■HMMHHMHMMrMMVntofMOMiMMMMftMitaMMnMMani** SOME CALL THEM COLD FRAMES AND HOT BEDS THERE are: SOME GREENHOUSES BESIDES . Ave R Y CLAJ/I t./ fi T 1 0 7i' /-/4J nil Garden Frames WHICH INCLUDE COLD FRAMES, HOT BEDS, PONY FRAMES, MELON FRAMES, PITS AND GREENHOUSE FRAMES Hitchings and Company GREENHOUSE DESIGNERS AND MANUFACTURERS FACTORIES AND GENERAL OFFICES ELIZABETH, N. J. NEW YORK BRANCH: 1170 BROADWAY COPYRIGHTED, HITCHINGS & CO., 1911 And this only goes to show how with our small frames you can have narcissus in bloom a good two weeks before nature has her way. If this garden enthusiast can do it so easily, think of the fun you can have forcing your flowers and vegetables while "the nights are still freezing." INDEX Frames and Their Why Page 3 Long Pony Jr. Frames Page 15 As a Help to Chicken Raisers 3 Standard Sash 16 The Camera’s Tale of a Subur¬ Double-Glazed Sash 16-17 banite and His Three-Sash Frame 4-6 Slats 17 The Different Kinds of Frames Mats 17 and Their Uses 7 Shutters 17 Standard Frames 8 Some Points in General and a Masonry Frames 9 Few in Particular 18-19 Protected Frames 9 A Few Vegetable Suggestions 20 Pit Frames 10 Several Flower Suggestions 21 Greenhouse Frames 1 I Prices and a Word about Pony Frames 12 Ordering 22 Melon Frames 13 $250 Greenhouse 23 Pony Jr. Frames 14 Other Greenhouses 24-31 2 Frames and Their Why F rames are a short cut to garden results. You get things four to six weeks earlier—and besides they are better—much better. If you have frames, you will be setting out plants — good husky plants—when your neighbor will be pinching seeds between his thumb and forefinger and dropping them in drills. When his tomatoes are in blossom, yours will be showing green fruit the size of black walnuts. You will be eating rhubarb when the other fellow is just beginning to notice that ” it feels a little like Spring. ” Then there are your flowers—who wouldn’t spend a few dollars and take a little extra bother to have them blooming the middle of May, rather than the first of July. Some of the things you have never been able to grow will be possible. In short you will find gardening puts on an entirely new phase—a phase that just about doubles the interest and trebles the pleasures. By all means have frames—frames of some size, if only those handy little Pony Jrs. described on page 1 4. As a Help to Chicken Raisers Every chicken owner knows how his chickens will fight for pieces of celery leaves or anything green thrown to them in the Winter. With frames you can plant Swiss Chard m August and have greens m abundance for your chickens all Winter long. Good succulent fresh greens — the kind that helps keep your chickens healthy, and that means more eggs. Try a Four-Sash Standard Frame as shown on page 8 — or a larger one. 3 They came Saturday morning. That afternoon I got a hatchet and screw-driver and went out to unpack them. There they were — three crates and a bundle. I stood before them dreaming of all the fun it would be to outwit Dame Nature — when Some One called out the window — ” What are you doing ? ” Then I began doing. The Camera’s Tale of a Suburbanite and His Three-Sash Frame T his Suburber moved into his new house in August, too late to do any gardening, yet gardening he was determined to do. First he thought of our $250 greenhouse (seepage 23) but didn’t ”feel like spending that much money — just yet” —so the next best was a set of frames. So he bought one having three sash. They just fitted in a certain niche having an ideal Southern exposure. There happened to be a camera around the house. Some One used it. Here is its story and the Suburber’s own combined. HEN I began uncrating them at a lively pace, while - Some One asked ques¬ tions. Now how can a man an¬ swer questions when it’s Saturday afternoon and when he is smok¬ ing and trying to pull out stub¬ born nails and prying off splintery boards at the same time? Didn’t. Simply smoked and unpacked. 4 B Y that time I was thor¬ oughly over dreaming and could hardly wait to see the frames up, soil in, seeds plant¬ ed and sash ready to put on. Contrary to most "easy to go together" things — it did go that way. Angle irons in the cor¬ ners held the sides and ends together by screws — the rafter ends slipped easily into their notches — and the complete set -up was "done in a jiffy," just as the makers said. 1 T HEN I dug up the dirt, put in some enrichment and dug it over again. The books say, "thoroughly pulverize, first being sure the soil is good fri¬ able loam." The "friable" part, am a little uncertain about, but as for pulverizing, there was absolutely no doubt. Then I put on the sash — just to see how they would look, and went in to Some One’s dinner. That night I smoked two pipes and completed the dream that was interrupted. N EXT morning found me out with the birds, and planting seeds. Put the slats on to see how they would fit. Good fit. Wished the plants were already up and really needed the slats to shade them. That day, 1 made the boys at the office feel like exiles when telling them how we were going to have a garden all the year around. Yes, at first they were a bit incredulous. When anything’s really so, most folks are. IINALLY the seeds came up — I say finally because I watched them. Watched seeds it seems don’t grow, but af¬ ter coming back from a trip of a few days, the frame garden was marked out in beautiful hair line stripes of green leaves. Before we knew it the Katydids were rasp¬ ing away and the air was "pretty brisk." So we kept the sash on all night and just lifted them up on a stick during the day, to give plenty of ventilation. 5 noon I built a little pen around the frames and filled T was now the last of Octo¬ ber and things had grown splendidly, but Some One began to fuss about whether "if it kept cold the way it had, if Jack Frost wouldn’t creep in and give our plant friends cold feet?" Of course I knew he would, but no man admits right off, what Some One says. However, that Saturday after¬ in with compost and leaves. mats. It’s always better to compromise with Some One. T HEN came the time when the nights were cold and the days fairly warm—the kind you don’t know whether to wear your overcoat or carry it on your arm — you know those kind of days. With it came nu¬ merous discussions as to whether we would put the mats and shut¬ ters on the frames at night. As a compromise I generally put on An infallible rule about gardening. pON we had a raw gusty night when the leaves blew up on the porch and rattled against the windows. The kind of night when one doesn’t mind going down cellar and pok¬ ing up the furnace a bit. While down there I sneaked out the cellar door and took another look at the frames, covered with their warm mats and shutters, and came back and remarked with a great exhibition of intelligence that it Was a cold night. |MAS day rolled around before we knew it, and the wind howled and the snow blew and by nine o’clock Some One remarked it was "go¬ ing to be a snowy day." I looked out and saw the frames almost covered and replied absent- mindedly, "how do you suppose those pansies are enjoying them¬ selves?" And then after a pause "if the snow would only stop I might go out and cut a mess of Swiss Chard greens." 6 The Different Kinds of Frames and Their Uses Standard Frames These are like our suburban friend bought, and can be used for either cold frames or hot beds. The sash are three feet wide and six feet long. A more durable frame can be made by substituting masonry sides for the cypress ones and putting a cast-iron sill on top the wall to which the T bar steel rafters are bolted, and upon which the sash rest and slide. Such a fix will last a lifetime. (See pages 8 and 9.) Pit Frames These always have masonry sides and are generally made about six feet deep. In these pits you can store your hydrangeas, semi-hardy roses, geraniums, azaleas and small palms. Or you can put in a bench and regu¬ larly grow things just like you would in a greenhouse. For violets you can’t beat them. (See page 10.) Greenhouse Frames No greenhouse is complete without its frames. They are an indispensable assistance to it. By working them together you greatly increase the possibilities of both. (See page I 1.) Pony Frames These are Standard Frames of a smaller size. Their having small sash makes them much easier to handle and you can easily move the frames about if you care to. Another advantage is that they will often fit into a spot too small for the larger frames. (See page 12.) Melon and Pony Jr. Frames These are handy little portable frames in four sizes. You can start your melons in them a month ahead; ditto with cucumbers; or use them in a hundred and one ways to start both flowers and vegetables. Even if you have the larger frames you surely ought to have a few of these small ones. (See frontispiece and pages 1 3 and 1 4.) 7 Standard Frames T hese are made of the finest air-dried Louisiana cypress 1 Fi-mch thick, and the standard 3x6 sash. They measure 8 inches deep at the front, and 16 at the back. The sides and ends are screwed together by heavy wrought-iron angle cleats. Flat iron cleats are also screwed to the back pieces, under each rafter. The rafters between the sash are 3x3 inches, and are rabbeted for the sash and grooved to carry off the sash condensations. Dove-tailing the rafters into the front and back makes it easy to remove them, should you want to take the frames down to pack away when not in use, or to give a greater freedom in preparing the soil or placing the manure for the hot bed. The side guides on outside of frames for holding the sash in place are screwed on — not nailed. These frames of ours are easy to put up or take down. They are given two coats of best lead paint before shipment and sent to you knocked down. No better frame can be made. Made in any size from a one-sash frame up. Two, three, and four-sash frames always kept in stock. For detailed description of Sash, see page 16. Two - Sash Frame. This Is a handy size of which we sell a good many. It is easily portable and when stored away off season time, takes up but little room. PRICE With 2-sash complete, $14.50 Without sash, 7.50 Three-Sash Frame. This is the kind the Suburbanite bought as described on pages 4, 5 and 6. If you have the space, buy it. You will find frames so surprisingly satisfactory that the largest one you can place will be none too big. PRICE Complete with 3-sash, $19.50 Without sash, 9.00 Four-Sash Frame. Now you are getting a frame big enough to do some of the bigger things. By putting a partition (see note below) under the middle rafter you can divide it into a cold frame and a hot bed. Or use them both as hot beds, starting one earlier than the other, and when the heat in one dies down, start up the other and move your plants in flats or pots to it. PRICE Complete With 4-sash,$24.50 Without sash, 10.50 PARTITIONS, we will furnish to fit under the rafter, for $1.50 additional. ^X^lth 5-sash, 29.50 LARGER FRAMES than these shown will be priced on application. VFlthout sash, 1 2.00 8 Masonry Frames T he idea here is permanency. If you were to ask our advice we would say make your walls at least four feet below ground, and then by ex¬ cavating the inside soil you can at any time convert your cold frames into hot beds; or even use them as storage pits for the smaller things. They are made with cast-iron sills on top of the wall and inverted T-shaped steel bars are bolted to them for the rafters. It makes a finished enduring frame. Protected Frames A SOUTHERN exposure is what you want for your frames. Locate them with a protection at the north. If you have no building or ^ wall that will serve this purpose, take the trouble to build a wind break like this one. Don’t fuss about the question of a few extra dollars it may cost to start right. Results will warrant the expenditure. 9 Pit Frames P ITS are used for both the storage of plants that need protection to carry them through the Winter and for regular growing purposes — vegetables principally. Various foliage plants, sago palms, hydrangeas, small bay trees, azaleas, and such can be carried through the Winter m a pit and come out in the Spring all ready to make new growth. For bulbs it is admirable. If made six feet deep to give head room to work, you can put in a regular greenhouse bench and raise late Fall and early Spring crops of lettuce, spinach, radishes and such. This sketch shows a sectional view of a pit four feet deep with cast-iron sills on top of the walls. The sash are sup¬ ported by inverted T bar steel rafters bolted to the sills. Concrete pit six feet deep filled with semi-hardy plants which have success¬ fully wintered and are now enjoying the early Spring air and sunshine. 10 Greenhouse Frames A GREENHOUSE is not complete without its Frames. They not / \ only relieve the crowding of its benches but many things are better X A started or stored in the Frames and then removed to the green¬ house for further development. For example, why crowd out roses for let¬ tuce or spinach? Still you want them! Why take up room you would devote to sweet peas, snap dragons, or stock for violets when they actually do just as well m Frames? By all that is reasonable, if you have a greenhouse you need Frames. Have a heating pipe run to them from the green¬ house boiler and then you can use them m all weathers without the bother of making hot beds. Add a little more to your investment and build them with masonry sides, cast-iron sills, and steel T bar rafters and then they will last as long as your green¬ houses. Our regular 3x6 feet sash are used on them. These Masonry Frames shown are attached directly to the Southern side of the green¬ house and a heating pipe from it runs around the sides. They would be easier to work and free from the liability of glass breakage from roof snow and ice, if set away from the house like the ones below. Detached Frames having concrete foundations and sides. One of them is six feet deep and is used for storage in the Winter of semi-hardy stoop and lawn plants. Pony Frames T hese frames are made in every w^ay like our Standard Frames and Sash described on pages 8 and 16, only they are smaller. The sash being lighter makes them easy to handle. Many of our friends among the woman garden lovers find them particularly adaptable to their needs. They are made for sash 34 inches wide by 381/2 inches long. Single, two, and three-sash Pony Frames kept in stock. Other sizes made to order. PRICES Single-Sash Frame, and Sash complete, $5.00 Two-Sash Frame, and Sash complete, 8.00 Three-Sash Frame, and Sash complete, 1 1.00 Four-sash Frame, and Sash complete, 14.00 Sash without Frames, each 2.00 This Single-Sash Frame was placed And in this Two-Sash Frame a neighbor over a peony and gave it such a start starts her annuals and each year makes it bloomed two weeks ahead of time. friends envious with her early garden. This "Three-Sasher” divided honors between the vegetable and flower gardens, giving each a boost. 12 Melon Frames T ry a half dozen of these frames and not only have melons earlier, but melons with the true melon flavor. Starting them early in frames gives them a chance to make good strong root growth so they can withstand the hot Summer’s sun, and the best of the plant can then go into the fruit. Made in two sizes and in the same thorough way of our other frames. PRICES Standard Size, 22V^ x 25V2 inches, with two lights of glass, each complete, $2.50 Pony Size, 19V2 x 2 OI /2 inches, with one light of glass, each complete, 2.25 If Carlo is prone to complacently select your newly made flower garden to lie on, you will appreciate the protection of our Melon Frames to start your plants coming. Melons, cucumbers, and lima beans were started three weeks earlier in this garden. Standard Size Melon Frame used as a little cold frame to force along a clump of jonquils. 13 And when it’s a backward Spring you will doubly appre¬ ciate the boost the Pony Juniors give to your perennials. Pony Jr. T hese " Pomes " are 1 I ^2 x 1 3 inches, just the right size for putting over single flower or vegetable plants. They are such a handy size to move about that their uses are innumerable. When you consider how thoroughly well made they are with angle iron corner pieces and best of cypress, and how decidedly reasonable the price is for so good a frame, five certainly seem few enough to buy. PRICE Five for $3.75 with glass, and painted one coat. The price is so low on these frames that we could not afford to bother with orders of less than five. They are shipped knocked down. Frames This unsightly old stump is turned into a festoon of blooming Scarlet Runner Vines, three weeks ahead of time, by hurrying them along with Pony Frames. 14 Long Pony Jr. Frames T hese frames were originally intended for putting over a row of vegetables, but we find our friends using them for growing bedding plants, forcing along their flowers, and a hundred and one other things. And why not? In a limited way they will do everything the larger frames can. They are made full as well and at the price are surely a good investment. PRICE $1.50 apiece — with sash com¬ plete and painted one coat. Shipped knocked down. The season is so short in this section that the nasturtiums and hollyhocks are given a boost by Long Pony Jr. Frames, so that an unattractive bit of old wall will be covered early in the season. A rugged little frame in every particular. You could scarce buy the materials alone for the price. 15 Standard Sash 3’ X 6' X 1 1 / 2 " THICK ON’T make that expensive mistake of buying cheap sash. They won’t last. The joints soon loosen and the water gets m and rots them out. They become twisty and loosen the putty and break the glass. Our sash, if given an occasional coat of paint, will last you a lifetime. Best of cypress 1 1/2 ” thick is used in them. The top and bottom pieces are 4” wide. The sides 2Vi”- The bars 1 Vi ” thick. The glass is extra thick, 10 ” wide. The joints are blind mortised and have a locking tenon which, the more the joint is twisted, the tighter it gets. Steel dowel pins only are used. A square steel rod runs through the center of the bars and into the side of the sash, which both supports the bars and stiffens the entire sash. PRICES Sash glazed and painted complete, $3.50 each Sash unglazed and painted one coat, 1.40 each Sash unglazed and unpainted, 1.25 each These prices Include packing and delivery on the cars. The joints are blind mortised, which keeps out the moisture. The tenons are double should¬ ered, one of which is cut on an angle making a lock joint. All joints are white leaded when assembled. The bars have the same lock joint as the sides and ends and are beveled on under side to let in all possible light to the plants. And this shows the square steel brace that goes through the bars and into the sides of the sash. Sash Double-Glazed T he general opinion of the gardeners who have given Double-Glazed Sash a fair trial is that they have a considerable advantage over single-glazed, as they will protect the plants in fairly cold weather without the use of mats and shutters. In climates like New York and vicinity it is, however, necessary to use mats and shutters during the severe weather. We believe that the bedding of the outer glass in putty is a decided advan¬ tage as it makes the sash leak tight. Aside from the double glazing these sash are made identically the same as our regular standard single-glass sash. PRICES, $4.50 each, glazed and painted. 16 Double-Glazed Sash —Continued If our Double-Glazed Sash were cut right through the center from side to side this is the view you would get of the double-thick outside glass set in putty, and the single-thick inside glass resting in grooves. The air space between, acts as an insulator against the cold. Cutting the Double-Glazed Sash through the center from top to bottom, you get a definite idea of how the joints of the top or the putty glazed glass are lapped and inside ones "butted" or placed end to end. Slats Slats are for shading transplanted seedlings. You will need them especially if you intend using frames in the Fall and Winter. The hot sun of August and September is too strong for the transplanted seedlings to stand. A week of the slats and they will have thoroughly strength¬ ened up. They are also particularly useful for pansy growing (see page 21). Anything as light as our slats, need to be specially well made — and they are. They are three feet wide and six long. The evenly spaced strips of cypress are let into the binding cleats and clinched into position by wire nails. They keep their shape. An important point with slats. PRICE Painted, $1.25 each Unpainted, 1.00 each Mats You will need mats, especially if you Intend using your frames through the Winter. They help keep out Jack Frost. These are made of extra strong brown duck faced with burlap and lined with waste wool and cotton which is quilted in position. They outlast straw mats, many times over; and are easier to handle, and warmer. PRICE For 3' X 6' Single Sash, $1.00 each For 6' X 6' Two Sash, 1.25 each Shutters They do three things: Keep the mats snug in place — protect them from the weather — and do their part towards keeping out the cold. The gardeners say that our shutters are "light to handle but stand the racket." This being so, you better buy your shutters of us. They are three by six feet and made of %-inch cypress having tight, tongued and grooved joints. The three cross binders on the under side, hold the boards together and prevent them warping out of shape. PRICE Painted, $2.00 each Unpainted, 1.75 each 17 Some Points in General and a Few In Particular N ot that gardening with Frames is so serious a matter or that it involves any set of hard and fast rules, but knowing a few of the basic points the rest will come of itself. There are a certain few that you may find helpful the first season. Sub Frames If you are going to use your Standard Frames or any part of them for a hot bed you will need a Sub Frame in which to confine the heat generated by fermentation of the manure. We will gladly sell you Sub Frames, but they are so easy to make that we are frank to admit that you can probably make or have them made just as cheap as we can. Better use two-inch rough lumber about ten inches wide and nail it to 3 x 4-inch corner posts. Let the posts extend three inches above the sides to hold the top frame in position. Prices furnished if desired. How To Make a Hot Bed In the vicinity of New York, Hot Beds should be started along in the middle of February or first of March. Secure fresh horse manure to put in the bottom of the beds, the fermenting of which will make the necessary heat. The manure had better be 2^2 feet deep, an excavation of that depth being dug out. It is best to add one third of leaves to the manure to pre¬ vent it from burning. Thoroughly mix them with it before putting into the bed. Put the manure in layers and tramp down firm. By this means the heat will be held longer than in a loosely made bed. A thermometer plunged in the mixture will register up to 110 degrees, and when it drops to 90 degrees, it is time to put six or eight Inches of good rich soil on top — the finer and mellower the better. Now plant your seeds and put on the sash. Bank around the outside with a foot or so of manure to help keep the heat in and cold out. Soil to Use If your soil is not what it ought to be, get some that is. It is not enough that it is rich, it must be mel¬ low (loose and soft) and have the "good earth feel." The top Inch, if sifted on, gives an ideal berth for the start of the tiny rootlets and tender little leaves. Planting Use the same common sense you do in your garden planting, only remember that the frames are higher at the back; so plant the shorter growing plants at the front. Here is a little sketch showing the way "Sally Smith"—Ali Babas, spinster neighbor — plants her flowering favorites. Another thing Sally does Is to plant some of her vege¬ tables and flowers in boxes about a foot square and three Inches deep, which makes It easy to tote about when it comes to transplanting them in the open. Try planting some corn or lima beans in strawberry baskets; it overcomes the element of uncertainty in transplanting. Just break down the sides of the baskets and slide out soil, plant, and all. If the soil is loosened from the corn rootlets the plant is done for. . = . c .. . . o , Cosmos “ ‘ ‘ . o ...... . Castor Beans ^ o c . ... c . o Zinnias • ■ — - • * « c . c . . o c . . Stocks — ...... Sweet William « — ...... forget-me-nots ’ . ..... . Candytuft ' * . . ^ . 18 V entilation Purely a matter of sense, but in general terms, better too much than not enough. One day of too little air will sweat and "cook" the plants, from which treatment they never recover. Ventilate most freely in the middle of the day. With hot beds, when matted and shut¬ tered, it is safest to leave just a slight vent at all times. The sketch shows three ventilating positions the sash can be put in. The easiest way is to have a notched block of wood tied or chained to the back of frame (so it will be there when you want it) and set the sash up on whatever notch to give the necessary air. Watering Knowing when your frame garden needs a drink is of greatest importance. Ofttimes the surface will appear dry, but on exam¬ ination the soil just below the surface will have sufficient moisture. I believe the novice ruins more hopes by overwatering than other¬ wise. Too much water will sour the soil. On the other hand when you do water — do it, not simply a little surface sprinkling which dries up quickly and is apt to leave the soil cakey. Do it gently — don’t use lawn methods. Hardening Off Plants that have been growing in the warm moist atmosphere of a hot bed, if suddenly moved to open ground where the temperature may be several degrees lower, the chances are they will not survive. For this reason a "hardening off" process must be followed by gradr ually giving the plants more and more air until the sash can be left entirely off a couple of days and nights without resentment by the plants. Now transplant and there need be no set-back shock. Transplanting Be a little gentle. Ever notice how a gruff old gardener handles his plants with a tenderness and care that is almost pathetic? Inci¬ dentally his plants grow like magic. When transplanting just wet the soil well in the frames or flats so as much earth as possible will adhere to the roots. Then make a hole with a dibble (a sharpened stick) and putting the roots into the hole up to the leaves themselves press the soil around the plant. Be careful not to make too big a hole or the roots will not come in contact with the soil unless you have a care to firm it around them well. Do it on a cloudy day or late afternoon — but you knew that anyway. 19 A Few Vegetable Suggestions T he off-hand idea about frames used to be that for lettuce, spinach and radishes they were ” rather good." The rea¬ son why you seldom heard of other things being grown m them was sim¬ ply because these three things were easy to grow and always in demand. But truth to tell you might well start your entire vegetable garden in frames and steal the march on Dame Nature. Surely cucumbers by the Fourth of July sounds a lot more interesting than first of August. Cauliflower can’t come any too early to please you — frames will bring it three weeks ahead. If you want to take the trouble, corn and peas can be planted in pots or berry baskets and six-inch plants set out m the open about the time the seeds are usually put in. It isn’t a question of what vegetable you can grow to advantage in frames, but one of what you do want to grow? Here are a few "start off" suggestions of the more usual things. Try Lettuce This Way: Sow March first in cold frames for succession every two weeks. In hot beds February tenth. A Two-Sash Frame will hold sixty-four heads. At ten cents a head these would cost you $6.40. For Fall use make occasional sowings in cold frames from August fifteenth to September fifteenth. By using mats and shutters, fine crispy lettuce can be held in the frames right up to the first of February. For head lettuce, plant Big Boston or Boston Market. For long narrow hard leaves try Trianon Cos. To get good solid heads, keep water from the heart. Thin out to eight inches apart. When about an inch high plant radishes and pepper grass between the rows and double your crop. SOWN MARCH 1 (In Cold Frame) TRANS¬ PLANT READY TO EAT Cold Frame Out Doors Bean May 8 June 15 Beet Mar. 25 May 20 June 25 Cabbage April 1 June 8 April 1 Carrot May 15 June 15 Cauliflower April 1 June 8 April 1 Kohlrabi April 1 May 15 June 15 Lettuce Mar. 20 May 1 June 1 Parsley May 15 June 1 5 Pea May 8 June 8 Radish April 15 May 15 Spinach May 8 June 15 Table showing a few of the vegetable gains made by Cold Frame. Hot Beds are two or three weeks earlier. Swiss Chard All Winter for Chickens, or "Folks" Plant first of August and treat practically same as lettuce. Middle of October the big succulent leaves will be pushing against the glass and will stay fresh and juicy all Winter. If two or three leaves are left uncut, March’s first warm days will start them grow¬ ing again. For table greens there is nothing that beats Swiss chard. The stems creamed are a rival for asparagus. An Idea for Tomatoes The plants can be started in flats from seed in the hot bed in February: or the plants set out in cold frames first of March. Put five plants to a frame — one in each cor¬ ner and one in the middle. Stake them up and cut off all laterals leaving but the single vine. At every point where laterals have been removed blossoms will appear in rotation from bottom to top and finally fruit in succession. Leaving them right in the frames this way avoids all trans¬ planting shock and gives you tomatoes a month in advance. The vines will continue to bear right up to frost. Earlier than " Early Corn" You who have gone out to the corn patch and become impatient because the silk wasn’t brown enough so the corn could be pulled — you who are so fond of corn, try starting a dozen or so hills in your cold frames on pieces of sod, or in small cheese cloth bags or berry baskets. Plant first of April — transplant to garden three weeks before the usual time you would put seed in the open. Isn’t it worth the trouble to have juicy sugary corn three weeks ahead? (See page 18, last clause under Planting.) 20 Several Flower Suggestions VARIETY Sow Seed in Cold Frame When to Set Out Plants Asters (China) Mch. to May May 15 to June 15 Calendula (Pot Marigold) Apr. to May May 15 to June 15 Carnation (Marguerite) Apr. to May May 20 to June 1 5 Chrysan’mum (Annual) Apr. to May May 15 to June 15 Cosmos (Early) Apr. to May May 15 to June 15 Dahlia Mch.to May May 15 to June 15 Hollyhock Apr. to May May 1 to June 15 Larkspur (Annual) Apr. to May May 15 to June 15 Nasturtiums Mch. to May May 15 to June 15 Pansy Apr. to May July to Oct. April and Sept. Phlox Mch. to May May 15 to June 15 Pansies The natural habitat of pansies seems to be the cold frame. Try planting some this August, treat¬ ing them the same way described, for annuals. If you plant them in pots and plunge them in soil of frame, you will find them regular little joy spots in early Spring for the dining table or window sill. Their sassy little faces are so cheering they make March seem like quite a pleasant month after all. Hollyhocks Now that the leaves of this gloriously decorative flower of our Grandmother’s days is so infested with "red freckles”—as Sally Smith’s nephew calls them — the only way to have good healthy plants seems to be to start new plants each year. Try them in cold frames. Plant in August and treat same as pansies, only half as much hay on top of slats will be enough. Nasturtiums The earlier the season, the longer the season of blooms for nasturtiums; which means that if they are started in cold frames March first, you will get a month more of their spicy happy giving friend¬ ship. With the climbing kinds, an unsightly spot or the old stone wall will have their Spring suits on three weeks sooner if you can plant out plants that are six weeks above ground Instead of seed three inches under. Violets Some gardeners claim that violets do better in cold frames than in the greenhouse — and they ought to know. Off-hand we can count a dozen of our friends who have violets from October to April from their frames. Fine big long-stemmed ones, that fill a room with their gentle perfume and help to turn grey days into blue sky. Stick to the single varieties. Get plants from a florist in August. Don’t be in too much haste to put on the sash — violets are cold blooded and seem to thrive on a little frost — it strengthens their roots. Mats and shutters will of course be necessary as the mercury sags down. H OW often have you, a flower lover, sighed because some of your annuals were frosted just as they were promising with bloom — or you have wished that your annuals didn’t take two sea¬ sons before blooming. Cold frames are your happy solution. Start Cosmos in Hot Beds middle of February—in Cold Frames March First, and you will have three to four weeks of continual blooms. Same with petunias, verbenias, ageratum, stocks and endless other. For annuals, plant seed in frames middle of August. When freezing weather comes, cover frames with slats (another use for slats, you see) and put hay, a foot thick, on top. This keeps them from freezing and thawing without smothering them out. In March put on the sash; trans¬ plant May first. In July most of them will be m bloom. Bulbs If you want a continual round of bulb bloom gaiety from Thanksgiving Day to May Day, try them in frames. Plant in pots and plunge in dirt of the frames: cover with foot of soil. Good healthy root growth will rapidly form. Make successive plant¬ ings. Put shutters only on up to November first; then sash and shutters. Bring pots into house as you want them, taking the precaution to allow the white sprouts to darken up m the shade before bring¬ ing them to the full glaze of the window sill. The March and April ones you can force right in the frames. For sturdy plants and fine big blooms this frame method is one to conjure with. Scarlet Runner "Just plain red flowering bean" is Sally Smith’s version, but 1 notice that Sally always has that old cherry tree stump in her back yard covered with it — and a goodly sight it is, even if it does admit the plebeian garden bean as its ancestor. Still for a quick-growing, graceful, fresh blooming vine you would nose about a good bit before finding its equal. It blooms lor about six weeks and then come along green pods that have claims for attractiveness. Starting half of them in little frames as Sally does and then four weeks alter, planting some in the open, she gets blooms from June till frost. Try Sally’s way just for once. 21 Prices And a Word About Ordering T he prices given for all our frames and equipment leave so narrow^ a margin of profit that any discounts, you can readily appreciate, will not be possible, save on large quantity orders. When you order, be so good as to take particular pains to use the exact name for the Frames you want? This will save much confusion and delay in writing. For example, some say ” send fifteen little frames, ” which means nothing to our order department as we have at least five kinds that are smaller than the Standard size and might well be called ” little. ” To overcome the delay caused by our looking up your credit or writing to your reference, send in your letter a check or money order, and shipments can be made promptly. Anything not satisfactory we make so. Yes, even to the extent of cheerfully refunding your money, which in itself is the strongest kind of a guarantee. Special care is taken in packing all shipments. The frames are strongly bundled; the sash securely crated. And this is a part glimpse of our Factory at Elizabeth, N. J. where we make Frames, Greenhouses, and complete Greenhouse Equipments. 22 $250 Greenhouse of Mrs. F. H. Lovell, Madison, N. J. The boiler is in cellar of residence. A Full Fledged Greenhouse for $250 Y OU will be surprised to learn that this price includes the benches, heating pipes, and a sturdy little boiler that will keep the tempera¬ ture up to 65° with zero outside. It is a thoroughly practical house —not a plaything. Shipped knocked down, but all glazed and ready for bolting and screwing together. Easy to erect. Send for booklet — it describes every detail and tells some of the inter¬ esting things that can be done in it. Interior of Mrs. Lovell’s house. Photo was taken middle of April when it was mostly filled with bedding plants for setting out. We have Mrs. Lovell’s own story of what she did in her greenhouse. It’s intensely interesting. Would you like to read it? 23 Lean-to greenhouse attached to Mrs. Francis Hodgson Burnett’s Garage, at Manhasset, L. I. No. 101 T he combining of garage and greenhouse in this way is a good arrangement. In the first place, you save the expense of building a northern wall for your greenhouse. The garage protects it from the north winds and the one boiler can heat them both. This Lean-to is nine feet six inches wide and nineteen feet six inches long, and has benches at front and back as well as at the ends, giving a goodly lot of bench room for the plants. Lean-tos are thoroughly practical houses with wide cultural possibilities. In a little house like this one, it is a revelation, the amount of flowers it will harbor during the Winter, and the almost endless quantities of vegetables and flower plants it will grow for early setting out in the Spring. Haven’t you a wall, stable, garage, or even a space on your residence with a Southern exposure, where you could attach one of these Lean-tos? Why not let us come and look over the possibilities? GARAGE GREENHOUSE 9'- G" »■ 1 9 '-&" 24 This little gem is a delightful hobby of Mr. Lionel Sutro, of Port Chester, N. Y. No. 119 H ere is an instance of co-operative building, as it were. Mr. Sutro took care of the erection of the masonry work and the work-room, and we the greenhouse. We are always glad to make such an arrangement, and it generally can be done at a saving to the owner. You doubtless were surprised on looking at the plan to learn that a house twenty-five feet long was divided in two compartments. Although small, they gave Mr. Sutro a chance to have two different temperatures and so grow a great many more kinds and varieties of flowers. It is a decidedly model little house, which, should it attract you, could be duplicated to advantage. Having the working drawings all ready at the factory, the order could go through without the otherwise necessary delay of waiting for them to be made. 25 Erected for Mr. Philip Diehl, Elizabeth, N. J. No. 201 Here is a practical little greenhouse, eleven feet wide _!_ and twenty-five feet long, attached directly to the resi¬ dence. And it’s a good way to do it. Lots handier — and the handier it is the more genuine pleasure you will get out of it. We will be glad to send you particulars and a photo taken from another point of view. Erected at Elmwood Farms, Metuchen, N. J. We call this a Farmstead greenhouse because it is attached to the farmer’s farm house right where he can keep his eye on things. The house is eighteen feet wide and fifty feet long, and divided m two compartments. Glad to tell you more about it. 26 Henry Miller, the actor, most assuredly had the right idea when he insisted on having his greenhouse so he could reach it directly from his house during any kind of weather. Certainly the effect is most charming. So don’t lose sight of this garden-under-glass idea when you choose the location for your greenhouse. In our regular greenhouse catalog another view is shown which includes the old colonial house which the greenhouse adjoins. This catalog also makes some interesting suggestions along the line of conservatories. And there are several pages devoted to glassed-in porches. Better send for it. No. 203a The interior reveals Mr. Miller’s house being used the _!_ first year for raising thousands of flower and vegetable plants grown m flats, for early setting out. 27 No. 204a From this point of view, you see how delightfully it _!_ fits into the garden — what a decorative part of it, it is. We would like to sell you a house like this — it’s a good plan, a plan that has advantages. But of them we will gladly write or talk over with you. Erected for Mr. Wm. Manice, Southampton, L. I. No. 204 Should you want a somewhat more extensive green- _!_ house including, perhaps, two compartments and a palm house; then here is a suggestion. It is certainly attractive — and it’s practical. 28 Just to give you a conception of how^ one of our houses looks on the inside we took this view of a two-compart- ment house — eighteen feet wide and thirty-three feet long. No. 110c No. 11 Od And this IS the near-by view of the sweet-peas shown _!_ in the second compartment above. Pink, white, purple, yellow, and reds — a regular rainbow of blooms that lasted nearly a hundred days. And you could have the same if you had one of our houses. 29 Erected for Mr. Robert Main, Saugerties, N. Y. No. 205 Because of the sweeping roof lines of the curvilinear _!_ house, some feel it to be the most ornamental of all. They certainly are effective. One eighteen feet wide and fifty feet long, divided in two compartments like this, makes an ideal little layout. There IS a regular galaxy of curvilinear subject in our regular greenhouse catalog. Erected for Mr. Harper Smith, at Somerville, N. J. If you have in your mind something decidedly ornamental and with garden space enough in it to grow a wide gamut of things — then why not find out all there is to know about this one? 30 Or if you have a stoop you want glassed in, we can do that for you. This one of Mr. Theodore Jackson’s, at West Hampton Beach, makes the happiest kind of a happy half-in-doors, half-out-doors, living room. Let’s talk a ” glass-in ” over and see what can be done, and it’s probable cost. No. 208 " _ care particu¬ larly for plants but do believe thoroughly in the salutary effects of old Sol’ s warming cheering rays — then why not build a regular Sun Room — here is a suggestion. ^ ^ 0 Q There is a won- appeal about a conservatory treated m a homey comfortable way like this. Our regular catalog has some splendid conservatory suggestions. 31 T u t h i 1 1 Ad Agency 1 133 Broadway, N. Y aO Aver' nbnry