NOTES ON WINTER GARDENING. 



8 9 



4. Construction of Houses, 

 a. Walls and Foundations. — From the nature of the super- 

 structure it is evident that while the foundation of the forcing 

 house need not be specially heavy it must be very rigid. There 

 must be no displacement from lateral pressure nor must there 

 be a possibility of heaving from the action of the frost. If 

 practicable a foundation of cement or stone is desirable, but 

 ordinarily commercial houses are built without such foundation. 

 The best green house wall is that which at the least expense 

 is perfectly rigid, is durable and will effectually shut out drafts 

 of cold air. A cheap and effective wall is readily made by the 

 use of posts and matched boards. In building such a wall as 

 this, posts are set about four feet apart and in this climate at 

 least four feet deep, that there may be no danger of heaving. 

 The posts should be as uniform in size as possible, about five 

 or six inches being large enough. It is well to place a flat stone 

 in the bottom of the hole before setting the post. A sheet of 

 tarred paper is then tacked on each side of the posts and out- 

 side of this the sheathing is placed. 

 Along the top of the posts should be 

 placed a two-inch strip equal in width 

 to the thickness of the posts, and above 

 this the plate. The plate should be 

 about 3x9 inches and bevelled on the 

 top so that moisture may run off read- 

 ily. It should be grooved on the 

 under side to receive the matched 

 boarding and thus shut off all possi- 

 bility of the entrance of cold air. It 

 should also have another groove nearer 

 the edge to prevent the backing up of 

 water into the joint formed with the 

 boards. When completed the plate 

 will then project one inch beyond the 

 wall as shown in figure 3. 



A wall of this description may be built very cheaply and under 

 ordinarv conditions will last ten to fifteen years. The posts 



Fig. 3. A Cheap Wall. 



