A Home-Made Greenhouse for $57.80— By will w. Stevens 



West 

 Virginia 



A BEGINNER WHO HAD NEVER BEEN INSIDE A GREENHOUSE MAKES A 10x16 HOUSE IN WHICH HE RAISES 

 WINTER FLOWERS, STARTS PLANTS FOR SALE, AND CLEARS THIRTY-THREE PER CENT. THE FIRST SEASON 



Photographs by the author 



TV /TY little greenhouse is not a "model" 

 1V1 greenhouse, but it has done the work 

 it was planned for, and other amateurs could 

 at least do as much. On New Year's day work 

 was begun ; lumber and locust sills were got in 



This little 10x16 greenhouse cost $41 for ma- 

 terials including heating apparatus. The section at 

 the rear is a tool shed 



place. The house is a small affair, 10x16 

 feet, with the long axis north and south. 

 The location is a dry sunny point. 



My knowledge of greenhouse construc- 

 tion was very limited; in fact I had never 

 been inside one. Of course anyone knows 

 that plants must have air, moisture, sunlight 

 and warmth, and just enough of each to 

 make them thrive in rich soil. And, armed 

 with those facts, I started to plan and build. 



For the roof I bought eight old hot-bed 

 sashes, 3x6 feet, already glazed, which cost 

 me, including freight, $2.40 apiece. Four 

 feet at the rear of the building is covered with 

 roofing paper and used as a surveyor's office, 

 where also bulletins, catalogues, magazines, 

 seeds and the like are stored, and are right at 

 hand for use. 



The sides of the house are made of inch 

 oak boards doubled and lined between with 

 building paper. The front is made from 

 ordinary window sashes. The cost of all 

 material exclusive of ceiling — the ceiling not 

 having been put on the first year — was thirty- 

 three dollars. The entire work of construc- 

 tion was done without hired help, evenings 

 and Saturdays. 



On February 29th fire was started in the 

 sheet-iron heater. The fuel expense is no 

 more than a little labor to prepare the wood. 

 The heater is surrounded by brick walls. 

 The bricks hold heat and also protect plants 

 too near the stove. 



A box of cabbage and cauliflower seed, 

 planted February 10th, was brought from 

 the kitchen, and the leafless geraniums were 

 moved from the "pit" into the "greenhouse." 



The rich black soil from the woods — a 

 cattle resort in summer — seems to be ideal 

 for plants. Earliana tomatoes, more Wake- 

 field cabbage and early radishes were sowed; 



onions were planted ; other seeds were sowed 

 from time to time. 



The little plants seemed to be doing well. 

 One morning the thermometer inside had risen 

 to eighty ; this was about fifteen degrees higher 

 than I liked to have it in the early morning. 

 Some of the largest tomato plants were falling 

 by the way. They continued dropping over 

 and withering. They had become victims 

 of the damping-off fungus, as I learned 

 through the State Agricultural College. "It 

 is one of the troubles that every beginner has 

 to contend with, and many of the more ex- 

 perienced as well. You have probably kept 

 your greenhouse too warm and used too much 

 water. Try keeping the plants a little dryer." 

 This advice was carefully followed, and there 

 were no more losses from "damping off." 



Some of the tomatoes were transplanted 

 into empty tomato cans, which had been slit 

 down the side and across the bottom and then 



All kinds of flowering plants from the living rooms 

 were nursed to fresh vigor in the greenhouse 



tied with a cord. To again transplant one 

 had only to cut the cord and then do the rest 

 without disturbing the roots. The earliest 

 plants began blooming in the cans the last 

 of April. 



The "canned tomatoes" sold readily at 

 ten cents the plant or three for a quarter 

 (one year apple trees selling at six cents each). 

 Small tomatoes realized 15 cents, and cabbage 

 plants 10 cents, a dozen. In all about $20 

 worth were sold; farmers and town folks 

 took them. 



The local paper on June 30th described 

 the big tomatoes one of the townspeople had 

 picked on the 27th from our transplanted 

 seedlings. They had been transplanted to 

 the garden on May 5th. 



The little experience of the first year is 

 worth a great deal, and it is a real pleasure 

 to work with the plants and watch them 

 166 a 



grow. If it were all to do over, I should build 

 a little larger and put in more glass on the 

 morning-sun side. 



THE DETAILS OF COST 



8 hot-bed sashes (3'x6' glazed) $16.80 



Freight on same from Chicago 2 . 60 



8 window sashes 6 . 30 



Tin to cover " comb " and joints in the roof. ... 1 . 63 



Nails, screws, etc .78 



1 roll building paper .75 



1 roll roofing paper 1 . 25 



Stovepipe .50 



Paints and oil .47 



2 pairs hinges and screw hooks .23 



Glass and putty .30 



Poultry netting for windows .24 



For hauling materials 1 . 10 



$32.95 



To the foregoing, which represents the 



total cash outlay, there might be added 



the following items furnished from home: 



510 feet oak boards @ $1.00 per 



hundred $5 . 10 



Logs for sills .75 



Heater worth .... 3 . 00 



Time estimated eight days (a car- 

 penter would have charged two 

 dollars per day) 16 . 00 24 . 85 



Total cost $57.80 



WHAT THE GREENHOUSE EARNED 



7 ! doz. large tomato plants @ $1.00 per doz . . 

 51 doz. small tomato plants @ 15c per doz. . . 

 750 cabbage plants (10c. doz. and 40c. hundred). 



2 doz. cauliflower plants 



4 doz. onions 



Paid for seeds . . 



S-9-75 

 55 



Net cash profit $19 . 20 



As a few minutes morning, noon and night 

 sufficed for looking after the greenhouse, the 

 net cash profit was a clear gain of about 33 J 

 per cent, on the investment. We had the 

 onion sets on hand, but what they would 

 have cost is overbalanced by the plants sup- 

 plied for home use and those given to friends. 



A wood stove did the necessary heating. It was set 

 in bricKs to economize and control the radiation 



