no great- 

 er pleasure in this world than bossing 

 the erection of glass structures. Poor 

 fare and short hours in bed will do 

 him then if he can only squint over 

 those pieces of wood by which we get 

 a line on the posts or hangers for the 

 pipes. 



Florists' 

 Supplies 



AT.... 



HALF PRICE. 



Write for our Catalogue No. 51, 

 quoting low prices on 



of all kinds. 



We have BOILER TUBES or 



FLiUES of a second-hand nature, which 

 we guarantee in FIRST-CLASS condition. 

 They are used extensively by Green- 

 housemen as mains for hot water 

 heating and for sundry other purposes. 



Chicago 



House Wrecking 



Company, 



W, 35th & Iron Sts, Chicago, III, 



Expert Advice... 



On All Matters Pertaining to 



GREENHOUSE BUILDING, 



HENRY W. GIBBONS, 



Greenhouse Architect and Builder, 



136 Liberty St., KTEW YORK. XT. Y. 



CATALOGUES, FOUR CENTS. 



The well known firms I mentioned 

 in my opening remarks in this chapter 

 will put you up most excellent com- 

 mercial houses and make them any 

 shape or design you wish. What I 

 have tried to convey is the method by 

 which you can erect with the help of 

 one good carpenter and his tools sub- 

 stantial lasting houses that will grew 



