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The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



OCTOBBB 18, 1906. 



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in one construction than in t|ie other. I 

 think, however, if ypu will go into a 

 house of sashbar construction and then 

 into one of iron-frame construction, you 

 will at once notice a difference in the 

 amount of light in the houses; and I 

 also think you will admit that, if this is 

 . easily discernible to the eye, better re- 

 sults will be obtained in the lighter 

 houses, providing all other conditions are 

 the same, than in the one having more 

 shade. 



Strensth and Safety. 



As for strength of construction, the 

 iron-frame house is decidedly the strong- 

 est, especially in a wide house. But for 

 a house not over thirty-three feet four 

 inches wide, of usual pitch, which allows 

 for five benches about fifty-two inches 

 wide each, with usual walks, the sashbar 

 construction with angle-iron posts and 

 plate offers an excellent solution for a 

 person who has not the capital to invest 

 in an iron-frame structure. Although 

 many sashbar houses are built wider, in 

 my opinion, to secure an element of 

 safety and strength without undue sup- 

 ports and trussing, the iron-frame house 

 should be used in structures wider than 

 about thirty-three feet. 



This sash-bar construction, as previous- 

 ly stated, has some disadvantages, as re- 

 gards the amount of light admitted, but 

 compares favorably in durability to the 

 iron-frame structure. The same general 

 form of cast-iron foot-piece and angle- 

 iron plate is used in both constructions. 



The trussed roof house of sashbar con- 

 struction, having angle-iron posts and 

 plate and cast-iron foot-pieces, has the 

 advantage of doing away with support- 

 ing columns in houses not Over twenty- 

 nine feet wide. 



TheCoft. 



The all-wood house of sashbar con- 

 struction, having wood plate and posts, 

 has the redeeming feature of being the 

 least expensive construction th^t one can 

 erect, considering first cost only. The 

 sashbar house having wood plate and 

 wood sills on concrete walls is a con- 

 struction more expensive than a house 

 having angle-iron plate, angle-iron posts 

 with cast-iron foot-pieces, double board- 

 ing of cypress below glass, and remov- 

 able baseboard, while it has the disad- 

 vantage of not being as durable, because 

 of the liability of the wood plate and the 

 wood sill on the maaohry wall to decay 

 in a short time. Etfpecially is the wood 

 sill on masonfy wall a weak member in 

 greenhouse constroi^^on. 



Let us compare The cost of a house 100 

 feet lon^, having libgle-iron plate, angle- 

 iron posts, and cast-iron foot-pieces, with 

 the all-wood house, having wood plate 

 and wood posts. The cost of the angle- 

 iron plate for both eaves, together with 

 angle-iron po^ts and cast-iron foot- 

 pieces spaced every six lights of. glass, 

 would be about $120. The cost of the 

 wood plate and cypress posts, spaced ev- 

 ery three lights of glass, which is the 

 usual spacing for this construction, would 

 be approximately $60. This makes a dif- 

 ference of $60 in the cost of one house 

 over the other. 



Assuming that you build a house 100 

 feet long, with wood posts and plate, 

 superstructure costing $1,500 complete, 

 you will see that the additional cost of 

 $60 for iron plate and posts is four per 

 cent of the total cost of superstructure 

 of the all-wood house. The heating and 

 benched would cost the same in either 

 caae. ' 



Durability. 



Let us further assume that the all- 

 wood house would last fifteen years. If 

 you add the same percentage, four per 

 cent, to the life of the all-wood house, the 

 house with iron plate and posts would 

 have to last you only between seven and 

 eight months longer than the all-wood 

 house. However, by investing $60 more 

 you lose the interest on this, except as it 

 is earned in the length of life of your 

 building. If this $60, otherwise invest- 

 ed, should double itself in fifteen years, 

 you would have to figure eight per cent 

 increase in the length of life of the iron 

 and wood house over the all-wood, in 

 order that your investment on either one 

 may pay you equally well. This eight 

 per cent added would mean that the iron 

 and wood house would have to last about 

 one year ana three months longer than 

 the all-wood. The actual increase of 

 length of life of house, because of 

 the iron posts, and plate, would be many 

 times the one year and three months. If 

 the house with iron plate and posts lasts 



In renewing our lubscription to 



we|wisb, with many others, to thank 

 you for the fact tliat the paper not 

 only ic helpful and up-to-date, but ittt 

 from the petty jealousy and quarrels 

 found in others* 



A. A. PANTET & CO. 

 Fort Smith, Ark. 

 Oct. 8, 1906. 



twenty-two and one-half years, or' half 

 as long again as does ' the all-v^dod 

 house, which is reasonable to suppose on 

 a basis of the figures just given, your 

 cost per year for superstructure of house 

 would be between $69 and $70 for the 

 iron and wood construction, against $100 

 for the all-wood, or a saving of nearly 

 a third of your cost per year for super- 

 st|Ticture of greenhouses by using iron 

 plate and posts. 



Importance of Width. 



The design of a greenhouse is fully as 

 important aa the construction to be used, 

 in order to cover the ground at the least 

 expense, secure the best circulation of 

 air, and heat to the best advantage. One 

 can readily see that, no matter what the 

 width of the house, the expense of the 

 side walls is the same; consequently the 

 wider the house, providing one keeps 

 within reasonable limits, the less the 

 cost per square foot covered, so far as 

 superstructure goes. The circulation of 

 air is much better in a wide house than 

 in a, narrow one, and the wide house is 

 more easily heated in proportion to the 

 surface covered than a narrow one. An 

 example of this can be seen at Waban 

 Conservatories, Natick, where in a house 

 twenty-one feet wide, with ridge about 

 fourteen feet high, there are twelve 1%- 



inch pipes; and in a house forty feet 

 wide, with ridge about twenty-one feet 

 high, there are twenty 1^-inch pipes; 

 and 1 understand that a higher and more 

 even temperature can be maintained in 

 this wide house than in the narrow one. 



Ridge and Furrow. 



The ridge and furrow houses, while in 

 almost universal use through the west, 

 are not so extensively built in New 

 England. These houses present the ad- 

 vantage of being more economical than 

 detached houses, because of the elimina- 

 tion of several sides in d block of houses, 

 but they have the disadvantage of more 

 or less shade from the gutters, and more 

 breakage of glass by ice and snow than 

 in detached houses. There seems to be 

 a growing tendency, however, towards 

 this construction. 



Pitch of Roof. 



The even-span house is the cheapest 

 and in a large majority of cases is the 

 style built. Where houses run east and 

 west, which is conceded by the majority 

 of growers to be the most desirable way 

 of locating them, several of the best 

 growers have the roof on the north side 

 of a steeper pitch than that on the 

 south, both eaves being of the same 

 height. This throws the ridge north of 

 the center, and is done to avoid shade 

 from the ridge on the rear bench or 

 bed. 



In Boston, on December 22, the sun 

 shines at an angle of 23 degrees, while 

 on June 22 at 71 degrees. This makes 

 a rise of the sun 8 degrees per month. 

 With an even-span house, running east 

 and west, having the roof 32 degrees 

 pitch, you will see that you will get no 

 shade from the ridge on the rear bench 

 until about February 1, or until the sun 

 gets higher than the pitch of the roof on 

 the north side. If the north side of the 

 house has a pitch of 45 degrees, with 

 the house running east and west, yoii 

 will get no shade on the rear bench until 

 about March 20. The steeper the pitch 

 of the roof the more surface in it, and 

 a proportionate increase in cost. 



Aspect of the House. 



It is a question of opinion as to 

 whether the saving of shade on the north 

 bench compensates for the additional 

 cost. If the house is placed facing a 

 few degrees to the east, in order to ob- 

 tain the morning sun more directly, the 

 shade from the ridge on the north bench 

 is varied. This facing of the house 

 slightly to the east of south seems the 

 ideal arrangement to secure the benefits 

 of the morning sun. There is little dif- 

 ference the year through between the 

 amount of sunshine in the morning and 

 that in the afternoon. Boston weather 

 reports for five years show an average 

 of twenty-four more hours sunshine each ' 

 year in the morning than in the after- 

 noon. 



Ordinarily the pitch of roof giving 

 the best results is 32 degrees, or a rise 

 of seven and one-half inches to the foot. 

 This, however, is varied occasionally for 

 various reasons. In the even-span, ridge 

 and furrow houses, running east and 

 west, a pitch of about 27 degrees is 

 often used with good results. With this 

 arrangement the roof of one house shades 

 the other less than would be the case 

 if the pitch were steeper. 



The spacing of 16x24-inch glass in the 

 roof the 24-inch way is quite often done 

 with desirable results, as far as the 

 amount of light in the house is concerned. 



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