THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
141 
of your workroom floor space; so for the little extra cost 
it would make a much more practical proposition. 
"The workroom proper should have a sink and drain- 
boardj potting benches and locker for seeds, bulbs and 
such. The roof of the workroom should be sloped to 
correspond with the greenhouse, thereby eliminating 
trouble from snow sliding off the roof on to the glass." 
By this time we had become so interested in working 
out the plan that we had quite forgotten the time until 
the maid came out to remind us that luncheon was served. 
"Now I want you to come into the house, meet my 
wife and have luncheon with us. She is nut at all clear 
as to the sort of plants she can grow." 
As we turned toward the house he stated he was 
convinced that he wanted our new type of Curved 
Eave or Semi-Curvilinear, as we sometimes term it, 
18 feet wide by 25 feet long with a square sectional 
boiler having a grate wide enough to take care of the 
garage and greenhouse and another greenhouse of 
same size by simply supplying additional sections to 
boiler. 
I found Mrs. Brown to be even more enthusiastic 
than her husband, and after luncheon she explained 
she wanted to grow roses, carnations, snap dragons, 
sweet peas, bulbs and some vegetables. 
( ince more I was compelled to tactfully explain the 
requirements of the different classes of plants so that 
it would appeal to her sense of reason without offend- 
ing her, as they were both experiencing the usual 
problems to be expected in starting with something 
new. 
"The greenhouse and automobile are much the same 
in this respect — the pleasure we derive from them de- 
pends largely upon our knowdedge and love of them. 
"As a rule, where the house is small and in order to 
satisfy our long-cherished ambition to have so many 
representatives of the flowery kingdom in an all-year- 
round garden, we are apt to try to grow too many va- 
rieties of plans in one house. 
"The first house, as a rule, always seems to be 
amply large for all our needs, but as we see the many 
lovely things grown in our friends' houses, we begin 
to add to our stock until we find that where most of 
our plants had been looking fairly well, 
many of them now seem to be very un- 
happy. Now, here is the secret ! Green- 
houses are used to produce artificially the 
climatic conditions which may be re- 
quired by the various representatives of 
the tloral kingdom which we desire to 
grow. 
"Now, in the course of our visits to our 
friends' greenhouses, we have educated 
ourselves to all the lovely things which 
might be grown in a greenhouse, and 
adding to our stock until we find we 
have many things which require spe- 
cial care and will not do well with the 
only conditions of which our one 
house permits. For instance, we may 
plant a bed of beautiful shell pink 
roses next to a bed of stocks. Then 
we winder why the roses so soon be- 
come covered with mildew and fail to 
produce blossoms like those of our 
friends'. We all love the rose, and our 
first thought when we build a green- 
house is that we shall grow roses, but 
as a matter of fact the}- are usually 
unsatisfactory to grow unless given a 
compartment of their own. due to the 
fact that roses are very sensitive to draughts and changes 
in the temperature. 
"With a house of only one compartment, say 18 ft. 
wide by 25 ft. long, we have found that only such plants 
should be grown as do well in a night temperature of 50 
to 55 degrees and that stand direct sunlight and plenty 
of outside ventilation, as plants requiring a higher tem- 
perature usually need much more care than it is con- 
venient to give. 
"The house we have planned for you is similar to 
the one shown in cut No. 1, having two side benches, 
each 2 ft. 9 in. wide and a center bench 5 ft. 6 in. wide. 
These benches are usually about 5 ft. deep to provide 
for soil being placed on them where it is desired to 
plant things out permanently. Where the benches 
are to be used only for pots, they may be covered with 
such material as sifted ashes or coarse sand, to retain 
moisture. 
"Owing to the extra headroom we have over the 
center bench, it is advisable to use this for such long- 
legged plants as sweet peas. The sweet peas may be 
sown in the center bench in rows about 2' 6" apart, the 
final sowing being made about September first. Early 
varieties may be had in flower by Christmas. You can 
have a succession of blooms by sowing seeds a month 
later in small pots which can be put on a shelf placed 
on the sill between the side of the bench and the glass. 
When the space is ready for the sweet peas, they may 
be planted direct from pots into the permanent place in 
the center bench. For Winter blooming seeds of pan- 
si s. primulas, snap dragons, Calceolaris, Cinerareas, 
Cyclamen, Schizanthus, Stevia and flowering stocks, 
should be sown in shallow pans or flats, for the 
Winter. 
"< )f course, some carnations will be wanted. They 
may be planted out in the bench soil placed about 10 or 
12 inches each way. Not usually growing over 18 
inches to 2 ft. in height, they will have ample head- 
room on the side bench. 
"Summer plants such as geranium and Coleus 
should be propagated in the early Fall from cuttings 
and put into sand in a portion of the bench which 
should have the bottom heat enclosed in order to force 
This comes pretty close t. being on ideal arrangement £>/ frames, m connection with a 
greenhouse. Yon will notice that there is a heating pipe running around tin- sides. The 
masonry work is of concrete, capped by cast iron sills, upon which angle iron rollers are 
bolted. It mil lost as long as the greenhouse. Note how it is tilled with potted clouts 
and bedding <'ii< > in fl-its, ready for transplanting in the outdoors garden. 
