104 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1913 



weather, say from 20 to 30° above 

 zero, a water or heater temperature of 

 120 is ample. For zero weather about 

 160 is required, and below zero from 180 

 to 185 may be required. Coal is put on 

 at 7 A. m., noon, and 6 p. m. and a sprinkle 

 if needed at 10 p. m. A temperature reg- 

 ulator, by the heat expansion of a liquid 

 contained therein, works the draft stack 

 and inlet dampers by means of a lever 

 and chains attached to the dampers and 

 gives a very complete control of the heat. 

 In mild weather I disconnect the regulator 

 entirely, close all dampers and regulate by 

 the valve in the flow pipe. By reading a 

 thermometer outside the greenhouse before 

 setting the flow valves for the night with 

 due allowance for prospective changes I 

 find that a very close approximation to 

 6o° can be maintained and even if it goes 

 down to 56 there does not seem to be 

 any injury to anything I have tried so far. 



Sweet peas, carnations, snapdragons, do 

 better at a little below 6o° than over. Some 

 growers advise 58 as a normal heat. 



The growing beds consist of one raised 

 bench 3 feet wide running the entire length 

 of the house and across one end, giving 

 about 80 square feet; on the other side of 

 the house, nearest the dwelling is a solid 

 bed 3 feet wide by 18 feet long, the steps 

 leading down from the dining room taking 

 up the remaining space. The raised bench 

 has an iron pipe frame with cypress sides 

 and bottom. The solid bed has a concrete 

 retaining wall 4 inches thick, 12 inches high. 

 All this work I did myself and no special 

 account was kept of the cost, but the 

 materials did not cost more than §25.00. 

 No pro-\asion for heating was made for this 

 solid bed, but the two lines of heating 

 water pipes were set close up to the wall 

 on the inside of the dwelling house which 

 formed one wall of the bed, and as these 

 pipes extended along this wall the entire 

 length a gentle warmth was transmitted. 



Having completed the glasshouse the 

 next thing was to fill the beds. The usual 

 compost was made of sods with all the 

 roots, and attached earth, 

 which was of fine clay 

 loam, and cow manure, 

 and with some sheep man- 

 ure and ground bone 

 added. After working it 

 over twice it was in good 

 condition to put in the 

 beds. In the raised bench, 

 spaces and holes were left 

 in the bottom boards for 

 drainage. In the solid bed 

 a 2 inch layer of screened 

 gravel and clinkers was 

 put down, and compacted 

 by ramming, and the com- 

 post was spread to a depth 

 of 5 inches on the bench 

 and 8 inches in the solid 

 bed. This completed every- 

 thing ready for planting. 



It was now about the 

 middle of August and 



I decided to make my first venture 

 with some pink Killarney roses setting 

 them out in the solid bed, and in the long 

 raised bench bed I planted carnations, 

 pink Enchantress and Beacon in about 

 equal proportions. In the cross bench at 

 the end of the house I planted a double 

 row of nasturtiums of the climbing variety, 

 close up to the outer side and in the middle 

 and inside were planted snapdragons 

 {Antirrhinum majus), pink and white. At 

 three places in the long bench and close 

 to the outer wall I planted tomatoes; in 

 order to give more depth of earth for the 

 roots of these I made three small frames 

 about a foot square which set up about 

 six inches above the level of the bed and 

 these were filled up with earth gmng 

 nearly a foot in depth. 



A half dozen orchids were hung from the 

 metal roof purlins and a varied assortment 

 of ferns, begonias, and crotons was potted 

 and placed on shelves arranged above the 

 solid bed along the house wall; these potted 

 plants were not taken in until late in 

 September. The results were in many 

 ways satisfactory and quite instructive. 

 The usual troubles with aphides, mildew, 

 white fly, were gone through with and the 

 various remedies therefor w r ere applied 

 for the most part with entire success. 



Toward spring, seeds are planted for 

 early garden vegetables in flats, and in one 

 way and another my spare time was pro- 

 fitably and agreeably passed. 



Plants for Given Temperatures 



I HAVE just built a small house; it is electrically 

 lighted, and will maintain a night temperature of 

 40 degrees, when outside temperature is 40 degrees 

 below zero. Again, we do not have sunlight over 

 40 per cent, of the days in winter and at this 

 latitude the shortest days are about seven hours 

 long. Could I use electric lights to advantage? 

 What flower and foliage plants would you advise my 

 growing? 

 Michigan. F. N. B. 



If the house is piped for 40 degrees when 

 the outside temperature is 40 below zero, 



A lean-to greenhouse can be built in connection with the dwelling 

 attached to this almost double the capacity 



it would be perfectly simple to maintain 

 a temperature of 50 or even 60 degrees at 

 night, if desired. 



A temperature of 40 degrees in a green- 

 house is rather low and there are few things 

 that can be grown at that temperature. If, 

 however, a house is arranged so that it can 

 be run at 50 degrees, there is a much larger 

 variety of plants to select from. If the low 

 temperature is imperative, the following 

 can be grown: Genista, acacia, rhododen- 

 dron, cineraria, calceolaria, primula, cam- 

 panula, pansies, mignonette, all of which 

 can be grown at 50 and will do better 

 at 40 degrees. 



I do not know of a single foliage plant 

 that can be grown at the lower temperature 

 named; but at 50 degrees ferns, Rex- 

 begonias, Dracaena indivisa, araucaria, 

 aspidistra and aucuba may be grown, and 

 they may be augmented by azalea, bou- 

 gainvillea, lilacs, wisteria, cyclamen, 

 schizanthus, stocks, tulips, hyacinth, nar- 

 cissus, gladiolus, spirea, freesia, dwarf peas, 

 snapdragon, daisies, flowering begonia, 

 heliotrope, pelargonium. 



If the house could be run at 60 degrees 

 night temperature, there are better oppor- 

 tunities; use roses as the main crop, with 

 lilies, lily-of-the-valley, callas, amaryllis, 

 begonias and heliotrope as side crops. 



The mistake too often made is in getting 

 too much of a conglomeration; if the house 

 is small reduce your variety of plants to 

 reasonable proportions. If I had a small 

 house — say 20 x 10 ft. — I would select 

 for my flowers: carnations, snapdragons and 

 mignonette, for permanent flowering; for 

 pot plants (for house decoration) : cineraria 

 calceolaria, primula, cyclamen, and daisies, 

 with a few shrubs, such as lilacs and wis- 

 taria, and bulbs which can be worked as a 

 side issue and will not take very much of 

 the valuable bench space, using tulips, 

 hyacinths, narcissus, and freesias. That 

 would be about as great a variety as would 

 be practical to flower well under one roof. 

 Run such a house at 50 degrees. Every- 

 thing should be in pots except the 

 carnations, snapdragons, 

 and mignonette. 



In regard to the electri- 

 city, this is beneficial but 

 should not be overdone. 

 It has been found very 

 beneficial for forcing vege- 

 tables when the plant 

 came to maturity and was 

 then cast aside, but plants 

 that are to form the foun- 

 dation for winter flowers 

 must have rest and can- 

 not ' be forced day and 

 night without harm. If 

 you do use electricity for 

 forcing, proceed slowly, 

 watch the plants carefully, 

 and do not let the wood 

 get soft and sappy as that 

 is the first sign of over- 

 forcing. 

 NewYork. W. C. MeC. 



Heated frames 



