Masch 28, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



41 



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GREENHOUSE 



CONSTRUCTION 



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THE MODEBN HOUSES. 



[A paper by D. T. Connor, of Philadelphia, Pa., 

 read before the Lancaster Florists' Club, at Lan- 

 caster, Pa., March 21, 1912.] 



The subject which you assigned me is 

 so well known to most of the commer- 

 cial growers that I feel there is little 

 left for me to add. However, I am glad 

 to tell you what I know and what I 

 have observed in my connection with 

 this work. 



The first thought in planning to build 

 greenhouses should be to construct them 

 80 that you can get the best possible 

 conditions for plant life under glass. 

 We now have fifty-seven varieties of 

 greenhouse construction, made up in 

 various widths and lengths. There seem 

 to be two styles that are preferred, the 

 single wide house and the ridge and 

 furrow plan. I believe equal results 

 can be had from both styles of houses. 



The Sidge and Furrow House. 



The ridge and furrow is now built 

 with high gutter lines, seven to ten 

 feet, and by this plan we get more 

 direct light and a larger air space, 

 whicli is desirable. We also obtain this 

 same condition in the wide single house. 



In my conversation with many flo- 

 rists who have both styles of houses, I 

 find they claim that the ridge and fur- 

 row house is cooler in the summer 

 months; it is easier to repair and the 

 cost of building is about the same. You 

 are able to get more ventilation and 

 for some crops this is important. With 

 high gutter lines we do not have any 

 trouble with the drafts that are objec- 

 tionable in the connected houses with 

 low gutter lines. 



Tbe Single Wide House. 



The single wide house that so many 

 growers are building, forty to seventy- 

 five feet wide and built in lengths, 

 seems to bring out the proper results, 

 but unless you can build this house in 

 long lengths they will be found expen- 

 sive to erect, as the gable ends cost 

 the same. 



We have a great many growers who 

 prefer the large, single wide house, but, 

 as I said before, good results can be 

 had from both styles of houses. Grow- 

 ers often find that they have to adopt 

 a certain style of house to meet the 

 surrounding conditions, grade of ground, 

 limited space in which to build, etc. 



Solidity of Construction. 



The modern greenhouse is a combina- 

 tion of glass, wood, iron and concrete. 

 The first and most important considera- 

 Mon in building a greenhouse should be 

 to build proper foundations. These, as 

 you know, are made of concrete and 

 iron posts and should be of the best ma- 

 terials to stand the strain and take care 

 •f tk« roof construction. It is a com- 



mon fault for growers to build light 

 side walls and weak gable ends. The 

 roofs of all greenhouses should be built 

 of good material and made suflSciently 

 strong to carry the loads which they 

 are obliged to meet, the weight of snow 

 and the wind pressure which have to be 

 taken care of. 



If you stop to think that the heating, 

 glass, glaring, painting and erecting cost 

 the same, no matter how cheap the 

 construction is made, you will see that 

 a few dollars more will be well spent 

 in using better materials. 



The Iron Gutters. 



The ridge and furrow houses are 

 built with channel-iron and cast-iron 

 gutters; both kinds will outlast, the life 

 of any greenhouse and should be used 

 in place of wood gutters. Iron gutters 

 are easier to erect, xequire fewer posts 

 and are an important feature in tying 

 the houses together. In the semi-iron 

 construction pipe purlins and columns 

 are used to support the roof. I believe 

 this style to be the best for ridge and 

 furrow houses up to thirty-five feet 

 wide. I feel sure it is a mistake to cut 

 out pipe columns or supports of the 

 houses, as this would put the strain on 

 the roof and sides. I am sure that 

 houses built of light truss work will 

 only last a short time and constant re- 

 pairing will be required. I am not in 

 favor of truss construction unless the 



materials that are used are sufficiently 

 strong to make the house rigid. 



Houses forty feet wide or over should 

 be built of flat rafter construction. We 

 are using this material in all our wide 

 houses and we find them the most eco- 

 nomical houses to build. The iron work 

 is fitted and worked out at the fac- 

 tory, so that the erection of the flat 

 rafter style is made easy when it 

 reaches the grower. 



Setting the Glass. 



Another important matter in building 

 wide houses is to build the gables strong 

 and rigid. It is much easier to make 

 the gable strong with iron frame con- 

 struction. I>uring the past winter we 

 have had a great many wind and snow 

 storms that made trouble for the florists. 

 I have had a great many reports of 

 glass being blown out and considerable 

 damage done by the frost, and in most 

 cases it was where the construction was 

 weak and the glass set the 24-inch way. 

 I believe most of the growers are satis- 

 fied to space the glass the 16-inch way. 

 This makes the houses strong and, with 

 the use of small sashbars, sufficient 

 light can be had. The glass should be 

 bedded in putty and securely fastened 

 with zinc glazing nails, and the glass 

 should be lapped. I know that in your 

 section a great many florists prefer to 

 butt the glass. ■ We can point out a 



[Ooncladed on pace 133.] 



CABNATION CULTURE. 



[A paper by G. F. Neipp, of Chatham, N. J., 

 read before the MorrU County Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Society, at Madison, N. J., March 13, 

 1912.] 



Within the last fifteen years more 

 progress has been made in the culture 

 of the carnation than of any other flow- 

 er. Yet, when we visit the flower mar- 

 kets of the large cities we find alongside 

 of the finest carnations lots of poor 

 ones, and one cannot help asking the 

 question. Why do florists keep on grow- 

 ing such rubbish, that never pays for 

 the work, not to say expenses? There 

 is no excuse whatever, since there is no 

 longer any secret in carnation culture 

 and it does not cost any, or only a little 

 more, to produce good flowers than poor 

 ones. , 



Good carnations can even be produced 



in small houses, if they receive the 

 proper treatment, and yet I have seen 

 produced in good, up-to-date houses 

 the poorest carnations I ever laid my 

 eyes on. 



Ignorance is no excuse, since we can 

 read articles on carnation culture from 

 the best authors in the country nearly 

 every week in our trade papers. We 

 can get plenty of information in our 

 societies and we do not need to go far 

 to see good carnations grown in an up- 

 to-date establishment. But the trouble 

 is mostly that these so-called carnation 

 growers are too conceited to look for 

 any information, or, like some fellows 

 I have met, they would not believe any- 

 body. Others gather all information 

 they can get, but have not the brains 

 to work it out. If somebody suggested 

 that their carnations needed feeding, 

 they would overdo it; or if told that 

 they keep their plants too dry, or too 



