158 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JANUARY 12, 1899. 



with floriculture under glass, yet it is 

 a subject -of growing importauce, and 

 evidently recognized to be so by those 

 who drafted the programme for the oc- 

 casion of this meeting, hence its intro- 

 duction here. Vegetables are a real 

 necessity of life, and no apology is 

 needed to justify the assertion. We 

 are all agreed that their wholesome- 

 ness and nutritive qualities are in a 

 direct ratio with their freshness. Yet 

 the sharp limitations upon our re- 

 sources through and by the prevailing 

 climatic conditions of the latitudes in 

 which reside the majority of the popu- 

 lation are such that for about six 

 months of the year we cannot go to 

 the garden and gather therefrom vege- 

 tables that are fresh in the truest 

 sense of the word, but must perforce 

 fall back upon and take whatever the 

 market has to offer. In respect to 

 markets, however, we are a favored 

 people, as rapid and improved meth- 

 ods of transportation enable us to ob- 

 tain in open market the products of 

 the warm, sunny south during those 

 long months when the productive 

 earth about us is locked fast in the 

 iron bound ice grip of winter, and it is 

 just this possibility that is a strong 

 determining factor in the case, pre- 

 suming that you desire me to treat the 

 subject from a lucrative standpoint. 



The practical man, looking to the 

 commercial side of vegetable culture 

 under glass, asks immediately, "Will it 

 pay?" Both positive and negative an- 

 swers can be given. "Yes," if the per- 

 son embarking in the enterprise can 

 command a market for his choice 

 products at a price commensurate with 

 the cost of production. "No," if he 

 must avail himself of existing condi- 

 tions, distribute through present chan- 

 nels, thus coming in conflict with the 

 vast bulk of products which though 

 decidedly mediocre satisfy the needs 

 of the majority of purchasers. 



Taking up the positive side again, I 

 unhesitatingly aflSrm my belief that, 

 given the right locality — a proximity 

 to a large center or community of 

 comparatively wealthy people, who 

 will give preference to and purchase 

 the products by reason of their supe- 

 rior quality, then vegetable culture 

 under glass can really be made lucra- 

 tive. To those possessing gardens and 

 greenhouses of their own it can be 

 particularly commended, as from a 

 comparatively small house, and with 

 intensive cultivation, the table can be 

 furnished with something fresh daily 

 for six months of the year. It is to 

 this end that my labors have been di- 

 rected, and the reflections previously 

 made as to the commercial possibili- 

 ties in the matter embody such wis- 

 dom as we have acquired based upon 

 results achieved during the past three 

 winters in a house 100 feet long by 18 

 feet wide, devoted entirely to vegeta- 

 bles. 



The house is an even-span, has two 

 center benches, each three feet nine 

 inches wide, with a central alley 12 



inches in width, and two side benches 

 three feet wide, all of the conventional 

 character, raised two feet above the 

 floor of the house and four and a half 

 inches in depth. 



Reviewing the crops that have been 

 grown therein, that we consider the 

 most important, and have had great 

 success with, is: 



Cauliflower 



Samples of the same from the house 

 in question are here exhibited. I an- 

 ticipate an objector saying they are 

 too small. They are small, judged by 

 the standard market cauliflower, but 

 we do not measure beauty with the 

 yard-stick, and it is the exception to 

 find high quality and bulk exemplified 

 in the same article. In spite of a life 

 experience I never knew what perfec- 

 tion in a cauliflower was till three 

 years ago, when I first ate one from 

 the greenhouse, and was amazed at its 

 superiority over the same article 

 grown under the best conditions out- 

 side at any season or period of the 

 year. 



On benches of the depth and dimen- 

 sions already described we plant the 

 young cauliflower plants one foot apart 

 each way. They are of course trans- 

 planted from flats when they have 

 made about four or five leaves. It 

 takes about ten weeks to perfect the 

 crop, and starting with a first planting 

 about the middle of September, and 

 following up with suceessional batches 

 about every two weeks, we find no dif- 

 ficulty at all in maintaining a supply 

 from November to May. 



Beet Greens 



Have a considerable space devoted to 

 them and form a crop that comes 

 quickly to the desired state of matur- 

 ity. The seed is sown in flats, and as 

 soon as the plants are large enough to 

 handle they are dibbled in rows 

 across the bench. The rows are four 

 inches apart, and the plants one inch 

 apart in the rows. Four weeks are suf- 

 ficient to get them large enough to 

 cook as greens, whilst if left for an 

 additional period they form sufficient 

 root to be used in the conventional 

 way. 



Carrots 



Are also satisfactory, either sown 

 upon the bench or raised in flats and 

 transplanted. We use for bench cult- 

 ure the stump-rooted varieties of the 

 French Forcing type. They take a 

 rather longer period before they are 

 fit for the table, say from twelve to 

 fourteen weeks, but they can be grown 

 as closely as the beets, and their yield 

 per square yard of occupied space is 

 considerable. 



Lettuce 



Also is grown in the same house, the 

 plants standing at eight by six inches 

 apart, but the depth of bench (4% 

 inches) was found hardly sufficient for 

 this crop, so it was doubled, with satis- 

 factory results. 



Onions 



Also are grown from sets, but they do 

 not bulb readily during the winter 

 months, although as spring advances 

 they urove all that could be desired. 



With these vegetables here enumer- 

 ated in successive plantings in rota- 

 tion I find it is possible to secure three 

 distinct crops during the winter sea- 

 son. For example, that portion of the 

 bench planted with cauliflower in Sep- 

 tember is cleared in December. The 

 soil is then loosened up, allowed to 

 dry out a little and sweeten, and then 

 replanted with beets, which crop, 

 when gathered, can be succeeded by a 

 planting of lettuce, carrots or onion 

 sets, or even a second crop of cauli- 

 flower. It is desirable to re-enrich the 

 compost with the addition of some 

 well-rotted manure before planting the 

 third crop, or the crop may be assist- 

 ed by watering with liquid manure 

 when well under way. 



It goes without saying that such a 

 house is a satisfaction and well repays 

 the cost of erection, and after atten- 

 tion, in a private establishment such 

 as I have the care of. I am, however, 

 a firm believer in its commercial pos- 

 sibilities if the material can be placed 

 after production where remunerative 

 prices will be paid. In this connection 

 I may remark that I read a paper ou 

 this same subject a year ago at one of 

 the American Institute meetings in 

 New York. At a recent meeting of the 

 same institution some excellent cauli- 

 flowers were shown, grown as here 

 recommended, and I am infoi'med that 

 the grower has secured orders to sup- 

 ply sixty private families with his 

 product. If such is the case he will 

 assuredly find his venture remunera- 

 tive. 



But we have not yet exhausted the 

 possibilities of a vegetable house. All 

 the floor space beneath the benches 

 can be utilized if due preparations 

 towards that end are made. 



Rhubarb 



(Or pie-plant, as it is commonly 

 called) needs no better accommodation 

 for forcing than that furnished by 

 this under-bench space, provided the 

 grower has some good strong stools of 

 it to bring in from the open ground. 

 These should be previously prepared 

 by good cultivation in the open 

 ground; they can then be lifted before 

 the ground becomes hard frozen, 

 stored in any cold shed or convenient 

 place, and brought in for forcing as 

 desired. The plants can be thrown 

 away when their produce has been 

 gathered, and a new lot introduced. 

 Following this up in a suceessional 

 manner, you can easily have rhubarb 

 in abundance from Christmas onwards, 

 till such time as the open-air crop is 

 ready, and whilst occupying otherwise 

 useless space it will make a handsome 

 addition to the returns of a vegetable 

 house. 



Asparagus 

 Also can be forced in the same way. 



