Water as little asis necessary and only on bright days 
Starting a Greenhouse Business on Small Capital —By S. W. Fletcher, ¥, 
When preparing the soil two inches of manure are spaded under 
Vir- 
HOW A FAIR PROFIT IS MADE IN THE CULTURE OF LETTUCE, CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES UNDER 
GLASS — POSSIBILITIES OF AN INVESTMENT OF $2,500 ON LAND ADJACENT TO A FAIR-SIZED TOWN 
(] (ee rapid increase in the area of crops 
grown under glass is commensurate 
with the rapid development of towns and 
cities; it is bound to keep pace with the 
demands of our urban population. There 
are many types of greenhouse farming, each 
having attractions and advantages to certain 
persons. The one I here describe is 
especially attractive to the person of small 
means. This is the lettuce-cucumber- 
tomato type of glass farming, with lettuce 
asthe maincrop. These are all staple crops, 
and the greenhouse supply of them is in 
demand in every Northern town having 
several thousand inhabitants. 
The chief prerequisites for success in 
this business are a location near a thriving 
town or city, a capital of two thousand dollars 
or more, and a love of plants. It is very 
desirable, but not absolutely essential, to 
work with a successful greenhouse man, 
before starting in for yourself. There are 
many details in this business — as watering, 
ventilation, firing, etc.— which cannot be 
learned from books or magazine articles, 
however minutely stated. 
The following is an interview with Mr. 
S. J. Perry, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on 
February 12, 1908, as representative of this 
type of greenhouse farming. Mr. Perry isa 
successful greenhouse gardener on a small 
scale. He has also traveled widely among 
the greenhouses of the East and observed 
closely. His statements are, I believe, fairly 
representative of the conditions that every- 
one who undertakes this business will have 
to meet. Following is the gist of the 
conversation. 
The first thing to do is to buy cheap land, 
and close to a railroad, if possible, where you 
can geta spur. This land must be near your 
local market —a large town or city. It is 
well to be within seven miles of the market, 
so that you can drive in, thus saving packing 
and express, which are heavy items of 
expense. Such land will probably cost 
seventy-five dollars an acre or more. You 
cannot afford to start with less than four to 
eight thousand square feet of ground space 
under glass. At the present time, five thous- 
and square feet under glass can be built and 
heated for two thousand dollars, provided 
you do most of the work yourself —and 
that is what you must plan to do in this 
business. Little other expensive equipment 
is necessary except a team and wagon. There 
are a few pots to buy in the spring. The 
main item of expense is that of fuel. For 
4,000 feet it will be fifty tons of soft coal 
per year, at $3.50 per ton. There need be 
little or no expense for help — for one man 
can run ten thousand feet alone easily. 
There are some incidental expenses, such as 
reglazing, painting, hail insurance. If the 
houses are built properly, the depreciation 
Good lettuce soil is light, well drained and full of 
humus 
64 
is slight. They should last twenty-five 
years with good care. 
CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES 
Even span houses, on the ridge and furrow 
system, are best. Each house is twenty feet 
wide and one hundred feet long. Run the 
house east and west, with the heating plant in 
the middle on the north side, so as not to have 
too long a run. For four thousand square 
feet of ground space, you would have two 
houses, each twenty feet wide and one hun- 
dred feet long, and this is enough for a 
beginning, until you have become familiar 
with the business. 
As to the details of construction, I prefer a 
house six feet clear at the centre, with a slope 
of eight to twelve inches each side. Build 
the outside wall of concrete, six inches thick, 
and two feet above the ground. I think 
it is well to sink the house into the ground 
about two feet, and bank up on the outside; 
it saves heat. On top of the concrete wall 
put a plate, with bolts set into the concrete. 
Creosote the plate and put galvanized iron 
over it. Above the plate is the glazed side 
wall, four feet high. 
The gutter is an important item of con- 
struction. Cast iron gutters are best, but 
they cost fifty-five cents a foot, or $1.10 a 
running foot for the house. I prefer a 
cypress gutter lined with galvanized iron 
and then painted with hot asphalt. This 
gutter costs twenty cents a foot. The posts 
beneath the gutter should be of iron, set in 
concrete. Use cypress sash-bars, about 
13 x 2% in. with or without drip grooves, and 
a cypress ridge covered with a galvanized 
iron cap, so that water. drips on the glass. 
For a small plant like this, and especially 
when the owner does his own firing, hot 
i ee 
