Vol. LXIV. No. 2887. NEW YORK, MAY 27, 1905. weekly, si.oo pkh year. 
BUILDING A MODERN GREENHOUSE. 
THE BEST SYSTEM OF GLAZING. 
A Practical Question from Oregon. 
One of our readers in Oregon wants to take down his 
glass-covered vegetable house and rebuild. lie asks the 
following questions: “What is the most improved method 
of glazing a greenhouse? I have heretofore let the glass 
lap about one-eighth of an inch, bedding (he glass in putty 
and fastening with two-pointed tacks. In one season 
the tacks would work loose, and many of them come out 
so the wind would take the glass out and break it. Are 
any houses glazed with the glass placed end to end and 
fastened with strips nailed on the sash bar? I now have 
two houses side by side, each house 30 by luO feet j- 
want to put^it up as one h^vy^ 0 „ by 1.>0 feet. Is it 
better to have a solid roof of glass, or make it in sections 
of six or eight feet in width? Will the glass in a solid 
roof expand and shrink so as to loosen the glass more 
than if it were in sections?" 
Lapped Glass Preferred. 
The method irtos* wit ely used in glazing greenhouses 
is that now used by this correspondent, namely, that of 
lapping the glass from one-eighth to one-quarter of an 
inch, bedding in good putty, and fastening down with 
brads or double pointed tacks. The loosening of the 
tacks may be due to not having driven them deep 
enough, or else is caused by the kind of wood used for 
strips; for example, cypress may not hold the tacks 
quite as well as yellow pine, though the former is per¬ 
haps the most popular wood for greenhouse building at 
the present time. But if the double tacks are unsatis¬ 
factory I would suggest the use of ordinary wire brads, 
three-quarter inch No. 16 brads having given us good 
service for many years, though this system requires the 
use of four brads for each pane instead of two double 
tacks. Some greenhouse men are enthusiastic on the 
subject of butted glass, and sash-bars may be had with 
the separate strips for covering the glass, but unless the 
roof has quite a steep pitch, and the glass is carefully 
sorted and fitted, there is usually much more leakage 
from a butted roof than from one in which the glass is 
lapped, and consequently the believers in butted glass are 
in the minority among the florists of our country. In 
building a house 60 feet wide it would be much better 
to use what is commonly known as the 
“ridge-and-furrow system,” than to build 
one large roof, dividing the roof into 
four sections, each of which would be 
15 feet in width, and supporting the in 
tervening gutters and also the ridge¬ 
poles upon light iron posts. Wrought 
iron pipe, either 1/ or two inches in in¬ 
ternal diameter is a good material for 
the posts, being sufficiently strong and 
not casting much of a shadow over the 
growing crop. 
Pennsylvania. 
this section arc built with their sash-bars 24 inches apart. 
Massachusetts. F. a. waugii. 
Lapped Glass with Glazing Points. 
I believe 90 per cent of the greenhouses built within 
the last five years are bedded in putty, and lapped about 
for butting than our American-made glass. In regard 
to two houses 30 x 150 or one 60 x 150, I would advise 
building two 30-foot houses, but leave them open be¬ 
tween the two. Make your gutters at least seven feet 
high. The glass in a solid roof will not expand very 
much. Last Summer I built three houses 21 x 120 feet, 
hut think it would have been better if 30 feet was the 
width. By all means, do not build narrow houses; 
there is nothing gained and much to lose by so doing. 
Indiana. vv. w. coles. 
How to UseJhr n “~ 
To my knowledge ti¬ 
re have been no great innova- 
reenhouses in recent years. Many 
A ONE-ARMED HUNTER. Fig. 173. 
one-eignth of an inch. Nothing but the best grade of 
putty should be used, and for keeping the glass in place 
I 'iave found the Seibert zinc “Never-rust” glazing 
points the best. They seldom work out, or get loose. 
Four tacks should be used for each pane of glass, two 
W. H. TAPI.IN. 
Solid Roof, Says Prof. Waugh. 
The best greenhouse builders do not 
recommend butted glass as practical. 
The method of lapping glass as prac¬ 
ticed by your correspondent is found in 
practice to be better for most cases. We 
have tried hutted glass extensively here 
with and without strips, and we find it 
highly unsatisfactory, especially when the 
■Strips are used. I think it would be 
advisable to put the houses together as 
suggested in one 60-foot house. I should 
make the roof solid instead of making it 
in sections. In a house of this size there will need to be 
plenty of purlin supports, that is, two or perhaps three 
between the eaves and the ridge. If proper support 
is given in this way light strong sash bars can be used 
20 or 24 inches apart. The best modern greenhouses in 
A BLIND JERSEYMAN HUSKING CORN. Fig. 174. 
on the top to hold it down and two at the bottom to 
keep it from sliding. Many of our Canadian brethren 
use butted glass, and fasten it with wooden caps, with 
satisfactory results, but I am of the opinion that the 
English-made glass they use is cut to better advantage 
Hons in "glazing 
greenhouse builders use the Peerless glazing point, 
which is a double-pointed carpet tack witli a kink in it 
so as to fit the glass whether the glass is single or 
double strength, there being two sizes made on that 
account. When ordering state which kind is used. I 
cannot understand, if the points are driven in sufficiently 
firm, how they could work loose in one season or more. 
It looks at this distance as though the lumber used for 
the sash-bars was not sufficiently well seasoned, and 
in the natural process of drying the shrinkage caused 
the tacks to become loose. Many builders of green¬ 
houses secure the sash-bars (the lumber from which they 
have been made is either naturally well seasoned or 
is kiln-dried) often long before the building operations 
are commenced, and they are given two coats of paint, 
the first being made of the best white lead, not too thick, 
in which is mixed a dash of “metallic brown” to give 
a pinkish tint, and when this, the first coat, is thoroughly 
dry one with more body to it is then given. The best 
putty made is none too good to use on which to embed 
glass for greenhouse glazing. A few years ago there 
were some complaints about the Peerless glazing points, 
because they rusted out too quickly, but now an im¬ 
provement in that respect has been effected by making 
them of ,T non-rusting metal, I understand. Many flor¬ 
ists prefer to use zinc shoe brads; those known as 
“6-8 slim“ being the most in use, though others prefer 
to use those known as “6-8 stout.” 
The first move in glazing is to drive the first brad in 
the wall plate perpendicularly or nearly so, for the first 
pane of glass to rest upon. The next is 
to drive a brad on each side in the sash 
bars an inch or so from the lower end 
of the glass, then at the upper end of the 
glass, one on each side, an eighth of an 
inch below the edge; this will allow for 
a lap of an eighth of an inch, that is 
most in general use. Tt thus takes four 
brads to each separate piece of glass, ex¬ 
cepting the first, which requires five. 
With a putty knife take off the putty 
flush with the glass ; no puffy as in olden 
times is used over the glass. As soon 
as possible after the roof is glazed a good 
coat of paint is given, taking care to rub 
same in well to fill up what few cracks 
in the putty there may be, and also that 
part of the sash-bar exposed to the out¬ 
side weather. The sash-bar on the in¬ 
side of the greenhouse is better painted 
with a portion of zinc, as being less af¬ 
fected by the discoloring mildew than it 
is if painted with only white lead and 
linseed oil. There are a number of 
commercial greenhouses glazed on what 
is known as the butted glass system, 
especially among florists in Canada, 
but wherever it has been tried around Philadelphia 
it has not proved to be as satisfactory as the “lap” 
plan. When the butted glass principle is used, glass 
that is as “broad as long” is most frequently used, as a 
better opportunity is thus given to make a more com- 
