218 



What is a fair rental for a given 

 property? Ask the Readers' Service 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1912 



JOHN'HEXraaKSTOCR 



An Important New Work by 



professor 

 John Henry Comstock 



of Cornell University 



The 



Spider Book 



THE BOSS OF 

 WLND RIVER 



AMCH1SHOLM 



THIS is one of the most interesting and important nature books 

 of the decade. " The Spider Book," by John Henry Comstock, 

 now Senior Professor in Cornell University, is a scientific work, but 

 is written with the clarity and simplicity of style that has made his 

 "Manual" a classic in the literature of insect life. The reader is, 

 at the outset, relieved of the old, widespread, false notion that 

 spiders are venomous and detestable creatures. On the contrary, 

 as, family by family, they are described and named, their wonder- 

 ful habits hold the interest, and send the reader out to watch the 

 doings of these industrious, skilful, beautiful creatures. This first 

 comprehensive book on the habits and classification of a vast 

 natural group is a notable contribution to the literature of science. 



One color plate and o<ver 700 illustrations in black and white. 

 Net, $4.00 {postage 35c.) 



PHOTOGRAPHY 



By E. O. HOPPE, F.R.P.S., and Many Others 



IT is impossible to give in this short space any fair idea of the 

 immense amount of valuable information contained in the 50-odd 

 chapters of this volume. Every phase of photographic work is 

 covered by men who are fully informed of the latest improvements 

 in the art. A series of appendices take up such questions as com- 

 parative speed numbers of plates, diaphragm numbers, table of dis- 

 tances for enlargements, etc., while a full index renders the mass of 

 information ready at a moment's need. Over 120 illustrations are 

 used to explain the different effects and processes. It is a book 

 which competent critics have declared to be the clearest and most 

 comprehensive exposition of photographic art in all its modern uses. 

 Net, $3.50 (postage 30 cents) 



The Boss of Wind River 



By A. M. Chisholm 



t| Given a big, husky youngster just out of college who finds himself suddenly 

 heir to his father's heavily involved lumber business, with a lot of crooked 

 rivals; add a nice outdoor girl, the daughter of an old friend in the same 

 business, and you have a group of circumstances apt to produce interesting 

 results. Nor does Mr. Chisholm fail to take advantage of his chance; you 

 follow the life of the lumber drive, where a man depends on his muscle 

 and his motherwit for his ability to handle his crew; and the happenings 

 on Wind River make the best kind of reading. 



Illustrated in colors. Fixed price, $1.20 (postage 12c.) 



Garden City Doubleday, Page & Co. New York 



Getting Ahead of the Season 



MY LITTLE hothouse cost exactly four dollars 

 to build, and from it we have had fresh 

 vegetables before the gardens in the neighborhood 

 could even be planted! 



The hothouse was built as an addition to a 

 small poultry house. In this locality we keep 

 a fire all winter in our poultry house. This hot- 

 house was to be a "lean-to" addition, as I had 

 the north wall already constructed. 



To attach the new part. I nailed a 12-foot piece 

 of 2 x 4 in. board, lengthwise of the poultry house, 

 eight and a half feet from the ground; and another 

 piece of the same dimensions six inches from the 

 ground. The first one was to attach the roof of 

 the hothouse to the poultry house; and the second 

 one was to have the floor of the hothouse nailed 

 to it. 



I then laid the foundation timbers (two 12-foot 

 hewn sticks, 6x6 in.) parallel with the lower piece 

 of 2X4in.xi2ft. board, nailed to the poultry house. 

 On this foundation I laid a floor of rough boards, 

 S feet wide and 1 2 feet long and leveled it by putting 

 blocks under the stringers. I was then ready for 

 the walls. 



The hothouse has a southern exposure with the 

 south wall 6 feet above the floor. As the floor 

 was 8x12 ft. I planned to have the highest part 

 of the roof S feet high. I cut three 6-foot pieces 



Tills hothouse, which cost four dollars to build, was 

 an addition to the poultry house 



of 2 x 4 for uprights for the south wall, and 

 three SJ-foot pieces of 2x4 for two rafters, one 

 from each of the three uprights to the first piece 

 of 2x4 that was nailed to the side of the poultry 

 house. 



These I put in place, spiking them securely to the 

 floor and to the poultry house wall. I used the 

 storm windows from the house, as these were 

 always removed in the spring. These windows 

 were about z\ x 4^ ft.; two were put in south wall, 

 end to end, horizontally; four made the roof; 

 and one in west end. placed horizontally, to let 

 in the afternoon sun. These windows were fast- 

 ened to the uprights and to the rafters, and all the 

 space left was filled in with two layers of rough 

 boards with a sheet of tar paper between. The 

 entrance was at the east end. 



The cost of the house was about four dollars, 

 but this did not include the windows. The first 

 layer of boards on the walls, roof and floor may be 

 any kind of old rough lumber. The outside layer 

 should be a cheap grade of drop siding. Provide 

 a door at one end. I cut a hole in the side of the 

 poultry house and put the stove pipe through into 

 the hothouse, and let it run horizontally the full 

 length of the house and out the west end. 



With the flowers I grew in this little house I 

 had wonderful success. I had pansies that meas- 

 ured three inches across, and had stems six inches 

 long. Back of the pansies was a bench of parsley, 

 radishes, lettuce, Swiss chard, fox-glove, dahlias, 

 and forget-me-not plants, and across the end was 

 a deeper bench full of three-year old roses. I cut 

 some blooms five inches across from a Frau Karl 

 Druschki plant. 



Minnesota. George E. Wolfe. 



