The Garden Under Glass

CHAPTER V PITS, FRAMES AND HANDLIGHTS Those of my readers who cannot afford a conservatory, a plant house, a fruit house, or a forcing house will prob-ably be able to indulge in the luxuiy of a pit, or at any rate of a frame. I know many cottagers who have a frame and who use it to such good purpose for their vegetable plot, their flower border and their allotment that they now deem it a necessity. And indeed to the good management of a gården some glass accommodation is necessary. Now a frame may be considered the least common de-nominator in glass accommodation, for few who own handlights or cloches would boast of the extent of their glass. Heated Pits These have at least one row of pipes running through them. Usually this runs along the front and retums along the back, which is decidedly the best way. Four-inch piping is certainly better, as giving more heat, but three-inch piping is often used. Unless these pifs are intended for growing figs, roses or tall pot plants, they should not be very deep. Three feet at the back should be deep enough for most plants, and if this be allowed it is always possible to raise dwarfer plants nearer to the glass. Nor should the width from back to front be more than seven feet, or tliere will be difficulty in watering the plants at the back, which will probably result in their being neglected. A founda- 29