1702 
‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November u, 1U2(J 
Building a Small Greenhouse 
Economy tn (’<instruction' .—I lmvo 
a question regarding the construct but of 
a greenhouse, tin* proper size of house 
to accommodate 15.000 t«» 20,000 pots 
no size stated. 1 am sorry the size pot. 
was not mentioned, as we have them from 
1 i^-iii. to 12-iu. or more. If 214‘in pots 
are used, a square foot will hold around 
20, so we will figure on a house 20 ft. 
wide by 50 ft. long, which will—walks 
being counted out—hold around lo.OOO. 
A house ol this size could lie constructed 
of hotbed sash possibly more cheaply 
than of regular sash bars used in green¬ 
house construction. For a house 20 ft. 
wide. 3x6 ft. sash would do, using two 
sash on each side in place of a sash bar 
12 ft. long. A purline would have lo be 
placed midway between the eave« and 
ridge where the sash would be joined to¬ 
gether. The upper sash should lie hinged 
to the ridge, or at least every other one 
should be, so as to be in position to be. 
raised for ventilation. Some method 
would have to be devised to hold the lower 
edge firmly in position when it i<s raised 
or lowered, as a high wind would be very 
destructive to sash not properly secured. 
Arrangement of Bash. —All the sash 
should be firmly fastened, and the upper 
row should extend several inches over the 
lower to avoid drip. Drip would be one 
of the serious obstacles to the sash con¬ 
struction. Another objection would be 
lack of sunlight, though this would not 
be such a serious handicap where the 
house is intended for the growing of veg¬ 
etable plants exclusively. Hotbed sash 
usually are not very heavy in construc¬ 
tion. and the 6-ft. span from eaves to 
purline may not be sufficiently strong to 
support a heavy snowfall without damage. 
The regular greenhouse sash-bar is 
grooved to carry'off drip from the con¬ 
densation inside tin- house, and is usually 
2*4-iu. deep, which makes a bar ample 
in strength to withstand a pretty heavy 
snow when the bars are spaced, for 16-in. 
glass, which is the size most in use for 
commercial houses. The sash-bar will 
require a purline of l 1 /*-in. pipe as a sup¬ 
port in the center, and will withstand a 
pretty heavy weight, of snow. The hot¬ 
bed sash to stand the same weight would 
need an extra purline in the center of 
each sash, or three on each side of the 
ridge. 
Heating. —A house of this size could 
be heated with a few stoves even iii Wis¬ 
consin. though how many I could not. say. 
It would not be a difficult matter to try 
this out by installing two of pretty fail- 
size. then adding another if these are 
found inadequate. The stoves could In- 
placed near the ends of the house in a pit 
dug several feet deep. The heat will cir¬ 
culate much more satisfactorily if each 
stove is entirely encircled with a sheet- 
iron shield, extending to within about 
10 in. of the soil on which the stove 
stands, and a foot or two above the top. 
This shield should be 20 or 24 in. larger 
than the outside diameter of the stove. 
Anyone trying out this simple device 
where a stove is used to heat a rather 
large room (especially if it is oblong) 
will be surprised at the results obtained. 
Stoves will heat up much quicker than a 
hot-water system would, and when the fire 
dies out the temperature will fall much 
more rapidly than where there are a lot 
of pipes filled with hot water to keep 
on circulating and giving off heat even 
after the fire gets quite low. Another 
disadvantage is the drying effect of the 
relatively higher temperature of the stove 
over the hot-water system. You will 
have to watch the soil carefully, especially 
while seed is germinating, to avoid loss 
from this cause. 
Vegetable Plants. —It will be a very- 
easy matter to partition one end off in 
which to grow the seedlings to the proper 
size for transplanting. Here in I.a in-as¬ 
ter County, Pa., there are no vegetable 
plants potted unless they are ordered for 
a special purpose. They- are all trans¬ 
planted into flats about. 12x13 or 20 in. 
Tv 3 in. deep, usually 108 plants to the 
flat, and sold for 100. A spotting hoard 
with the correct number of pegs is used 
In mark the flat for planting. Plants are 
grown here by the hundred thousand 
each season in this manner, the wholesale 
price being around 75c per flat for cab¬ 
bage. 00c to .$1 for tomato, with some¬ 
what higher rates for pepper, cauliflower 
and eggplant. The latter very often is 
grown in pots, this being the exception 
to the rule. 
Building fob Profit. —If you really 
wish to build a temporary structure, to 
last only a few seasons, with the ability 
tn take it down and move it easily, the 
sash house would he the proper structure 
t<> consider; but right here is another 
thing to take into consideration: You 
cannot possibly hope to erect a green¬ 
house. no matter how cheaply constructed, 
and abandon it in a few years and make 
any money on the venture. The very- 
best materials obtainable should he used, 
and the construction should be thorough 
in every manner. The most economical 
manner would be to start a house, say. 
20 ft. wide and build as long as your 
finances will permit, making one end per¬ 
manent and the other fasten in temporar¬ 
ily-, so that if it is desired to extend the 
area at any time extra length could 
easily ho added. 
Hot-Water System. If heated with 
hot water, unions could he inserted in 
each coil of pipe at the temporary end. 
which would make it very easy to connect 
1 he new addition to the heating system 
without any alteration at the heater. 
A good, substantial house could he erected 
and heated with stoves for a few years, 
which would bring the cost, very much 
lower than if hot water was installed at 
the start. A house 20 ft. wide will re¬ 
quire 12 lines of 2-in. pipe to maintain 
a temperature of 50 degrees when the 
outside temperature is zero, with an ad¬ 
ditional 2 per cent added )or each degree 
in temperature is likely to drop below 
zero. Fifty degrees is not warm enough 
for tomato and pepper plants, though it 
is ample for cabbage. A partition could 
be erected and one end kept, warmer by 
the addition of a few extra lines of pipe. 
Size of Boiler. —For a house 20x50 ft. 
a grate surface of not less than 20 in. 
square should be installed, though less 
attention would he needed with a grate 
area of nearly double this size. One of 
tin- most serious mistakes many begin¬ 
ners make is to install a boiler that is 
too small for the work to he done.^Tin- 
result is constant attention required in 
cold weather, with a worry that if it. 
should get. a little colder something may 
freeze. A boiler that must be forced 
hard is not nearly as economical in the 
use of fuel us one that is really larger 
than necessary. \\ itli hot water and a 
boiler nearly twice the size actually need¬ 
ed, if the fire is properly banked off in 
the evening, no attention will be neces¬ 
sary till the next morning. This extra 
boiler capacity is not so essential where 
a fireman is on duty- throughout- the 
night, though even then it is a great, 
satisfaction, as we have found out from 
experience, and now our boiler capacity 
is one-fourth larger than actually re¬ 
quired. 
Steel vs. Cast Iron. —My first choice 
of a boiler would be a return tubular, if 
a good second-hand one could be found ; 
30-horsepower would do, though slightly 
larger would not he amiss. If a new 
boiler has to be purchased, a. special 
greenhouse boiler erected without tubes, 
from sheet steel, has been giving excellent 
satisfaction. This is far preferable to 
cast iron in safety and economy, though 
the cast-iron boiler may last longer, if it 
tloes not eraek. A few years ago 1 know 
of many florists who installed cast-iron 
boilers, and today, with the exception of 
two, every one has replaced them with 
steel boilers, and one of these men has 
had several sections crack. 
Arrangement of Pipes. —The boiler 
should he placed low enough su that the 
top will be several feet below the re¬ 
turns. A 3-iu. flow nnc, return will be 
large enough inf a bouse tt. long, but 
if there is any likelihood of future ex¬ 
tension larger flows and returns should 
lie installed, l-’ottr flows and eight re¬ 
turns would be the conventional arrange¬ 
ment. the Hows being placed overhead and 
supported on the purliues. and tin- returns 
being hung on brackets on the side walls. 
The main How is carried direct to the 
highest point of the system, and all the 
Hows and returns fall at the rate of at 
least an inch in 10 ft. back to the boiler. 
An expansion tank large enough to hold 
one-twentieth of all the water in the sys¬ 
tem should be placed several feet higher 
than the highest point of the How. This 
tank should be connected to the return 
near the boiler, and a small pipe should 
lie connected into the top of the main How 
at the highest point and carried over the 
loti of the expansion tank. This small 
pipe will carry off all the air in the sys¬ 
tem. and will always keep it free of air. 
All pipe should have an even fall toward 
the boiler. Fare should be taken to see 
that no air pockets can form a depression 
at any point., as a very small amount of 
air will interfere with the circulation 
very markedly, or stop it entirely. 
Height of House. —A house 20 ft. 
wide should be at least 5 ft. high at the 
eaves, even 3 ft. more will d" ho harm. 
'Phis height is not absolutely necessary 
where the growing of vegetable plants is 
the only use planned for the house. You 
may think this is all you will use it for. 
leaving it stand idle for the remainder of 
the season, and soon as the plants are 
out of the way you will begin figuring on 
the crop that can be put in to keep the 
house in the notion that it is doing its 
share toward helping you solve the high 
cost of ordinary living—and likely Fhrys- 
anthemums will be the choice. Soon as 
they are out of the way you* will look 
around for something else to do, and 
finally decide on a crop of radishes or 
Brand Rapids lettuce. When these crops 
a re harvested the season for vegetable 
plants will be around again, and so it 
goes. The regular fanner, who does not 
grow tobacco, can finish up his work 
when the ground begins to freeze in the 
Fall, and then, with the exception of feed 
ing the stock occasionally, and milking 
tin- cow several times, take a good, long 
holiday till the frost is out of the ground 
in the Spring. Think of the time to 
read, play checkers, swap information, 
go to the movies, and have a good time 
generally. We poor mortals who have 
a greenhouse or two to entertain us, have 
no leisure period ; it is just work today, 
tomorrow, next week, and before we 
know it the date is today a year hence, 
and then we realize that we have not 
had even a vacation. This is why 1 
would strongly recommend anyone con¬ 
templating the erection of a greenhouse 
to build it substantially, and high enough 
at the eaves to grow a rather tall crop, 
for soon as you have the house you will 
be as bail as nil the others of US—sitting 
un ni'd'ts studying how tn keep it work¬ 
ing* overtime. 
The JUttd of ihc Harvest 
( 'oncretk Walls. —If you use a wooden 
eaves plate, try to use 2-in. iron pipe for 
posts, and concrete side wall several foot 
high, and 5 in. thick. These walls can 
he made of sifted ashes of soft or bitumi¬ 
nous coal : not anthracite coal ashes. 
One part. Portland cement to seven parts 
ashes is the proportion we usually use, 
and our walls are giving very good ser¬ 
vice. Above the concrete wall should be 
about 3 ft. of glass. Better have sash 
made to contain .”><! in. of glass; then 
hinge them to the eaves plate, and at. the 
bottom fasten an iron liar to the sash 
with a staple. This bar should be fiat, 
about. ’j in. by 1 in., and have half a 
dozen holes drilled through it several inches 
apart. Place a wooden sill on top of the. 
concrete, and in this sill fasten a peg to 
fit the holes in the bar. T 11 this manner 
you can open these side sash on wide as 
you wish. Ion can use the same arrange¬ 
ment on the ventilating sash at. the ridge 
of the house if you do not care to go to 
the,expense of installing a regular ven¬ 
tilating appliance. These ventilating ma¬ 
chines can be procured for the side sash, 
too. The glass most in use is ltix24 in.. 
though any size around Bi in. will do. A 
very high grade of putty is placed on 
the rabbet of the sash-bar and the lower 
light is pressed down tight in the putty. 
The next light is lapped over the first, one 
a quarter of an inch or less, and so on 
till you have the row finished. 
Further Suggestions.—A t the h.fl- 
<"m of each light a zinc glazing nail 
should he driven into the bar firmly, then 
another nail half way up the light. Do 
iiu try anything hut the best zinc nails, 
which can be purchased especially for 
glazing from any seedsman. But two of 
these nails at the bottom of the lower 
light to keep it from slipping from place. 
1 se only tinned or galvanized nails in 
erecting the frame. Try to secure a lo¬ 
cation that is somewhat sheltered from 
prevailing winds, though this is not es¬ 
sential. as you will want to depend on 
.vour heating plant, and not. your loca¬ 
tion when the temperature chases the 
mercury out of sight. Houses running 
east and west are preferable if it is pos¬ 
sible to build in this direction. Those 
iron posts can lie fastened to the eaves 
with railing flanges. The better con¬ 
struction is the iron eaves furnished by 
the builders of commercial greenhouses. 
ELMER J. WEAVER. 
‘An' now, ladies and gents." began the 
Fnglish showman, “there’s this ’ere halli- 
gator. Note the length. Fifteen feet 
1 rom the tip o his nose to the tin o’ the 
tail, and 15 feet from the tip o’ the tail 
to the tin o’ the nose—thirty feet in all!’’ 
—New York Globe. 
_C ONTENTS 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, NOV, G 1920 
FARM TOPICS 
The Slumping: Prices. 1696 
Trespassing on Farm Property. 1696 
Corn Harvester With Gasoline Power. 1706 
Hope Farm Notes. 1706, 1707 
Removing Sorouts from Seed Potatoes... 1707 
Notes on Co-operative Grain Buying. 1709 
LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY 
The Indispensable Draft Horse. 1695 
Some Suggestions for Dairymen’s League.. 1709 
Wage Costs in Milk Prices. 1709 
Articles of Pooling Contract. 1709 
Disinfecting a Stable. 1714 
Leaking M’’k. 1714 
Strong Milk. 1714 
Hygroma: Warts. 1714 
Questions on Hog Farming. 1714 
Fee'ing Calves. 1716 
Mixed Dairy Rations. 1716 
Problems in Dairy Feeding. 1716 
Dairy Ration.1716. 1717 
Feeding a Family Cow. 1717 
Ration for Jersevs. 1717 
Fleas . 1719 
Thin Horse. 1719 
Worm Medicine for Horse... 1719 
Catarrh . 1719 
Mange . 1719 
THE HENYARD 
Egg-laying Contest. 1721 
Starting a Large Poultry Plant. 1721 
Cornell Mash. 1721 
Formula for Mixed Chicken Feed. 1721 
Limberneck . 1721 
HORTICULTURE 
The Dangerous Japanese Beetle. 1697 
Value of Apple Trees. 1698 
English Ivy. 169S 
Fruit Notes from Missouri. 1659 
Trouble with Old Garden. 1699 
Notes from a Maryland Garden. 1703 
The M-ulbag. 1705 
Hill System vs. Matted Row for Straw¬ 
berries . 1706 
Planting Apple Seed and Peach Pits. 1707 
WOMAN AND HOME 
From Day to Day. 1710 
The Rural Patterns. l‘}0 
Preserved Citron... ._. 1710 
Green Tomatoes Pickled. JjJIJ 
A Bed Table for the Invalid. 1711 
Mrs. Rorer’s Tomato Catsup. 1711 
Tennessee Notes... 1711 
Caring for Invalids. J'** 
Who. Why and Where Are the Girl Scouts 1711 
Embroider}- Designs. 1711 
MISCELLANEOUS 
Pumping Water with Ram. 
Furnaces for the Country Home... 
Insects in a Well. 
Who Pavs the Cider Tax. 
Water Supply in Orchard. 
Water Supply from Spring. 
More About Kerosene Engines.... 
Ivy Poisoning . 
Editorials . 
Publisher’s Desk . 
1696 
1697 
1698 
1698 
1700 
1700 
1700 
1706 
1708 
1722 
