THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



283 



boiler. When placed against a building it 

 is often found necessary to use a narrow strip 

 of wire netting to prevent icicles falling from 

 the eaves of the building and breaking the 

 glass; there are no icicles to drop from the 

 wall. 



For heating I use hot water connected 

 from the cellar of the residence. Each di- 

 vision of the house is supplied with individual 

 coils made up of 2-inch wrought-iron pipes 

 laid horizontally under the benches, and each 

 coil is valved to give me perfect control of the 

 supply of hot water which is fed from the 

 boiler through main pipes of the proper size. 

 The coils, which are raised a few inches from 

 the ground to give free passage of air around 

 them, are supported at intervals by piers, 

 each consisting of two small pipes driven 

 into the ground and capped by a casting to 

 carry the coil pipes. 



Of course, there must be a cellar for your 

 little greenhouse in which to set the boiler if 

 you can't use the house cellar, as depth is 

 required to produce a gravity circulation. 



COST OF MY 8 X 2O-F00T GREENHOUSE 



The cost of making and equipping the 

 house, with heating system complete, under 

 favorable conditions is brought to $500, as 

 follows : 



Wood and iron frame, ready to 



set up $164.21 



Glass 28.50 



Hardware (hinges, bolts, screws, 



etc.) 10.70 



Material for benches, complete.. 37- 13 



Ventilating machinery 1 7 . 60 



Boiler, pipe, etc 114 .39 



Labor for all 85.00 



Freight, grading, etc 3 5 . 00 



393 



An amateur's substantial greenhouse — wood and iron frame — built for service. It can be extended to 

 any length, according to the wall space available. A house liKe this, 10x25 feet, costs $625 



nation cuttings, ferns, azaleas, cacti, cauli- 

 flower, tomatoes, endive, celery, egg plants, 

 peppers and the like. I can get all I want 

 for starting the vegetable garden early; a 

 goodly supply of salads and other vegetables 

 when they are not ordinarily to be had ; and 

 the house plants, after having served a turn 

 in the living-rooms, are brought here to 

 recuperate, or perhaps to serve as stock for 

 propagating in their season. A partition 

 makes it possible, with a proper arrange- 

 ment of the heating apparatus, to maintain 

 two distinct temperatures. For instance, as 

 provided in the plan, the larger room can be 



kept at 55 to 6o° when the temperature out- 

 side is at zero, suitable for roses as well as a 

 great number of other plants; the smaller 

 room is heated 40 to 45 for growing violets 

 or lettuce. I wonder why more people don't 

 have little greenhouses. The cost of main- 

 tainance? From two to three tons of coal 

 supplies the boiler for a year; glass and 

 paint are cheap. I wager I get more pleas- 

 ure from one square inch of my little green- 

 bouse than some people get from whole 

 houses filled with plants that they don't even 

 know by name. 



Irwin Mann. 



$492-53 

 The materials for finishing with two coats of 

 paint and glazing incidentals would cost per- 

 haps another $5, not more. My situation 

 was such that the boiler could be set quite 

 close to the greenhouse, and so the expense 

 of that item was a minimum. Grading and 

 digging post holes and concrete cost very 

 little on reasonably level ground. A green- 

 house 10 feet wide by 25 feet long would cost 

 about $625. 



Just a few words about the construction. 

 The roof and sides are framed with cypress 

 rafters about 2x3 inches, placed five feet 

 apart and supported by cypress posts of the 

 same size. In order to prevent these posts 

 from rotting out by contact with the ground 

 each one is fastened, just above the ground, 

 to a heavy cast-iron footpiece, which is set 

 2 feet 6 inches in the ground and with 

 concrete. Cast-iron brackets are used to 

 strengthen the cypress frame. The glass is 

 carried on light cypress sash bars between 

 each pair of rafters and these are supported 

 on angle iron purlins. The side and ends 

 are closed in up to the top of the benches 

 with novelty siding and sheathing, with 

 building paper between. 



HOW THE SEASONS ARE DEFIED 



What can I grow in it? Look at the pic- 

 ture and see — rubber plants, oranges, car- 



394. How much you can do in a small greenhouse! Defy the winter and have rosea at Christmas, start 

 early vegetables for planting out in the garden, nurse the house plants bacK to health, grow salads all the 

 year round, propagate plants for bedding out, and enjoy gardening when your neighbors cannot 



