228 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[December, 



'inflow fiififi 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



PREPARING FOB WINDOW GARDENING. 



There is a ragged, vagrant look about the 

 garden now which would be unendurable 

 were it not for the window gardens which 

 give such a charming, cosy appearance to the 

 barest of apartments. Indeed, all the rarest 

 bijouterie of the day cannot supply the place 

 of clustering Vines, climbing Ivies, varie- 

 gated plants, and all the lovely flowers 

 which fill the plant stands, brackets, and 

 window-sills of all true flower lovers. For 

 Nature's handiwork far surpasses man's art, 

 and she offers it to us unsparingly. A tri- 

 fling expense, aud a little daily care, is all 

 that she demands for draperies and decora- 

 tions more beautiful than art can supply. 



A tin-can filled with Moneywort or Col- 

 iseum Ivy, or "Jill-run-over-the-ground," and 

 suspended in a cottage window, will change 

 a squalid room into a green bower. And all 

 these plants are as plentiful as the grass in 

 many localities, and can be had f < >r the asking. 



In preparing a window to hold plants, if 

 the room is so arranged that it can be well 

 aired by another window or another door, be 

 sure to stop up every crevice in the casings, 

 so that cold air cannot chill the plants. 

 Black cotton wadding is an excellent thing 

 to press into the sides of the windows of old 

 houses which have not been made air-tight. 

 Pull it off or cut it in small strips, and tuck 

 it in with a broad bladed case-knife. Put it, 

 also, between the upper and lower sashes, 

 and at the top and bottom of the window. 

 Then cut some thin oil-cloth, such as is used 

 for tables, into pieces that will fit the lower 

 shelf of the window. If it is too narrow, 

 have a board covered with oil-cloth fitted 

 into it by a carpenter ; also, one at the mid- 

 dle of the window ; or purchase a black 

 walnut shelf, and attach it to the sides of the 

 casement across the middle and at the bot- 

 tom. Thus prepared you can winter from 

 thirty-five to forty-five plants at one window, 

 and do away with a plant-stand entirely, 

 while the plants will thrive very much 

 better for being placed so near to the glass, 

 and having the benefit of all the sunshine. 



A broad shelf can be fastened into the 

 lower part of the window with a support on 

 a hinge to fasten it into the mop-board, and 

 a long strip of oil-cloth can be laid under- 

 neath it, to protect the carpet from drippings 

 of water. Plants require as much fresh air 

 as ourselves, and they never can thrive in 

 close, furnace, or stove-heated apartments, 

 unless they are thoroughly aired every 

 morning after the chilliness of the air is 

 somewhat lessened. Yet, care must be taken 

 not to let the cold draft strike fully upon 

 them. An upper sash dropped on the same 

 side of the room as the window garden will 

 give them change of temperature. 



An excellent sprinkler has been invented 

 for house plants, but a little dust-broom 

 dipped into a pail of warm water will also 

 improvise a summer shower. By all means 

 place a saucer under each pot of flowers. It 

 is as needful for the plant as is the saucer 

 to your coffee cup. And when the air is very 

 icy on a winter's morning, a small quantity 

 of boiling hot water poured into the saucers 



will be as refreshing to the plants as your 

 beverage of coffee or tea is to yourself. 

 But do not keep the saucers filled with 

 water all .the time ; if any remains in them 

 for more than half an hour after watering, it 

 should be poured out. Always give water 

 to plants which is quite warm to the hand, 

 cold water being very depressing to plant 

 growth in winter, while warm water is as 

 reviving to them. 



Daisy Eyebright. 



ORNAMENTAL WINDOW-GARDEN SHELF 



HEATING A SMALL GREENHOUSE. 



About fifteen years ago, one of my neigh- 

 bors built an elaborate greenhouse, 35 feet 

 long and 12 wide, with a path 2 feet wide 

 between the side benches. The fnrnaee 

 room, at the north end, was a lean-to, 8x12 

 feet in dimensions. The house was built for 

 raising early Lettuce under glass ; but after 

 spending ten years in experimenting, chang- 

 ing heating apparatus three times, and in- 

 curring a total expense of over $2000, the 

 whole thing was given up ; and having other 

 use for the 3x6 feet sashes that covered it, 

 he dismantled it, and decided to pull it down. 

 I gave a small sum for the woodwork, carried 

 it by man power a quarter of a mile in sec- 

 tions, aud replaced the brick according to 

 my ideas of heating a small greenhouse. 



I am now making it useful for the very 

 purposes for which it had been found useless. 

 I had never previously done a day's work 

 in a greenhouse, but knew I could learn, and 

 had already learned something by the failure 

 of another. Being a market gardener, I 

 wanted the house for a variety of uses ; and 

 I can say, after two winters' experience, that 

 it has been the most satisfactory experiment 

 I have made in my twenty years' experience 

 with choice and "fancy" vegetables. 



My plan was to heat easily and cheaply a 

 detached greenhouse, so that I could have 

 early vegetables to sell and early vegetable 

 plaids to set in my own grounds as well as 

 for market. Besides, I have raised and sold 

 quantities of the half-hardy flowering plants, 

 such as Geraniums, Verbenas, Petunias, and 

 Pansies, Callas, Heliotropes, Fuchsias, etc., 

 with a reserve for my own grounds. The 

 result is a complete success. 



The furnace-pit is broad and roomy ; the 

 fire-box is arched with fire-brick, laid in lime 

 mortar ; is fifteen inches wide, two feet 

 high, and three feet deep. The brick smoke- 

 flue is six inches square inside, rests upon 

 the ground, and runs under the benches on 

 the sides and one end, having a rise of two 

 feet from the furnace to the chimney, which 

 comes out six feet above the roof of the lean- 

 to for better draft. There is seventy-five feet 

 of horizontal flue exposed on the sides, and 

 if I could have had flagging or slate to lay the 

 flue and raised it clear from the ground, I 

 could have had heat from all four sides. As 

 it is, I lose about one-fourth of the heat. 



The fuel is wood. I build the fire in 

 winter from three to six o'clock in the after- 

 noon, daily — according to the weather. The 

 seventy-five feet of brick flue gets sissing 

 hot at the furnace in an hour, and will 

 radiate its heat all night long. 



The sun gives heat enough by day, except 

 in very cold or cloudy weather. I like best 

 the light woods, as Pine and Hemlock, which 

 carry a brisk flame well along in the flue. 

 In the season of 1881 I used saw-mill chips 

 and slabs, at a cost of $10. In 1882, knotty 

 and crooked cord-wood, costing $8. Sawed 

 it once and burned it without splitting. For 

 this year, 1883, I gave $1 for a dead Elm 

 near home ; cut it with a cross-cut saw into 

 two feet lengths, split it to enter the furnace 

 door (ten by fifteen inches), and had over 

 four cords fuel at a cost of $12. A big 

 " chunk " put in the fire at ten at night will 

 make all safe till morning. The lowest tem- 

 perature I have recorded in the morning was 

 33°. Last winter the coldest day was 

 February 13th, 8° below Zero. I built the 

 last fire this spring, March 30 ; the first this 

 fall, November 13th. 



I sold $150 worth from the house in 

 1881. That was my first year. I get much 

 more than that now. Besides, I have all my 

 own plants " free." These amount to several 

 thousands, including, Celery, Celeriac, Leek, 

 Tomato, Peppers, Lettuce, and so on. This 

 size house is as large as can safely be heated 

 by this plan in this latitude. 



The house is banked outside with earth, 

 against two-inch Chestnut plank ; and sod- 

 ded to the glsss. I keep this bank nicely 

 trimmed in summer. Is watered with water 

 dipped from an open barrel under the bench, 

 supplied from the house well by an under- 

 ground pipe. There is only room enough in- 

 side to stand upright in the path and reach 

 the highest point ; this saves heat, and the 

 sashes are easily raised or lowered for air. It 

 is well protected from gusts of wind ; stands 

 on a north and south line, and so gets the 

 sun all day ; is not shaded by trees ; is not 

 connected with any other building, and is 

 but sixty feet from the kitchen door. Work 

 in it is a pleasure ; and the results are ap- 

 preciated, supplying our own table, and 

 giving employment by turns to every mem- 

 ber of the family. 



A new structure of this kind would cost 

 about $6 per running foot, in this locality, 

 or say $250. At first thought, wood fuel 

 seems expensive, with good wood selling at 

 $6 or $8 per cord ; but by building a big 

 furnace, and picking up odds and ends of 

 wood cheaply, one can have cheap fuel, suit 

 the fire to the weather, and save all the 

 heat. 



W. H. Bull. 



