Ideal situation and surroundings for a greenhouse, 
break on the north. Frames are extended on the south front. 
tory little house which has to be boarded up 
and packed all around the foundations with 
some heat retaining material, so as to keep 
the inside comfortable. The saving of per- 
haps $1oo or even less, at the very beginning 
of things, thus results in an annual expendi- 
ture in hard cash of perhaps $1o or $15 
and always with the risk of the weather being 
just a little bit more severe than usual, and 
the result being a total loss of the most val- 
uable plants. 
HEATING THE HOUSE 
In a greenhouse in which a general collec- 
tion of plants is to be grown it is necessary to 
maintain a temperature of from fifty-five to 
An ornamental 
an enlarged window garden. 
alive, but is not the thing for growing 
flat roof, and too heavy construction 
the dwelling. 
It will 
adjunct to Merely 
Keep plants 
them. Too 
SET, 
GARDEN MAGAZINE 
showing how evergreens may be used as a wind- 
This is an ideal house for a large garden 
sixty degrees, when it is zero weather outside. 
Lettuce and violets may be grown in a house 
which runs ten degrees lower than this, but 
no one should build a greenhouse of the ordi- 
nary type, and calculate on maintaining a 
lower degree of heat than what is here given. 
Heating is best done by hot water, and in 
a small house the pipes may well be connected 
with the heating system used for the dwelling, 
if the greenhouse and the home are within 
any sort of reasonable distance from each 
other. For large houses or ranges of several 
houses together, the independent heating 
plant is necessary. 
by commercial florists, but it is economical 
only on a large scale. As a uniform degree 
of temperature must be maintained in the 
house, the fires where steam is used, need 
watching continuously during cold weather, 
for the moment the water ceases to boil, the 
pipes cool off, and some considerable time 
is consumed in starting the heat running 
again. With hot water there is much more 
latitude in attention, for though the fires 
dwindle, the water which fills the pipes will 
carry heat for a long time, and it will circulate 
until the last degree is radiated. But a hot 
water system costs in the installation about 
one-fourth more than steam. Very small 
houses may be successfully heated by kero- 
sene stoves, which may be placed inside the 
house. The fumes which may be given off 
are not likely to be seriously injurious to 
plants. A much better way would be to use 
oil heaters for an inside water circulation, 
carrying off all products of combustion by 
means of a flue. Coal stoves should never 
be installed inside the house. It has been 
done successfully by some amateurs, but the 
danger of coal gas being driven back into the 
house by a down draft in the chimney is al- 
ways present, and is too great a risk to run. 
Coal gas and illuminating gas are two viru- 
lent poisons of plants. 
THE QUESTION OF WIDTH 
The standard widths for greenhouses are 
6 feet 8 inches for a lean-to with one bench, 
Steam is used for heating © 
AvcGcusT, 1906 
and g feet 4 inches for a lean-to with two 
benches, and a central walk. The difference 
in width which gives the extra bench is very 
slight, and the cost for twenty-five feet is for 
the single bench $450, for the double bench 
$700. An even span house 9g x 17 ft. all 
wood frame, boiler and heating complete, 
can be erected for $500. 
FIGURING THE HEATING 
How to maintain a minimum of fifty-five 
degrees? It’s quite easy to know what to do. 
Find the area of your glass surface in square 
feet, and allow one foot of radiating surface 
for every three feet of glass. Walls up to 24 
ft. high are generally ignored in making the 
calculations for heating. If they are any- 
thing more than this, allow one-fifth of the 
area as equivalent to glass. Heating is 
usually laid on by 4-inch (outside measure) 
cast iron pipe, if water is used, and one lineal 
foot of this equals one square foot of radiating 
surface. 
Another commonly used size is 2-inch 
wrought iron, of which 1.6 lineal feet is 
equivalent to one square foot of radiating 
surface. 
Having ascertained the amount of radiat- 
ing surface necessary, it is an easy matter, 
upon reference to the catalogues of green- 
house builders and boiler makers, to decide 
upon the capacity of the boiler to be bought. 
These details are all tabulated. 
Though as a matter of fact it may be 
taken for granted that the maker’s statement 
represents slightly under the full efficiency 
of the boiler, yet there is nothing like having 
reserve power, and the amateur who wants 
comfort in his greenhouse, and comfort in 
running it in heavy weather, will purchase 
a boiler which is listed to feed atleast 
25 per cent. more area than he really re- 
quires. ‘There is not only reserve power for 
unusual strains, but a big, deep, fire can be 
operated‘ with so much less labor, and act- 
ually during the winter months, with a less 
consumption of coal than would be the case 
with a boiler that was piped to its full 
efficiency. 
The best Kind of low priced house to attach toa 
dwelling. Does well for foilage plants. This type of 
house will cost about $500 for 6 x 20 feet 
