340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
-Green-Houses for the People—Ho. II. 
(,Continued from page 308 .) 
In addition to the simple arrangements for 
'preserving plants, referred to in the previous ar 
tide, our gardener, Franz M. Otto, who origi¬ 
nally came from Hamburg, Germany, describes 
Fig. 4—DOUBLE WINDOW. 
a pretty arrangement he has seen in Europe, 
though not very common there as yet. The 
bench or sill of a window is made wide, and 
double sashes are put up—one on the extreme 
outside of the wall, and the other on the inside. 
This leaves a space between the glass of 8 to 12 
inches. Light cross shelves are inserted at differ¬ 
ent hights, and plants in pots, and bulbs in 
glasses, are arranged upon the shelves. These 
present a beautiful lively appearance in mid¬ 
winter, whether viewed from without or from 
within. Sometimes a light frame work, of the 
form and size of the window, is thrown around 
the outside casing of the window, with one or 
more light bars across the middle opposite the 
joining of the sashes; and upon this frame a 
wreath of green moss is fastened with thread. 
Fig. 4 presents an outside view of a window so 
fitted up. If the window be large, there may be 
additional perpendicular and horizontal bars 
covered with moss, giving the whole a still more 
lively look. A very little trouble, and the sim¬ 
ple expense of an additional sash, which will in¬ 
crease the warmth of the house and save fuel at 
the same time, is all that is required to fit up a 
window in this manner. The inside sashes are 
movable of course, to allow for heat and venti¬ 
lation, as described for bay windows, page 308. 
A LEAN-TO GREEN-HOUSE. 
Let us here recall the original proposition, 
viz.: that a green-house is essentially any struc¬ 
ture so under control that there can be secured at all 
times , plenty of LIGHT, MOISTURE, and VENTILA¬ 
TION, and a temperature that will always preclude 
frost. A green-liouse may be placed by itself, or 
it may adjoin a dwelling or other building. The 
simplest form is a lean-to , on any side of a build¬ 
ing except the north. Fig. 5 gives an outline 
form. The general architecture and form should 
harmonize somewhat with the building against 
which it is placed. To economize heat and la¬ 
bor, it should stand nearly on the ground level, 
if a dry soil underneath can be secured. The 
foundation, carried say 20 inches above the 
ground, may be of stone or brick work; or strong 
posts of durable wood may be set in the ground 
and covered on outside and inside with boards, 
[November, 
filling between with any dry substance, such 
as coal dust, tan-bark, shavings, sand, or dry 
loam. In Europe a foundation is often cheaply 
made by using clay mortar in a mass, coating 
when dry with tar, or plastering with cement. 
The length of the structure may be any where 
from 15 to 50 or 500 feet. The highest part of 
the roof should be about 10 feet inside measure, 
above the ground floor; and the lower side 4j to 
5 feet. If the foundation wall be 20 inches high, 
the sashes on this side will be 21 to 3 feet high, 
after allowing for sill and plate. Any unneces¬ 
sary liightonly increases the space to be warmed. 
The general construction may be the same as 
described for cold graperies, (Sept. No., page 
272, which see,) with this difference, that a green¬ 
house needs more light and ventilation during 
Winter, to secure which, one side and the ends 
are covered with glass in sashes. The sashes on 
the lower side are hung by hinges at the top, 
with a flat iron bar attached to the lower 
side to push them outward. An iron pin on the 
sill fitting into holes or notches in the bar, ena¬ 
bles one to fasten the sashes at any desired ele¬ 
vation. The end coverings may be simply 
sashes permanently fixed. If the closest econo¬ 
my be studied, the roof sashes may be just as 
described for cold graperies. It is more con¬ 
venient for Winter use, to make these in two 
parts, one a short sash at the top sliding down 
over the longer one below, as shown in the first 
two sashes in fig. 5. The third sash shows the 
single sasli arrangement. Weights and cords 
over pulleys for raising and lowering the sashes 
are easily and cheaply provided, and are very 
convenient, but the simple arrangement ofliooks 
and staples described for cold graperies may be 
made to answer.-So much for the general 
structure of one of the cheapest, simplest forms 
of green-houses. A multitude of other forms 
might be given, but our main purpose here is to 
suggest the cheapest methods, and to indicate 
at the same time the principles to be followed 
in all forms, however complex, artistic, or costly. 
heating green-houses. 
The cheapest plan for warming a lean-to green 
house, is to have it connected by a door directly 
with a living room of the dwelling which can 
be kept warmed by a stove during cold nights 
as well as in the day time. The air passing 
through the connecting door will generally be 
sufficient for a small green-liouse. In extreme 
cold weather, mats, blankets, or other covering 
on the outside of the glass may be useful to save 
fuel. The more hardy plants may be arranged 
on the outside, furthest from the door. The ob¬ 
jection to this mode of heating is, that unless 
the whole air of the dwelling room be kept un¬ 
pleasantly moist, the air around the plants will 
be too dry, especially in very severe weathei 
when much fire heat is required. But even this 
objection is not so great as to prevent any one- 
from having a green-liouse by his dwelling. 
A second, and still better mode of heating 
economically, may be adopted when the dwel¬ 
ling is warmed by a furnace The hot-air pipe 
from the furnace should enter the green-house 
at the bottom, and if convenient, in the par's 
most exposed to cold. A broad pan of water 
set just over the opening of the pipe will serve 
both to spread the rising warm air, and to sup¬ 
ply moisture. Every hot air furnace should be 
provided with an apparatus near the fire for 
charging the heated air with moisture, whether 
it is to go into a dwelling room or into a green¬ 
house. (See on this subject, page 324, Nov., 1860.) 
A third method of heating, and one still 
common in green-houses in this country, is to 
place a stove in one corner and conduct a pipe 
from one side downward and along near the bot¬ 
tom, and then out at the rear, running the pipe 
up far enough on the outside to secure a draft. 
The pipe needs to be of galvanized iron, or it 
will rust through in a season or two. The diffi¬ 
culty of maintaining a uniform, low heat in suen 
a stove, is a serious objection, but we know of 
commercial green-houses so warmed. 
The fourth and next cheapest mode of heat¬ 
ing, and a better one than any of the preceding, 
is to construct a flue of brick work, with or with¬ 
out the addition of common earthen ware pipes, 
as shown in fig. C. F is a furnace or fire place 
surrounded with brick work, arched above, with 
a grating of iron bars below. For a small green¬ 
house, the fire vault, if for coal, may be say 11 
feet wide, 2[ feet high at the center of the arch, 
and running back say 2 feet. If wood is to be 
used, it should be rather larger than this. An 
iron door d, shuts against an iron frame in front 
of the fire. The grating stands about on a level 
with the floor of the green-house. Below this, 
in the ground , is a vault for ashes, with a sheet 
iron door to regulate the draft and take out 
ashes* An excavation outside the green-liouse, 
bricked around, is required in front of the vault, 
v, to give access to it. The doors F, and F, are 
to be just outside of the green-liouse, so that 
ashes, dust and smoke, shall be kept entirely 
from the plants. The brick-work around the 
fire may be built similarly to a bakerjs oven. A 
brick fine should be continued back from the 
fire oven at least 4 feet, to absorb the strong heat 
nearest the fire. This brick flue may be contin¬ 
ued entirely through the house into a chimney at 
the rear. A cheaper plan, however, is to make 
the continuation of common earthen ware pipes, 
4 to 6 inches in diameter, and fitting into each 
