94 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



There has been much discussion as to the relative merits of 

 placing the pipes overhead in the house or under benches. In 

 general, we have found that a combination of the two systems 

 is preferable. 



8. Internal Arrangements and General Management. 



a. Beds and Benches. — There is a great difference in opinion, 

 as well as in practice, concerning the use of shallow benches 

 or of solid beds in forcing houses. In the great lettuce houses 

 of Arlington, Mass., the solid bed is exclusively used, while 

 the famous Grand Rapids lettuce of Michigan is grown entirely 

 upon shallow beds in flue heated houses. In general, however, 

 we would advocate solid beds for plants requiring no bottom 

 heat, such as cauliflower, lettuce, radishes, etc.; while for semi- 

 tropical plants like melons, cucumbers, beans and tomatoes, 

 benches are preferable. Built as they usually are of waste 

 lumber, benches are short lived and must be renewed in from 

 three to five years, but with a little extra care and attention 

 their durability may be doubled. If wooden legs are used, 

 raise them above the level of the soil and place a stone or brick 

 under them. A better plan, however, is to use old steam pipe 

 for* legs and allow the pipe to extend to the top of the front 

 boards, thus holding the latter firmly in place. 



Another important consideration in making benches in the 

 green house is that a space be left next to the wall that the hot 

 air from beneath may circulate freely next to the glass and that 

 the plants be not injured by cold drip from the roof. If the sup- 

 ports be of wood, it is specially important that paint be used 

 very freely. In all benches provision should be made for drain- 

 age by leaving cracks between the bottom boards. Instead of 

 boards, slate or tile is sometimes used. The latter is preferable, 

 but either of these is of course much more durable than wood 

 and is a better conductor of heat. For ordinary purposes, 

 however, wood will probably continue to be mainly used. 



b. The Soil: — The soil for use under glass should, as a rule, 

 be more sandy than that usually called "good garden loam." 

 The reason for this is evident. We know that, other things 

 being equal, plants make a more rapid growth and mature 

 more quickly on warm sandy soils than on heavy loams, and it 



