Woodward's Graperies and Horticultural Buildings Part 1

Woodward's Graperies and Horticultural Buildings.

by George E. Woodward and F. W. Woodward.

INTRODUCTION.

It is less than twenty-five years since the first cold Grapery was erected on the Hudson. Since the success of the culture of the delicious varieties of the exotic Grape has been demonstrated, the number of graperies has annually increased, and during the last ten years in a very rapid ratio, until they have become recognized as possible and desirable, among those even whose circ.u.mstances are moderate and limited. The newly-awakened interest in this branch of culture is manifested in the number and variety of books and other publications on this subject, the s.p.a.ce devoted to it in the agricultural and horticultural journals, and especially in the increased number of graperies and vineyards which have been erected and planted in the last decade. There seems to be a general consciousness of the fact that, in the struggle for wealth and the greed for wide possessions, as well as in the inherent difficulties of our situation--thrown as we have been upon a new and vast continent--we have too long neglected the culture of the Vine, one of the most ancient and useful arts of life; an art which has, in all ages, been the fruitful source of comfort and luxury, of health and happiness, to the ma.s.ses of mankind. The neglect of this important and beautiful department of culture is the more remarkable, since our country embraces every degree of lat.i.tude, and every variety of climate and soil in which the grape is known to flourish.

It having been demonstrated by years of experiment, resulting in every case in utter failure, that the foreign grape cannot be successfully grown in the open air in the United States--the States of the Pacific excepted--we are obliged to confine our culture to glazed structures, erected for the purpose, where an atmosphere similar to the vine-growing regions of Europe can be maintained, and that bane of the foreign grape, the mildew, avoided.

The culture of choice foreign grapes under gla.s.s in this country dates from before the War of Independence, from which time to this the beautiful but perishable Cha.s.selas, the delicious Frontignac, and the luscious Hamburg, have been, here and there, carefully cultivated and ripened. But these efforts have been chiefly confined to the vicinity of large cities, and the management has mainly been kept in the hands of foreign gardeners, who have imported themselves from the vine regions of Europe, to instruct us in the arts and mysteries of grape-growing.

That many of these are men of great practical experience in the art, we know full well; but, however skillful they may have been in foreign countries, their success in our climate has been achieved only by discarding many of their preconceived ideas, and adapting their practice to agree with the peculiarities of our climate. When the public shall have learned that the culture of grapes under gla.s.s is only a plain and simple pursuit or pastime, which any one of ordinary capacity can comprehend and successfully carry out, then we shall have made a decided and important advance.

The American people are rather disposed to be self-reliant, and we may, therefore, safely predict that, when we take hold, in real earnest, of the business of grape culture, either under gla.s.s or in the open air, we shall do it with our customary determination and energy, and that success will just as surely follow as it has in other cases where imported ideas have been improved upon and superseded. We have shown, we think, in other fields of enterprise, that we may venture to rely upon native-born talent, ingenuity and industry, to work out this problem also, and that, by a practical demonstration, we shall, gradually and surely, reach a point of success beyond what has been attained with all the advantages of foreign aid. And this success will be equalled by the simplicity of its methods. Grape-growing in this country is yet in its infancy, and as respects the varieties best adapted to our soil and climate, essentially experimental. As yet it has attracted any considerable attention only of the more intelligent and far-seeing portion of our population, but it is surely beginning to command the regard and study of the larger number of our cultivators, and the inevitable result will be that, in a few years, it must be an important source of our country's wealth.

The great obstacles among us to grape-growing under gla.s.s, especially to persons of moderate or limited means, are the first cost of building, planting, &c., and the necessity of regular and systematic care and attention to the vines which must be given, during a short season however, in order to insure success. To those who are influenced by the consideration of such obstacles as these, it may be said that, even in these times of high prices for all descriptions of labor and material--if we except, perhaps, brain-work and intellectual material--complete and substantial grape-houses can be erected at moderate cost, and with proper management they can be made a source of income and profit. As to the care and attention required, and the regularity of the periods at which they must be bestowed, at the risk of losing the crop, it can be easily demonstrated that these attentions and duties can be perfectly comprehended and understood by several members of the family, by the older children, and intelligent servants, so as to be overseen and performed by one or another in the absence of the person to whom the care is usually confided. Moreover, when one becomes interested in the management of a grapery, the employment gets to be too fascinating to allow of the thought of restricted action or irksome labor. It soon comes to be regarded as a delightful as well as healthful employment, whose duties are simple, and easily understood and performed.

The love of flowers is becoming quite a pa.s.sion with many at the present day. This is indicated by the multiplication of nurserymen, and the rapid increase of their sales. Fifteen years ago the sales of flowering plants were confined to a few city Florists; now the trade has become so extensive, that large numbers are grown in our surrounding suburban towns, to meet the demand, which at particular seasons, as the Christmas and Easter holidays, for the decoration of our churches and other purposes, reaches proportions that would surprise the uninitiated. One cultivator has stated that during the fall of 1863 and winter of 1864 he cut and sent from his establishment, 230,000 blooms of the various flowers he cultivates, and he is but one of many engaged in the cultivation of flowers for the bouquet makers of New York. An extensive grower of pot plants, from information carefully gathered among his fellow nurserymen, estimates that the plant trade of the vicinity of New York reaches nearly the sum of $200,000 annually, and this for plants mainly employed as "bedding plants," in the decoration of gardens and city yards, leaving entirely out of the question, those for winter culture at windows and in green houses, as well as the immense stock of the growers themselves to supply the demand for cut flowers. The growing taste for flowers may be observed in the constantly increasing demand for decorative purposes, in our churches, at public festivals, and private gatherings, and is especially apparent in the numerous depots for their sale on our princ.i.p.al thoroughfares. Much of this is due to the general diffusion of Horticultural literature, unveiling the mysteries of plant culture, and demonstrating the simplicity of the process.

Small green-houses or conservatories attached to dwellings are now frequently to be met with both in city and country: these are entered from some one of the princ.i.p.al rooms of the house, and are an attractive feature both within and without.

The pleasure derived from such a source is a constantly increasing one, which can only be estimated by those who may have the means for its gratification. But little time and attention is needed, which, with a proper acquaintance with the wants of the various plants, and some experience in their cultivation (knowledge easily and quickly acquired by those who have a genuine love for it), will enable us at any time during the winter season to enjoy our flowers, send a bouquet to a friend, or make use of them in adding to the attractions of home. Such gla.s.s structures would afford pleasure to the ladies of the family, in their moments of leisure, being of easy access from the dwelling, without the necessity of exposure to the outer air, which would prevent visits to larger buildings, remote from the house, and could be managed, with occasional a.s.sistance in potting and arrangement, wholly by them.

Designs for houses of the above character will be found in the course of the work, as well as those adapted as isolated buildings, to grounds of moderate and large extent.

In the construction of Horticultural buildings, the matter of economy is an important and desirable consideration with many persons. But it should be understood that a common, low-priced structure is not the best economy, or the most desirable for a series of years. The dilapidated appearance that soon over-takes cheap, make-shift constructions, creates an impression that cannot be pleasing either to the spectator or the proprietor. It is an excellent rule, that what is worth doing at all, is worth doing well; and it is just as applicable to horticultural buildings as to any undertaking in life. Rough hemlock lumber, rudely put up and whitewashed, would be a cheap mode of construction, which might be tolerated on a merely commercial place, but would illy correspond with neatly-kept private grounds, however humble and unpretentious they might be. The plan selected may be devoid of mere ornament, which would increase the cost, without adding to the capacity or usefulness, but the proportions should be satisfactory, the arrangement convenient, the materials the very best of their kind, and the workmanship well and faithfully performed. Rough work, open joints, ill-fitting ventilators, ill-proportioned plans and forms, and a general tumble-down appearance, is not the kind of economy we should recommend to our readers or practice on our own place. One may choose between wood and masonry for the foundation walls; between the several grades and sizes of gla.s.s; between elaborate finish and ornament, and plain work; in the matter of the various modes of heating, &c.; but whatever is decided upon, let the plan and proportions be correct, and the materials and work of good, honest description.

In the various designs which we present our readers in this volume, nearly all of which have been erected under our superintendence, and are now in operation, the manner of construction can be judiciously economical, or it may be elaborated to the most substantial and ornamental structures of the cla.s.s to which they belong. There is no more reason for making these buildings of a temporary character, than there is for putting up our barns and other outbuildings in a cheap and unworkmanlike manner. The enjoyment of a country place naturally depends very much on its neat and tasteful appearance, the completeness of all its appointments, the order and good taste of all its arrangements. And although we do not advocate extravagance, or needless cost in ornamentation, which would be unsuitable to the purpose for which these structures are designed, we think that true economy would indicate the use of the best materials and workmanship requisite for substantial and permanent buildings. Horticultural buildings are not intended for a few years' use merely. Their profit, and the enjoyment they afford, will last for many years, and may be transmitted, with the other improvements of the country seat, as substantial and attractive appendages, indeed, as real property, worth all the money they cost, to the future proprietor.

There is still much to be learned in the matter of exotic grape-growing in this country, and, in fact, in the management of conservatories, orchard-houses, and all descriptions of horticultural buildings, and all cla.s.ses of plants cultivated under gla.s.s. Whatever progress may have been made abroad, where experiments are carried on upon a large and costly scale, and often with eminent success, is of little or no value to the American horticulturist. Our climate is very different in its character and conditions from that of Europe, and especially that of humid England. We have, what they lack, real sunshine, with clear skies.

Under the English methods of treatment, our graperies and green-houses would speedily be ruined. Nor are we willing to accept as final and conclusive the present best-known methods of vine culture. If there are better modes of managing exotic or native vines, and of developing the whole theory of grape culture, we shall be quite sure to find them out in the wide sweep of experiment which we are boldly and patiently undertaking in various parts of the country.

We do not propose, in our present work, to enter upon the investigation and discussion of the various theories of heat, light, color, radiation, &c., which properly belong to scientific treatises on these subjects. We intend to give only practical examples and results, from an extensive professional experience, with numerous designs and plans of buildings, most of which are now in successful operation, with the expectation that this volume will contribute not only to the general information of our horticulturists, and of gentlemen who are establishing themselves in the country, but also to create and encourage a taste for this kind of culture of exotic and delicate fruits, as well as the exquisite but tender gems of the floral world. When we find that we can command, at comparatively small cost of money and attention, the beautiful and luscious fruits of southern and tropical climes--their rarest and choicest flowers--the most delicious grapes, the finest peaches, nectarines, and apricots, the fig, and the pineapple, if we will; and that we can command these in abundance, to load and adorn our tables daily, the time cannot be distant when horticultural buildings, of various descriptions, will be found on all our country places or attached to our city homes.

POSITION OF HOUSES.

For lean-to or single-roofed structures used as forcing-houses for grapes or other fruits or plants, a southern aspect is generally preferred. Our own preference would be a position facing South-East, on account of the advantage gained from the morning sun, which is so favorable to the health and growth of all descriptions of plants.

Although an hour or two of the evening sun might be lost to a building in this position, yet the rays are then comparatively feeble, and this loss would be much more than compensated by the more genial morning light.

Cold Graperies, with span roofs, and glazed at both ends, are better placed North and South,--that is, with the ends facing these points,--as nearly as a due regard to the positions of other buildings in the vicinity, and the general symmetry and apportionment of the grounds will permit. Each side of the roof will thus receive an equal amount of sun-light. For span-roofed Green-houses the rule is not so arbitrary, the gla.s.s not being lined with foliage, as in the case of graperies, the diffusion of light would not be materially obstructed. Under some circ.u.mstances, Green-houses may be placed east and west, as when a portion of the house is to be devoted to the purposes of propagation.

The north side can thus be advantageously used, being less exposed to the sun's rays. Many plants requiring partial shade, would find there, also, the most favorable conditions for their cultivation.

Green-houses or Conservatories attached to dwellings, will answer in almost any position that convenience may require, or the taste suggest, as they are generally not so much intended for the growth of plants as for their display when in bloom. The sun should shine upon them, however, at least half the day. When they are intended for the growth of plants, then the more sun-light they can have the better.

FORMS OF HOUSES.

Until within a few years past, the straight-pitched roof, both single and double, has been used almost exclusively in the construction of gla.s.s houses. That there is an advantage in this form over some others, on the score of expense, and because there is less skill required in the builder, we admit, but there the advantage ends. The superiority of the curvilinear form is now beginning to be very generally acknowledged, on account of its being more graceful and pleasing to the eye, and because of its superior adaptability to the growth of plants. When to the curved roof is added the further improvement of circular ends, as ill.u.s.trated in some of the designs furnished in this work, we have secured forms of houses that will admit double the light of the old-fashioned, heavy sliding sash structures which were built twenty-five years ago. Happily these old gla.s.s houses are fast falling into decay, and but few new ones are erected on their model.

Curvilinear roofs possess advantages over those of a straight pitch which may be briefly summed up as follows:

1. A larger run of roof for a given width of house, and consequently, more and better diffusion of light.

2. A greater power of reflecting the sun's rays, because of the constantly varying angle at which they strike the gla.s.s.

3. A greater amount of head room within the building, without the necessity of high parapet walls, or perpendicular sides.

4. Greater strength of the roof, enabling it to resist pressure from acc.u.mulated snows, without the necessity of supporting columns under the rafters, which are indispensible under a straight roof of considerable span, to prevent its settling down, and the opening of joints in gla.s.s and wood work, admitting the cold air from without.

A good proportion for a grapery or conservatory, is twenty feet in width by fifty feet in length. We think the width should never be much less where the roof is of double pitch. Single pitched houses should not exceed sixteen feet in width.

Mistakes are frequently made in the erection of structures for the growth of plants which, notwithstanding all the skill and art of experienced gardeners, render it impossible to arrive at satisfactory results. One of the most common of these is the excessive height of the roof. Men of experience in the construction and use of gla.s.s houses, have satisfied themselves that the lowest elevation which the uses and purposes of the building will admit, is the best. The difference in temperature between the floor and roof of a house twenty feet in height, will vary from ten to fifteen degrees. It is obviously desirable that there should be as little difference as possible in the temperature of the air on the ground, among the lower parts of the plants, and in the upper regions of the house. The nearer we can approach an equilibrium, the better success will attend our efforts. Nurserymen generally, and sometimes other cultivators, understand this, and they build their plant houses with roofs of low pitch, affording scarcely room to stand upright within them. Their plants are thus brought near the gla.s.s, and they grow stocky and firm, presenting quite a different appearance from the attenuated specimens frequently met with in private establishments.

HEATING.

The proper heating of Horticultural buildings being an important feature in their general management, and an essential condition of their success, we shall consider the subject at some length, availing ourselves of the practical experience of others, as well as of the knowledge we have acquired in our own experiments and practice.

Hot air stoves have been so generally condemned and discarded as a means of heating gla.s.s structures, that we shall not discuss their faults or merits, but confine ourselves to heating by flues, steam, and hot water in pipes and tanks.

FLUES.--Flues have been generally used in heating for many years, and although the method is rude, imperfect and unsatisfactory, they possess certain advantages on the score of economy, which will prevent their total supercedure until some equally cheap and effective method shall be found, to take their place. It cannot be questioned that houses of moderate extent can be heated at much less expense for the original cost of apparatus by the flue system than by any other now before the public.

Flues have the advantage over steam or hot water in their power to generate heat and supply it to the green or hot house in a very short s.p.a.ce of time, and with this apparatus, the fires may be allowed to go out on mild and bright days in winter, with the certainty that heat can be easily and quickly commanded at nightfall. Steam cannot be generated quickly, and the hot water apparatus requires considerable time to get into full operation, with the usual amount of fuel.

Among the serious objections to the use of flues, is the unequal distribution of heat throughout the house; the parts near the furnace being overheated, while at the chimney it is scarcely warm. This difficulty can be partially obviated by the use of materials in the construction of the flues, of different thicknesses,--being made thick and heavy at the furnace, and gradually becoming thinner and lighter as it extends towards the chimney. Again, flues generally require more fuel than a hot water apparatus, and moreover, they are unsightly in an ornamental house, and with the best care in their construction and management, they do not give entirely satisfactory results.

Earthenware drain-pipe is frequently employed for flues, and when care is taken to prevent their cracking by the excessive heat near the furnace, they answer the purpose very well. When properly secured at their joints they prevent the escape of gaseous matter more perfectly than brick flues.

Flues should be elevated a few inches above the floor, and supported by bricks, to allow all the radiating surface to act upon the atmosphere of the house, and should have, in order to secure sufficient draft, a gradual rise through their whole length from the furnace to the entrance into the chimney.

The furnace should be built inside the house at one end, with the fire and ash-pit doors opening into a shed outside, to prevent any escape of gas into the house while replenishing the fire. It will be necessary to place the furnace low enough to allow a proper rise to the flue. If the flue be made to rise immediately from the furnace about one foot, it may then be carried fifty feet, with a rise of not more than six inches, and the draft will then be sufficient.

The dimensions of the flue may vary from 8 to 12 inches in width, and from 12 to 18 inches in height, according to the s.p.a.ce required to be heated. The usual mode of construction, when bricks are used, is to lay them crosswise and flat for the bottom and top, and to set them edgewise for the sides. Tiles for the bottom and covering are an improvement upon bricks: being thinner, the heat pa.s.ses through them more readily, while they still retain the heat sufficiently to equalize the temperature.

Tiles used for the top covering are sometimes made with circular depressions for holding water for evaporation.

STEAM.--The employment of steam for heating green houses, graperies, &c., is almost entirely superceded by the hot water method. It will, therefore, be necessary only to allude briefly to this part of our subject. It occasionally happens that a conservatory attached to a dwelling is heated by the same steam apparatus employed to heat the latter, but we believe that a person who should advocate, at the present day, the general adoption of steam as a means of heating horticultural structures, would be regarded as belonging to a generation which has now pa.s.sed away.

Steam travels through pipes with great rapidity, and parting with its heat rapidly, it becomes quickly condensed, unless the boiler is of large capacity and capable of furnishing a full supply. It is, at best, an unsatisfactory mode of heating plant houses, for if from any cause the water in the boiler is reduced below the boiling point, the steam in the pipes is instantly condensed, and with it all heat, except that remaining in the iron of the pipes, and the condensed steam, is withdrawn.

Hood, an English author on heating, quoted by McIntosh in his valuable work the "Book of the Garden," thus compares the merits of steam and hot water. "The weight of steam at the temperature of 212 compared with the weight of water at 212, is about as 1 to 1694, so that a pipe that is filled with water at 212, contains 1694 times as much _matter_ as one of equal size filled with steam. If the source of heat be withdrawn from the steam pipes, the temperature will soon fall below 212 and the steam immediately in contact with the pipes will condense: but in condensing, the steam parts with its _latent heat_ and this heat in pa.s.sing from the latent to the sensible state, will again raise the temperature of pipes.

But as soon as they are a second time cooled down below 212 a further portion of steam will condense, and a further quant.i.ty of latent heat will pa.s.s into the state of heat of temperature, and so on until the whole quant.i.ty of latent heat has been abstracted and the whole of the steam condensed, in which state it will possess just as much heating power as a similar bulk of water at the like temperature; that is, the same as a quant.i.ty of water occupying 1-1694th part of the s.p.a.ce that the steam originally did.

By experiments made by the above authority, it has been proved that a given bulk of steam will lose as much of its heat in one minute as the same bulk of hot water would in three hours and three quarters. And further admitting that the heat of cast iron is nearly the same as that of water, if two pipes of the the same calibre and thickness be filled, the one with water and the other with steam each at 212 of temperature, the former will contain 4.68 times as much heat as the latter; therefore if the steam pipe cools down to 60 in one hour, the water pipe will take four hours and a half to cool down to the same point. In a hot water apparatus we have in addition to the above, the heat from the water in the boiler, and of the heated material in and about the furnace, which continues to give out heat for a long time after the fire is totally extinguished; whereas in a steam apparatus, under the same circ.u.mstances we have no source of heat except the pipes by which it is conveyed--giving an advantage in favor of hot water over steam as regards its power of heating hot houses, and maintaining heat after the fire ceased to burn, in nearly the proportion of 1 to 7--that is, hot water will circulate from six to eight times longer than steam under the above circ.u.mstances."

TANKS.--This mode of heating horticultural buildings has been used in England for some years, and has, of late, obtained considerable popularity in this country; mainly, however, for the purpose of obtaining bottom heat. The tank method is more steady and reliable in its operations in this respect, than heating by flues or pipes, but even its most strenuous advocates must admit that for atmospheric heat hot water pipes or flues must be employed in some shape or other, where the tanks are covered with earth or sand beds for propagating purposes.

With slate or metallic covering they are sometimes used solely for atmospheric heat, and are found to answer well. But if tanks are constructed of substantial and enduring materials, they possess little if any advantage, on the score of expense, over hot water pipes, while they occupy much more room and are unsightly objects in a well ordered green-house.

Wooden tanks are frequently used where the heat is required to rise perpendicularly from them. If constructed of good pine plank, well put together with white lead, and thoroughly painted inside and out, they will last for several years. Scarcely any heat will be radiated from the sides and bottom of a wooden tank. Tanks of brick and cement would answer better than those made of wood, if it were possible to make them water-tight when supported by piers above the ground, as they are usually built. But however carefully constructed, these materials are so unyielding to the expansion and contraction they are subjected to, that it is nearly impossible to prevent leakage for any length of time. A large number of brick and cement tanks have come under our notice, and we cannot call to mind a single one of them all that has not been a continual source of vexation and expense to its owner, since its first construction.