A Boy's Workshop: With plans and designs for in-door and out-door work

by Harry Craigin

This, which the artist has drawn from one in use, is, as you notice, proportioned like a house with a steep roof. The frame is of hard wood—a mere sash to hold the glass (for it is really a glass house), so are the bottom or floor, and the base, which is about four inches deep. A groove is cut in the sash, in which the glass is set firmly; no putty was used, though I should suggest it as being more secure. All the corners are dovetailed together and made sure by little brads.

A FERNERY.

The roof is separate, so as to be lifted off; and when on, is kept fast in place by means of two little corks the size of a pipe stem, which are fastened to the pieces of wood at the bottom of the roof, and shut into holes made for them in the strips on which it is set, so that when closed not so much as a crack is to be seen. This is eighteen inches long and fourteen wide, and from base to top is twenty-four inches. The glass sides are about ten by sixteen; the ends ten by twelve; the sides of the roof are ten by sixteen, and the triangular pieces at the ends, ten by ten. One could be more elegantly proportioned if the roof was not so steep. These figures are given as a guide. This is very roomy, especially in height; but that is no disadvantage, because a tall fern can be set in the middle and have space to spread off at will, or some little hooks can be screwed into the ridgepole (likening it to a house), and tiny hanging things suspended from them.

The glass is of the common window-pane kind, and was about eleven cents a pane; eight panes were required, and the man who had them for sale cut them to fit the sash. The wood was maple, and was hunted out of the odds and ends in the loft of the wood-house. Any thoroughly seasoned wood, even pine, is suitable, and the cost is not worth mentioning. The frame should be neatly finished and joined, should be strong and firm on account of the weight after the earth and plants are in; and before the glass is cut, should be stained, or oiled, or painted, outside and in. A pretty stain is made by stirring a tablespoonful of burnt umber into a cup of vinegar, more or less, according to whether you wish the color to be lighter or darker. Stir vigorously and put it on with a little swab: it will dry in the course of a few hours, and then can be varnished if you like. Five cents’ worth of umber is enough to do your fernery, with plenty left for three or four brackets besides.

All the work should be faithfully done, for you want no shrinking or gaping or warping afterwards. You must remember that it is to be subjected to dampness within and dryness without. Once done well, your fernery will last for years, and you can have something beautiful in it from January till January comes again, a perpetual delight to all who see it; and costing so little.

Now, an important part remains—the movable zinc tray, which must just fill the wooden bottom, and be of the same height, but not fit so closely that you cannot take it out when necessary. Ours cost fifty cents, but may be made for less; any tin-man will make it.

There you have the figures. You can proportion one as you like, but this is large enough unless you wish to set little flower pots in; but a larger one would be heavy to move about, and instead of a fernery one would need a Wardian case.

Now, for the fitting up. Last October we removed the roof and the tray and washed the glass, preparatory to having everything fresh and clean for the coming winter. The old contents were emptied, and we began anew. The first thing was to place a layer of broken brick, and small pebbles and gravel, on the bottom of the tray for drainage, perhaps an inch and a half deep, over which we scattered bits of charcoal to keep all pure. We had previously collected a great store of things from the woods with which to stock it, taking up a whole mat of moss with all that therein grew, and everything with a little of the woods’ mould on the roots; also we had a clump of pitcher plants from a cranberry meadow, and some rattle-snake plantain. Altogether for our fourteen by eighteen accommodations, I should judge that we had about a wheel-barrow load of material to select from; but we were in the country then.