224 TtlE CONSTRICTION OF A LOl 



ner of preparing the land, fertilizing and planting 

 it, is about the same in Florida as in other states, 

 except that there being a woeful lack of barnyard 

 manure, the chief dependence has to be on chemi- 

 cal fertilizers, even for the hammock as well as 

 the pine lands. The indications are, however, 

 that cattle raising will soon become more general. 



South Florida has four distinct seasons — occa- 

 sional rains in the late autumn and winter months, 

 usually sufficient for the needs of growing plants ; 

 a dry spell of a few weeks during the spring months ; 

 the wet hot season with showers, usually early in 

 the afternoon, almost continuously during the calen- 

 dar summer months ; hot dry weather in Septem- 

 ber and the first part of October. The exact time 

 of beginning and length of each of these seasons, 

 however, varies from season to season and year to 

 year. Besides, there is a cycle of change covering 

 some seven or eight years that modifies these lesser 

 cycles of the year. During this term of years the 



COST PIAZZA CONSERVATORY. 



seasons gradually change from extremely wet to ex- 

 tremely dry years and as gradually to wet again, 

 when the swamps and ponds again fill with water, 

 and so on in a ceaseless round. This fact seems 

 to be well established, and corresponds thus far 

 with my nearly seven years' experience in Florida. 

 Again, the annual wet season may begin in May or 

 may be deferred until the last of June. The almost 

 daily showers may be continued well into October. 

 These showers, however, are generally of short 

 duration, usually lasting but a few minutes, rarely 

 an hour. The dry spells in spring and fall also vary 

 several weeks, as regards time of commencement 

 and duration. The heavy dews, however, prevent 

 scorching and devastating drouths, and some of the 

 crops are sure to thrive. Hence, a varied produc- 

 tion is emphasized, as well as different times of 

 planting if one expects to attain profitable and sat- 

 factory results from their efforts. 



Orange Co., Florida. Sherman Adams. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LOW COST PIAZZA CONSER- 

 VATORY. 



O MEET the popular de- 

 mand for a well built, low 

 cost, and convenient con- 

 servatory is a difficult mat- 

 ter. The writer's ambi- 

 tion to possess such a 

 structure, say sixteen feet 

 long and eight wide, built 

 against the house, was al- 

 most entirely destroyed when a greenhouse con- 

 struction company estimated the cost at S300, ex- 

 clusive of foundations and heating apparatus ! 

 However, a reliable carpenter was found who would 

 build a piazza extension at ^4.50 per running foot, 

 eight feet wide, exclusive of the shingle roof, but 

 with rafters two by four inches, fifteen inches 

 apart. This was with pillars, rails, etc., in keep- 

 ing with an original piazza, and with a two-inch 

 Georgia pine floor to better resist the results of 

 continual dampness. The under side of the floor 

 joists was sheathed with builder's paper and rough 

 boards, thus making an air chamber to resist cold, 

 as the piazza is elevated two feet from the ground. 

 Cost of piazza, ^72. 



By calling on one of the wholesale glass dealers 

 whose advertisement has appeared in The American 

 Garden, the cost of the necessary quantity of first- 

 quality, double-thick French glass for the roof was 

 found to be $15. The cost of inserting glass was 



$7, and the method employed was to bed the glass 

 in best white lead putty (no putty on top), and then 

 by the use of an oil can, a stream of white lead and 

 oil was poured along the line where glass and rafter 

 meet. On this was thickly sprinkled sand, and the 

 result was a cemented edge which should last for 

 years without leakage. The late Peter Henderson 

 often declared that this simple process had saved 

 him thousands of dollars in repairs. 



The enclosure of sides and ends was effected by the 

 use of removable sashes, running from floor to rafter 

 plate, say eight feet long and two and a half wide, 

 with glass beginning three feet from floor end, and 

 in panes 2 ;4 x 2 feet. The sashes were tongued 

 and grooved, and were held in place by buttons 

 at the top and strips of wood at the bottom. Cost 

 of sash, $3.50 each, or S35. Cost of door, with 

 glass in upper portion, §3.50. Benches, water con- 

 nection and incidentals, brought the total cost to 

 ^150 for a house for which over ^300 was asked. 

 Now for the heating. A ^37 self -feeding hot-water 

 boiler was purchased, capable of heating 100 feet 

 4-inch pipe. Only 90 feet of pipe was necessary ; 

 price, 12 cents per foot, or $47.50 for boiler and 

 pipes. Cost of connections, including expansion 

 tank, elbows, branches, etc., was $18. The boiler 

 was placed in the cellar, and connection made with 

 the conservatory through the foundation wall. All 

 the necessary connecting work was easily done 



