M\\ II, I'.IIL'. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



23 



;>(• l>iiilt were tlioso I'or .l:iy (lould, at 

 Irviiigtonoii Hudson, N. \. Iloro tho 

 •ast iron sills, iron laltors and purlins 

 ,ai>l>(>d witli wood were used to sup 

 ;i()rt the siipcrst iiictiuc. The jjrincipic 

 ,if tins const iiii'( ion t(»d;iy is still used 

 ■ n all imn :ind stocd grcciihoiist's. Tlii' 

 <l('t;iils may lir dianjicd, hut 1 he prin 

 ■i|i|c of iia\in^' till- ii'iiri or st(Md frame 

 work on the inside of tho gicMMiliousos, 

 with all ineinliers on the outside which 

 ■eceivc the i,Mass. of wood, is the same. 

 This const iiH'f ion, a1"t(M- vepoatod ox 

 |ierimeiits, has proved to be the most 

 durable :ind suitable to our variable 

 •liniate and has stood the test W(dl. 



The next inipoilant step in the con 

 -I ruction of comnitMcial j^reenhouses 

 was the introduction of w h;it is known 

 ■IS the cast iron loot piece construction. 

 \ jiost or foot|>iece ma<le of cast iron 

 \v;is jdaced in the j^round about thirty 

 midies. anil to these steid rafters wore 

 ii(dted. The sides, up to within two 

 leet ol' the eav(>s, were iuiilt of two 

 thicknesses of b();ir<ls. with buiidintf 

 paper lietweeu. This made a ch(>ap 

 ind subsl.'tnt ia I construction. 



Next. wooden jjjutters ;ind eaves 

 ]d;ites were dropjied out and anjrle 

 iron used in place of the wood plate, 

 riie eaves jdate is t'ully one-third 

 -inaller than tho wood one ;ind many 

 limes as srrons; it strengthened the 

 ^reonliouse at its vital point. Tho bars 

 and latter i-aps wore fastened to this 

 .ini;:le iron witli a small cast iron fit- 

 iill.<,^ The eaves jilate, h:i\iu,L;- part of 

 its surt;ice exposed to Ihe inside teni 

 perature of tho S''*'C"liouse, conv(>ys fh(> 

 lioat to tho outside surfaces and, to a 

 •orfaiii extent, prevents the forinntioii 

 of icicles on tho outside. Certainly it 

 was and is a great iinprovomont over 

 the wood plato, which was one of th(> 

 ■Jirst members in a grconhouse to decav. 



Larger Glas^ Comes In. 



I>uiing all this time the distance 

 netween the rafters has steadily iiW 

 '.•r(>ased. the wood members bein;; made 

 -mailer an<l the width of (he ;;lass in 

 Cleaned. I'rom glass six inches wide 

 lo twenty four inches is llu' historv, 

 ilthough for many reasons of economy 

 glass sixteen inclu's widi^ has beiMi and 

 IS generally used. The light admitted 

 lias beiMi greatly increased. Tliore is 

 ti" perceptible difference in the amount 

 ■ f li.L;ht in a house ghr/i^d witli H! 

 '" h and L'l incli glass, and the major 

 '^ >d' the leading growers <daim th(> 

 ^inwiiijr (jualities are a|)proximat(d\ 

 'hi vaiiie. Nfost people prefer the 1(1 

 inch. ,'is it costs h^ss to rejd.ace a l>rokeu 

 lii^hi. ;iiid aNo a lighter roof can be 

 made witli tliis width glass. If you 

 -'xamine the (>dge of a liglit of glass. 

 >on will notice that the glass is wavy 

 •"id nut ]ierf(^ctly straight, so that 

 Avheii two lights of glass are lapped you 

 ■^vill find that there is a cerf.aiii amount 

 ■■''' open space betw.MMi the IJLjhfs ut' 

 -.'l;is<. Th,^ wider the ula-^ the more 

 unexcii It i<. 



^\ ith file light cdii'-f riicf ion now used 

 I <lo not believe it makes any differ 

 "nee in cases where a groenhouso is 

 usimI for growing a general assortment 

 of plants wliidlier a lioiise is built fac 

 I'lg south, east or west, pro\Mding there 

 are no trees, liills or other objects to 

 shade the house. Tho topographical 

 conditions of the site play an impor 

 tant part in tho location. .\s those 

 usually vary in each case, e;ich case 

 requires individual consideration. Of 

 oourso wliere growiMs desire a green 



A House of Cattleya Schroederae at the Dale Estate, Brampton, Ont. 



house tOr roses or carnations, etc., as 

 a specialty, more consi<lerat ion and at 

 telition is gi\eii in this direction. .More 

 sunlight is nbl;iiiied by placing the 

 greenhouse e;ist and west, so that the 

 sun at noon, when at its strongi^st. 

 shines direct l\- between the bars and 

 r.afters in the roof. 1 understand from 

 soiiii' nf the largest rose glowers that 

 if is .-111 .-idvantage to plai-o tlie house 

 friuii Id to 1 .1 (legrees north of (>ast 

 in order to get the iidv.antage of 

 the morning sun ;i trifle earlier. The 

 moining sun is, id' courso, more bene 

 fici.-il than the afternoon sun, it being 

 an ;id\antag(> to sfarf vegetation as 

 early in the morning as possilde 



The Width Still Increases. 



.\s the gl.-iss h;is increased in wiilth, 

 so has fill' wiclth ot' the Ikmisos. so that 

 now houses thirty, forty, titty. titt\ 

 ti\c. sixty and sexeilt;. two feet wide 



are common. Scune ha\e I II built 



over 1(HI feel in wiilth. but in iiiiier 

 ti> reduce the height nt' the ridge a-- 

 llllicli ;is p(is--ilile the liiof^ ;ire lisii;ill\ 

 dc-igned wit li .'i Hal pil. h. It is iloiibt 

 fill if hniises ;is wide a^ tins are a 

 success iinles-^ built uii a slopiii:^ 

 ground, so that the kjhI c;i n li;i\e ^iif 

 ficieiit slope to picipi'iU '-lied the w ;i 

 for ;ind md ha\e ;i -howcr on the 

 inside (d' the L;reenhiiii-.e :i< widl a--; lUi 

 tlie outside 



A Jiifidl of :1l' iiei_;ree< in lidil^e^ Up 

 t(i thirt\- feet ill width i-^ prefer.able. 

 and in f li'oso from thirty to fifty feid 

 2^ degrees \\;i< been fcuind a Liood angle 

 t'or roof'>: llil de;:rees i'^ s:i f i-;fact oiy 

 for hou-ies fit'ty feet wide and over. 



.Vow ;is til 'support ■-: .\ ".'i t'oni 

 h(iu-<e rei|uirr-; no column^. Tliixe 

 tliirtx' live or tnrty leet wide reipuire 

 two cidiimns; (iffy live to sixty t'eo' 

 width c;ilU for t'oiir columns. ;iiid sev- 

 elilv feet cill-; t'or six r-oluinns. Hoiisi^s 

 s(n(>n(\' or seventy two feet wide re 

 ipiire only four rows of columns if 

 tliey are used in loiiibinaf ion with com 

 [iression trusses. 



There are some greeiiliiiu-;es con 

 structod today in which the iirinciple 

 of construction is to truss the roofs, 

 thus eliminating columns fo a groat 

 extent. This would be more s.atisf.ac 

 toi'y if the trusses; were constructed on 



ii compression basis, but tliev ;ire con 

 structod to ;i. Large extent on ;i tension 

 basis, niid depend upon .'ill members 

 bidng constantly in tune, us it wore 

 .\dw there is considerable vibration in 

 a greenhouse root' and the constant 

 movement is bound to stretch the light 

 rcids, (dc., wliicli ;ire used in this con 

 stru(;tioii. As soon as mie member 

 loses its tune, it puts all the others 

 I'ut also, anil I believe that a green 

 hous(> constriuded on this principle will 

 deteriiu'at more rapidly than one sup 

 ported ]iy columns or with a combina 

 tioii of column^ and comprossiun 

 trusses. 



Semi-Iron or Pipe Fianie Construction. 



We have been 'Onsider i iil; what is 

 known as the iron i'i;ime construction. 

 Tiioi'o is another ivpe i^ll|p\\ll us the 

 pipe f'raiiK? or --eiiii iron ■ nn--t riicf ion. 

 Tho diflerence between the two is not 



groilt. (he dilfelelice lieill;^ that the 

 steel i.at'ters are nmitled III the semi 

 iron const riici iipii and the rnof bars, 

 etc., ;ire sii|ipnrted bv liiii^ i t ud i u.'i 1 [mi' 

 liiis made 111 pipe nr aiiL;le iron; I be- 

 lieve pipe is plelelable. Inr tile reason 



that it c.-ists the least ;iiiiiMint of shade. 

 These purlins uie in turn sn|,|iort,id 

 bv pipe c(iluiiin<. The painting and 

 glaxiiiu III this cunst riicf ion are the 

 same ,-is ill the houses where iron raft- 

 ers .are used. There is a slight saving 

 ill the cost lit' this house. ;is the steel 

 used is less ;ini| the parts require |e<s 

 mill work. 



CATTLEYAS AT DALES. 



.\t tlie Dale llstate. P.rainptou. Ont., 

 there lire eight housi^s. each It'ixlnii feet 

 devided fo cut f ley , as. These houses con 

 tain over ;i:'..ii()(i p|;ints and it is said 

 that nothine on the place affords equal 

 intiM'ost t'lir visitors. I'erliajis one of 

 the leusons for this is that the IXile 

 people hav(^ had rather exceptional sue 

 c(>ss with orchids, the houses seldom 

 being without a brav(> show of bloom 

 Tho accompanying illustration is repm 

 ducoil from a photograjdi made in one 

 of tho Dale houses just before Kastor 

 Tho variety is Schrocdora-. The splcn 

 did character of the crop will be ap- 

 parent at a glance. 



