Science in Short ChaptersWilliams, W. Mattieu (William Mattieu)
Science
Science in Short Chapters
Williams, W. Mattieu (William Mattieu)
Science
The fabric being one yard wide, and of any length required, all that
is needed for a roof or side walls is a skeleton made of lines or runs
of quartering, at 3 feet distance from each other. The cost of such
quartering, made of pitch pine, the best material for outside work,
is under one penny per foot run; of common white deal, about three
farthings. Thus the cost of material for a roof, say a lean-to from
a wall-top to the side of a house, which would be the most commonly
demanded form of 30 feet by 10 feet, _i.e._, 300 square feet, would be—
_s._ _d._
110 feet of quartering (11 lengths) at 1_d._ 9 2
300 square feet of canvas, at 1¼ 6 3[32]
Nails and tacks, say 1 0
---------
16 5
The size of the quartering proposed is 2½ by 1¼ inch, which, laid
edgewise, would bear the weight of a man on a plank while nailing down
the canvas. The canvas has a stout cord-like edge or selvage, that
holds the nails well.
I find that what are called “French tacks” are well suited for nailing
it down. They are made of wire, well pointed, have good-sized flat
clout heads, and are very cheap. They are incomparably superior to the
ordinary rubbish sold as “tin tacks” or “cut tacks.” The construction
of such a conservatory is so simple that any industrious artisan or
clerk with any mechanical ingenuity could, with the aid of a boy, do
it all himself. No special skill is required for any part of the work,
and no other tools than a rule, a saw, and a hammer. Side posts and
stronger end rails would in some cases be demanded.
I have not been able to fairly carry out this project, inasmuch as I
reside at Twickenham, beyond the reach of the black showers of London
soot. I have, however, made some investigations relative to the climate
which results from such enclosure.
This was done by covering a small skeleton frame with the canvas,
putting it upon the ground over some cabbage plants, etc., and placing
registering thermometers on the ground inside, and in similar position
outside the frame; also by removing the glass cover of a cucumber
frame, and replacing it by a frame on which the canvas is stretched.
I planted 300 cabbages in November last, in rows on the open ground,
and placed the canvas-covered frame over 18 of them. At the present
date, March 15, only 26 of the 282 outside plants are visible above the
ground. All the rest have been cut off by the severe frost. Under the
frame _all_ are flourishing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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