690 



GREENHOUSE 



GREENHOUSE 



desirable to open all the veDtilators in a long house with 

 one set of apparatus, for frequently one end will not 

 need as much ventilation as the other end, or may be 

 affected by the wiud forming a current lengthwise of 

 the house. To avoid this a Greenhouse 200 feet long 

 should have ^ or i sets of apparatus, which can be ope- 

 rated separately. In all Greenhouses of considerable 

 width, it is desirable that ventilation should be provided 

 on both sides of the ridge, so that tlie ventilation can be 

 given on the "leeward" side, which will prevent the 

 wind from blowing directly into the house. 



Real huj. — The success of the florist, gardener or 

 amateur in the management of a Greenhouse depends 

 largely on the satisfactory working of the heating appa- 

 ratus. Tliere are two systems of Greenhouse heating 

 which, when the apparatus is properly installed, are 

 economical and satisfactory; viz., liot waterand steam. 

 The open-tank hot water heating has more advantage 

 in its adaptation to general use than any other, and is 

 so simple that its management is readily understood bj' 

 any one. It is practically automatic, and is capable of 

 maintaining an even temperature for ten hours without 

 attention. Low pressure steam heating is well adapted 

 to large commercial ranges, and to large conservatories 

 in parks and private pUxces, where a night attendant can 

 be kept in charge of the fires to turn on and shut off 

 steam from the radiating pipes as tlie changing outside 

 temperature may require. Tiie heating of Greenhouses 

 to the best advantage under the varying conditions of 

 climate and interior requirements, demands, like the 

 desii^fiinij: of Greenhouses, the services of an experi- 

 enced sptc-cialist in horticultural work. 



Lord & Burnham Go. 



Greenhouse Glass. — The selection of glass for Green- 

 houses, and the nature of the imperfections which ren- 

 der it undesirable for such use, are questions which 

 have received much attention from horticultural writers, 

 and which have brouj^ht forth a variety of ans\V(n*s. 

 Three qualities are essential in all glass to be used in 

 Greenhouse construction: first, minimum of obstruction 

 to solar rays ; second, strength sulficient to withstand 

 the strain of winds and storms, especially hail ; and 

 third, freedom from defects rendering it liable to burn 

 plants grown under it. 



It is an established fact that plants thrive best under 

 a clear and transparent glass, which lets through the 

 greatest possible percentage of the sun's rays. This 

 includes all the solar rays, calorific or heat rays and 

 actinic or chemical rays, as well as the colorific or light 

 rays. Clear white glass of the grade known as "single 

 thick" (12 panes to the inch) lets through from 60 to 70 



995. Details of iron-frame benches. 



per cent of the sun's rays, common green glass of the 

 same thickness, 52 to 5(3 per cent, and "double thicl; " 

 (8 panes to the inch) common green glass from 50 to 52 

 per cent. This percentage is reduced by other colors, 

 dark blue glass letting through but 18 per cent. In con- 

 nection with the matter of tint, it should be noted that 

 some glass, especially clear white glass purified with 

 arsenic acid, or that in which a large amount of potash 

 is used in proportion to the amount of lime used in 

 manufacture, becomes dull after long exposure to the 

 weather, the dullness being occasioned by tlie efflo- 

 rescence of salts contained in the glass. Before this dis- 

 integration has proceeded too far, tlie crust or efllo- 

 rescence may be removed with muriatic acid. 



The strength of glass depends upon its thickness and 



996. Burned areas on a 

 Begonia leaf. 



the thoroughness of the annealing. Glass is annealed 

 by passing through a series of ovens, where it is raised 

 to a high heat and then gradually cooled, whatever 

 toughness and elasticity the finished product may con- 

 tain being due to this pro- 

 cess. The thickness of glass 

 varies, not only with grades 

 (single and double thick}, 

 but also more or less within 

 the grades, and even with 

 different parts of the same 

 pane. Single thick glass is 

 too thin for use in Green- 

 houses, and in selecting any 

 glass for such a purpose it 

 should l»e examined pane by 

 pane, and all showing 

 marked variation in thick- 

 ness, either between panes 

 or in different parts of thi- 

 paue, rejected. A pane of 

 varying thickness is much 

 more liable to breakage from 

 climatic changes or sudden 

 shocks than one which is 

 uniform in this regard. 

 Fi'om the foregoing state- 

 ments it will be seen that, in 

 general, the ordinary dou- 

 ble thick green glass is best, 

 as regards both tint and 

 strength, green glass being 

 less liable to change in tint than white, and the double 

 thick being the stronger grade. By green glass is meant 

 simply the ordinary sheet glass, the green color of 

 which is only noticeable when looking at a cut edge. 



The idea has long been more or less prevalent that 

 such visible defects in sheet glass as the so-caller] 

 "bubbles," "blisters " and "stones," produce a focusing 

 of the solar rays passing through them, thus burning the 

 foliage of plants grown under glass containing these 

 defects (Fig. 996). This view has been held by glass 

 manufacturers and horticulturists alike, and seemsiiot to 

 have been publicly contradicted until 1895 (Bull. 95, Cor- 

 Ti*^ll University Agric. Exp. Sta., p. 278). In view of the 

 erroneousness of this theory, it is rather remarkable 

 that it should have gained such prevalence. Nearly all 

 bubbles and blisters are thinner in the middle than at 

 the periphery, being thus concave rather than convex 

 lenses, and actually diffusing the rays of light passintr 

 through them rather than producing destructive foci. 

 While it is true that sand stones or knots in glass may 

 produce foci, these points of focus scarcely ever exist 

 more than a few inches from the surface of the glas.'*, 

 and consequently these defects can do no damage when 

 occurring in roofs several feet distant from the grow- 

 ing plants below. 



The only full and complete series of experiments on 

 this subject in this country (conducted at the Cornell 

 University Agricultural Experiment Station, the Physi- 

 cal Laboratory of Cornell University, and a glass fac- 

 tory in Ithaca, 'New York, but yet xmpublished) shows 

 the true cause of the burning by glass to be the 

 variation in thickness of the entire pane, or por- 

 tion of same, thus causing a prismatic or lens-like ef- 

 fect (Pig. 9',)7), which causes a more or less distinct 

 focussing of the sun's rays at distances varying from 

 5 or feet to 30 feet, or even more, from the glass. 



This defect usually occurs along the side or end of 

 the pane, and is not visible to the eye, but may be 

 easily detected by the use of the micrometer caliper or 

 by testing in the sunlight. It may be found in all kinds 

 of glass, and is caused by a reduction of the upper or 

 pipe end of the cylinder from which sheet glass is made, 

 by the glass blower, to facilitate the removal of the 

 "cap" or neck end of the cylinder, by which it is at- 

 tached to tiie pipe while being blown. The defect, as 

 before stated, is one which may be found in all grades 

 and qualities of sheet glass, of both foreign and domes- 

 tic manufacture. The fact is well known that differ- 

 ences in the thickness of spectaide lenses, which are 

 imperceptible to the eye, may produce sufficient refrac- 

 tion tu nuiterially vary the direction of rays of light 



