AUTOMATIC GREENHOUSES. 



A REVOLUTION IN GLASS 



N THE April number of The 

 American Gardner there ap- 

 peared a description of a new 

 greenhouse erected by Charles 

 Barnard, at Stamford, Conn. 

 Since that time further research 

 has been carried on in the same 

 line of work, and The American Garden has now 

 secured the right to publish a detailed account of 

 the experiments made by Mr. Barnard. No patents 

 will be taken out on the inventions and improve- 

 ments in heating and ventilating greenhouses, and 

 any one is at liberty to make and use the buildings 

 and apparatus here described. It is the aim to 

 present the plan to the horticultural public in the 

 hope that it will be of value to all who use glass in 

 gardening. There is just now a rapidly-growing 

 interest in the whole subject of culture under glass, 

 and it is hoped that The American Garden, in 

 laying Mr. Barnard's ideas before the public, will 

 encourage many to use glass, both for business and 

 pleasure. 



The first feature of the new house is its porta- 

 bility. The building was made in six parts, two 

 back or rear wall portions, two front wall portions 

 and two end pieces, one containing the door. As 

 the soil was a heavy clay, and wet, a cellar i8 inches 

 deep was prepared, and a single wall of stone laid 

 for a foundation. The wall was also supplemented 

 with rough boarding and banks of earth on the 

 outside. In erecting such a house it is very im- 

 portant to secure a good foundation — air, frost and 

 water-tight. The aim is to build an air-tight green- 

 house, and for this purpose special attention should 

 be given to the foundation, hard bricks laid in 

 cement being probably the best. In dry soil the 

 cellar may be three feet deep, as the deeper the 

 structure in the ground the warmer it will be. A 

 deep cellar also economizes in building the walls. 

 Next to dryness and depth is shelter, and a building, 

 hill-side, or even trees, to keep off the west and 

 north winds will save money in the fuel bill. 



The walls of the house were formed of a frame of 

 2x3 scantling, each section being simply framed at 

 each end and top and bottom. On the outer face was 

 nailed matched |-inch boards, planed on one side. 



HOUSES — an invaluable invention given away to 



OUR READERS. 



Next to this was tacked on the inside a lining of 

 cow-hair felt one inch thick. Inside, the frame was 

 again covered with matched boards, leaving an air 

 space of one inch between the felt and the inside 

 boarding. The lower piece of the frame formed the 

 sill, and the upper piece was cut diagonally to form 

 the support for the sash. The dia- 

 gram (Fig. i) shows a cross-section 

 of the frame, lining and boarding. It 

 will be seen that the outside board- 

 ing is longer than the inside. This 

 was for the purpose of forming a 

 wind-break or guard against the 

 north wind. The west-end section 

 was also formed in the same way 

 and for the same purpose. 



Each section had a joint or rab- 

 bet, and when the sections were 

 put up in place, long screws were 

 put through the rabbeted joints, 

 thus holding the structure together. 

 The sash were common hot-bed 

 sash, and when the walls were in place they were 

 laid on top, the end sashes covering the end walls. 

 Strips of cloth were placed under each sash where- 

 ever they rested on the walls, and the sash were 

 screwed down on the cloth to make an air-tight joint. 

 The joints between the sash were covered with bat- 



Section of 

 Rear Wall. 



tens. Figure 2 shows the structure of the front and 



Section of Walls and Showing Position of Sash. 



rear walls with the boarding, felting, air space and 

 sash. 



The door, placed in the east end of the house, 



