782 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



When sole-tiles are used it is deemed advisable to place same with 

 the sole side or bottom upward, which will thus present a better sur- 

 face for shoveling, because more level, when the old soil is removed 

 preparatory to bringing in fresh soil and new plants. When it is 

 decided that the tiles are to be arranged with the soles upward, it 

 will be found necessary, after the base of the bed has been made 

 thoroughly firm, to scatter sand thereon or the finer particles of 

 screened ashes or similar loose material in which to place the tiles 

 to hold them in position until the job is completed. 



A wall is then built six, eight or ten inches high, the base resting 

 upon the ends of the drain tiles, said tiles to remain open as before 

 advised; in this way complete drainage is not only secured, but what 

 is believed to be of equal importance, the free passage of air through 

 the drain-tiles will counteract the possibility of sourness in the soil, 

 thus going a long way toward insuring the well doing of the plants. 



The wall may be either of bricks, single, thick or concrete. Many 

 retaining walls for solid beds are now being built with the last named 

 material, which may be composed of coal ashes, gravel, sand and 

 cement in proper proportions. Coal ashes are generally quite plenti- 

 ful about a tlorist's establishment after he has started a short time, 

 and I know of no better use to put them to than by building just 

 such walls as above referred to, and as there are likelv to be more of 

 them in use in the future than there has been in the past, a few hints 

 as to their construction will not be out of place at this time. Here is 

 what the writer prepared for the columns of the American Florist 

 a few years ago: 



"It is ten or twelve years since I first commenced to experiment in 

 making walls with concrete. My first elJorts were made with iron 

 ore sand (refuse from the iron mines) and cement, but this became 

 rather too expensive, on account of the long and heavy haul in addi- 

 tion to the first cost of the material. Sand of all kinds in this part 

 of the country is scarce. In 1892 it occurred to me that if we could 

 use coal ashes as a base for this purpose how much cheaper and con- 

 venient it would be. (Our brethren in the natural gas belt may or 

 may not appreciate that statement.) I made known my thoughts to 

 a friend, in the profession, in whose judgment I had explicit faith, 

 and he said ''It won't do, my boy, the acid in the ashes will destroy 

 the effectiveness of the cement." This certainly was a stunner, and 

 I cannot now recall how I overcame the effects of it and ventured to 

 make the experiment with the tabooed material, but I summoned up 

 sufficient courage to do so, and we now have six of our greenhouses 

 fitted up with w^alls of this kind, and they are apparently all right 

 up to the present writing. 



''We have never used any other but ashes from hard coal — an- 

 thracite — but believe the ashes from soft or bituminous coal could be 



