Part 7

DESIGN No. 4.

This design combines a grapery, and forcing, and propagating house in one. Figs. 13, 14, 15, show side elevation, south front, and section through the centre. The dimensions are twenty feet in width by forty three feet in length, to which ten feet have since been added, enclosing boiler pit C. and potting room not shown in sketch. The foundation is built on locust posts with plank nailed upon both sides. Such foundations we do not advocate, as they are a bill of expense, for needful repairs, every four or five years, and the additional outlay for permanent brick or stone foundations is money well invested. In the present case, the owners wishes were carried out. On the ground plan, that part designated A. is devoted to the growth of grapes. The border is all inside of the house and is about three feet in depth. At the dotted line a wall is built across the house to sustain the border, the floor of B. being two feet lower. The central portion of B. is devoted to grapes in pots. At the sides of B. are beds for propagating plants, forcing vegetables, &c., furnished with bottom heat from brick tanks which extend entirely around the house and heat the grapery part as well.

Pipes laid underground from the outside furnish fresh air when desired and ventilation in the roof is also provided for.

DESIGN No. 5.

The following design is a house with a straight roof of low pitch, and was built with considerate regard to cost, for which reason, among others, the foundations are of wood, and side lights are omitted. The sides are of inch and a half plank nailed to locust posts, the space between the inside and outside lining being filled with charcoal dust. Such foundations do very well at first, but the wood in contact with the ground will decay in three or four years, and require repairs--though locust posts will last for many years.

This house is quite narrow, being only twelve feet wide. It has tables on either side and a walk in the middle, through which is a row of light posts to support climbing plants. Ventilation is effected at the ridge by six ventilators. There are also ventilators over and in the doors. The house is heated by two four inch pipes under the tables. The boiler pit is located in a sunken shed outside, not shown in the plan. This house has been used for growing such plants as are generally found in an amateur's collection, and has given satisfactory results.

DESIGN No. 6.

Our next illustration is of a green-house and grapery combined, seventy feet in length by twenty feet wide. It is divided by a glass partition into two compartments, either of which can be heated at pleasure from the same boiler, by means of cut-offs in the pipes. This house was designed to be heated entirely by the tank system, but pipes were afterwards substituted except for the propagating beds. This house is located on a large village lot at Kingston, N. Y., near the dwelling, and is in full view of the street. The exposure is all that could be desired, and the protection from northerly winds perfect. A boiler pit is located outside, at the side of the building, over which a handsome summer-house is built which shields it entirely from view. The foundation is of brick, and the whole workmanship is first class. The side sashes are three feet high, and each alternate one is hung for bottom ventilation. There are also the usual ventilators in the roof.

DESIGN No. 7.

This design is for a Cold Grapery of low cost. The object contemplated is to secure a house that shall answer the purpose intended, and be a complete working house in all its parts, without unnecessary expense. The general outside appearance, Fig. 22, is similar to a plant house before illustrated, the straight roof affording little opportunity for architectural variety. By referring to Fig. 23, section, and Fig. 24, ground plan, it will be observed that rafters to support the roof are dispensed with, except two at each end to form the verge and finish. The ridge and purlins are supported by light 2x3 inch posts, which rest upon larger posts beneath the ground. This is a considerable saving, both in material and workmanship. Posts set three feet into the ground form the foundation for the sides and ends of the house. The sides are two feet above the ground, and the entire structure is but ten feet in height, enabling the gardener to reach nearly every part of the roof from the ground. The posts may appear to be an objection, but in practice they are found not to be so, but are useful to train the vines upon. Five rows of vines are planted, two in the usual manner at the sides, and one row along each line of posts. The object in planting thus, was to get as much fruit as possible in the shortest space of time. These centre vines will give several crops of good fruit before they will be much interfered with by those trained upon the roof. 9x15 glass was used in glazing, to lessen the expense of sash bars, the glass being laid the 15-inch way. This glass, being very true, has made a good roof, but 10x12 is as large a size as will usually be found to answer. This house is distinguished from most of our other designs by the greater amount of light admitted, owing to the absence of rafters and the less than usual number of sash bars. The sides and ends are boarded perpendicularly, and battened. Ventilators are provided on each side of the ridge and over the doors, while the sashes hung in the doors furnish sufficient bottom ventilation. It was desirable to have the house raised or appear higher owing to the slight depression of the ground at the site, and for this reason the border was all made above the surface two feet and a half in height, composed largely of decayed sods, with an addition of muck, coal and wood ashes and a small quantity of stable manure. It has been found to work admirably, and preserve an even moisture throughout. Elevated borders are highly recommended by some exotic grape growers, and our experience with them is much in their favor. At present the inside border is alone completed, as it was desirable to plant the vines, and sufficient materials were not at hand to complete the whole. Vines were planted the 1st of June, 1864.

DESIGN No. 8.

THE POLYPROSOPIC ROOF.

Polyprosopic is not a dictionary word, at least we cannot find it in our two-volume large quarto edition of Webster, but Loudon makes use of it to name a special form of roof sometimes made use of in the construction of Horticultural buildings, the true meaning of which we believe is, that the interior side or outline of the rafter is curvilinear and the exterior formed of planes or faces.

A very extensive practice in the design and erection of Horticultural buildings of all classes and for all purposes, from the low priced commercial shed to the finished crystal palaces, that adorn our finest country seats, has led us to a more thorough investigation of this now very important subject, and we have been enabled by a long practical experience in the construction and practical management of Horticultural buildings to reach conclusions relative to form, combination, heating and management that could not be arrived at in any other manner.

We have illustrated examples of the straight and curvilinear roofs, and now give the polyprosopic roof, in which manner we have erected some half dozen graperies and plant houses.

This particular form of hot houses was described by Mr. Loudon in his encyclopedia of gardening some thirty years ago, and he says, "he considers it to be the ne plus ultra of improvement as far as air and light are concerned."

Mr. Leuchars in his practical treaties on hot-houses published some twelve or fifteen years since, illustrates this form of house and says: "It is by some considered superior to all other forms for winter forcing."

Mr. James Cranston of Birmingham, England, has also adopted this form of construction, which in many respects he considers ahead of all others. It seems to have been very generally known and used by many builders of glass-houses, and its numerous combinations of sliding, lifting, and permanently fastened sash, has been public property for upwards of thirty years. Although nearly approaching to the curvilinear, form it lacks the graceful beauty of a continuous curved line, and as excessive ventilation so necessary in the climate of England, is not required in our dry sunny atmosphere, the lifting or sliding sash roof is not considered so desirable as the continuous fixed roof, which is at once the most beautiful and the most economical roof yet introduced.

The principal advantage of the Polyprosopic roof, is its portability, that is, it can be made in sashes, and transported to any portion of the country, thus obviating the necessity of painting and glazing in the hot atmosphere of the interior, or loss of time from storms, etc., on outside work. The fixed roof house can be sent anywhere primed, but the glazing and second coat of paint must be done after the erection of the building; either house we think equally well adapted to growing purposes, but as a matter of beauty and economy we give the preference to the fixed curvilinear roof.

The engraving is a view of a Plant House, erected by us for Mr. Geo. H. Brown, on his beautiful estate of Millbrook, near Washington Hollow, Duchess County, New York. The plan of the house gives two nearly equal apartments, one to be used as a propagating and forcing house, and the other as a conservatory or show house for plants and flowers. Both are heated by the circulation of hot water and can be worked independently of each other. Such houses add very much to the attractions of a country estate, and impress a stranger with a higher degree of taste and refinement, while the owner has added very much to his luxuries and enjoyments.

DESIGN No. 9.

In this design we give a small Green House which has been erected in a substantial and permanent manner. The Green House is quite small, being only 20 by 30 feet. It is intended to keep bedding plants, Camellias, Oranges, and similar things, during the winter, and also to propagate such plants as may be wanted for bedding purposes on a place of moderate dimensions. This house runs east and west. Its position was determined partly by the nature of the ground, but mainly by the propagating bed. Fig. 28 is the ground plan. The large compartment is nearly twenty feet square. The potting-room, which is at the west end of the house, is eight by ten feet, and is fitted up with desks, drawers, and other necessary conveniences. The furnace pit, at the same end of the house, is eight by eight feet, and contains ample room for coal. The house is heated by two four-inch pipes. The large compartment has a side table for plants. On the north side of the house there is a propagating bed, the bottom heat for which is supplied by a hot-air chamber. This hot-air chamber is formed by simply inclosing a portion of the iron pipes. In the plan there is a large table in the centre of this compartment; but this was not put in, the owner adopting the suggestion of setting his large plants on the floor of the house; a very excellent plan in itself, but which was subsequently very much marred by filling in the whole floor of the house to the depth of six inches with coarse pebbles, to the injury, we think, of the subsequent well-being of the house. The idea was, an appearance of neatness, the preservation of the tubs, and to prevent the roots from running through; but an inch of nice gravel would have secured the first without the objections that lie against the thick coat of pebbles, while the other objects will not be secured; for the tubs will rot, and the roots will not thus be prevented from running through the pots. This object must be secured by other means than pebbles. The pebbles are unpleasant to walk on, become heated, and dry off the house too rapidly, to the manifest injury of the plants. We merely mention the subject, that our readers may avoid a similar error, and save themselves the money thus needlessly spent.

Fig. 72 is a perspective view of the house. The west end is boarded and battened. This corresponds with the general design of the house, and presents a neat finish. The sides, except the potting room, are of glass, the sashes being about three feet high. Every other sash is hung at the bottom, for the purpose of ventilation. The roof is a continuous glazed roof, and is quite flat, which is a decided advantage to the plants within. There are no ventilators in the roof, the top ventilation being effected by means of the sashes over the doors at each end, which are hung at the bottom for this purpose, and afford abundant ventilation for a house the length of this one. There is an ornamental crest along the ridge, and at each end a neat finial.

DESIGN No. 10.

Our next example is a Cold Grapery, erected at South Manchester, Connecticut.

Fig. 29 is the perspective view of the house, and Fig. 30 is a section. The house is twenty feet wide and sixty feet long. In Fig. 30, a is a stone wall, with a drain under it. b is a hollow brick wall. d, d, is the ground level of the house on the inside; the line below b is the level on the outside, but the earth is embanked against the brick wall to within an inch of the sill. A small house is shown at the north end which is used for tools, potting, &c. The border is about three feet deep, and occupies the whole interior of the house. There is no outside border. On the bottom is placed about one foot of "tussocks" from a neighboring bog, which may in time decay. The border is made up pretty freely of muck, with the addition of sand, loam, charcoal dust, bone dust, etc. There is a row of vines, two feet and a half apart, at each side of the house, at d, d. There are two other rows at e, e. There are also a few vines at c, and at the ends of the house. The rows at d, d, form fruiting canes half way up the rafters; those at e, e, go to the roof with a naked trunk, and furnish fruiting canes for the other half of the rafters. The fruiting canes are thus very short, and easily managed. The house was planted in the month of April, with such grapes as Black Hamburgh, Victoria Hamburgh, Wilmot's Hamburgh, Golden Hamburgh, Muscat Hamburgh, Chasselas Fontainebleau, Frontignans, Muscat of Alexandria, Syrian, Esperione, Tokay, and some others. The plants were very small, and the wire worm injured some of them so as to make it necessary to replant; but the growth of those not injured was very good. A fine crop of Melons, Tomatoes, Strawberries, etc., was taken from the house the first year. The second year a few bunches of grapes were gathered, and every thing went on finely.

This is the third year in which the house has been in operation. Our last visit was in the early part of August, 1863, when we counted 734 bunches of grapes, weighing from one to seven pounds each, the Syrian being the grape which reached the last figure. Almost as many bunches were thinned out. In some cases too many are left, but they look very fine. The Muscats are extremely well set, and some of the bunches will weigh fully three pounds. The Black Hamburghs look quite as well; but the finest show of fruit is on the Esperione. The large number of bunches is owing to the manner of planting; so many could hardly be taken the third season from a house planted in the ordinary way. The canes, it will be borne in mind, are now only fruited about half their length.

The exposure of this house is a very bleak one, and the climate cold and fickle. In order to provide against a late spring frost, a coil of one inch pipe was inclosed in brick work, with a fire chamber under it. From this coil a single one inch pipe was carried around the house next the side sashes. It is found to answer the purpose, having on one occasion kept the frost out of the house, when the crop in the house of a neighbor was destroyed. In many places, some resource of this kind is necessary, and a small boiler with a single pipe will in most cases prove sufficient.