AUGUST 23, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



349 



With a machine, air will be given and 

 taken off when needed, and not put off 

 on account of a laclc of time, and at all 

 times the sashes are secure from being 

 blown open or off the house, resulting in 

 expensive destruction that shows poor 

 economy in doing without the much need- 

 ed apparatus. 



1 have some of the 20-foot houses con- 

 structed on the long slope to the north. 

 I have done so because it is the only way 

 to avoid one house shading the other, 

 when high houses stand east and west, 

 and are close together. This plan of 

 building is recommended by some of the 

 best florists in this country, who grow 

 cut flowers of superior quality. My own 

 experience is limited, but I am willing 

 to be guided by such men as Fled Dor- 

 ner, C. W. Ward. George Miller and 

 many others, who give their testimony 

 In favor of this method. 



Now, as to the better way to put in 

 glass, butt or lap, I have proof that it 

 largely depends on the pitch of the roof, 

 if steep, say for instance, on the short 

 span, south side, butt the glass; on the 

 long and flatter slope lap It. As to de- 

 tails of puttying or not puttying; caps 

 over the sash bars to hold the glass in, or 

 no caps, I will leave every one to decide 

 for himself. 



There are some few things in build- 

 ing benches that are worth noticing. If 

 you are putting side benches in a nar- 

 row house with a narrow center path, 

 put together your benches as shown in 

 sketch No. 1. Here notice the front post 

 back about C inches from the face of 



and if used for planting in, S-inch slats 

 %-inch apart is better. One of the best 

 evidences of a thrifty gardener or suc- 

 cessful florist, is a neat, well-kept green- 

 house, the walks of which are a very im- 

 portant part. Wet and muddy walks 

 should not be tolerated, and need not be. 

 when by adopting the following direc- 

 tions good pathways may be had at a 

 small outlay of money and labor. 



First level the walk and on each side 

 lay a line of 2x4-inch scantling, till in be- 

 tween with cinders and coal ashes saved 

 from the winter's fireing; pack down un- 

 til within I or ly, inches of top of scant- 

 ling, fill remaining space with a mixture 

 one part water-lime cement, and three 

 parts sand or sifted coal ashes, wet up 

 into a stiff mortar, round up in center, 

 and smooth off with a trowel, using a 

 thin layer of dry cement on top, sprinkle 

 with water while slicking over. This 

 walk will last as long as the house and 

 be a joy for a life time. 



I would not advise to build houses of 

 any width between 11 and 20 feet, say 12, 

 14. 16, or IS feet for the reason that any 

 size over 11 feet will require two wa ks 

 to properly care for plants. Having 

 these two walks it is a waste of glass if 

 all the bench room possible to reach com- 

 fortably, is not provided along these 

 walks. A 4-ft. bench is as wide as the 

 average man can properly reach over, 

 and is about the proper width. Now, in a 

 20-foot house there should be S feet of 

 bench room in the center and 4 feet on 

 each side, and with two walks, each 2 

 feet wide, making a total of 20 feet in 



the bench, the face board nailed to 

 end of bed piece and bottom board. 

 After bottom is on, a right angle bracket 

 2 inches thick is spiked down over every 

 bed piece and top of face board Is nailed 

 thereto. This prevents top of face board 

 from warping out of shape. Always 

 make bench frames independent of the 

 side of the house. Some make gutter 

 posts answer the place of one bench 

 post by spiking the bed post to it. This 

 helps to rot out the post and damages 

 the building. If walk is 3 feet wide 

 make bench frames as shown In cut 

 No. 2. 



The object in setting the front leg 

 is to give more room in the walk so a 

 box or barrel may pass without pbstruc- 

 tion. When there is room I deem pat- 

 tern No. 2 better, as the front leg ex- 

 tends above the bottom boards and 

 makes a support for the face boards. 

 An occasional brace should be put, in to 

 stiffen a line of benches; it is generally 

 economy to use good lumber in benches. 



I have found a coat of water-lime ce- 

 ment, applied every season inside the 

 bench, to be a great preserver of the 

 wood, and keeps sow bugs away. Mix 

 cement with water and apply with a 

 whitewash biush. The bottom boards 

 should never be more than 6 inches wide, 



the clear, and less will not be economi- 

 cal. 



Greenhouses, like other buildings, are 

 each year subject to changes and differ- 

 ent methods of construction. Some are 

 improvements while others may not be. 

 We now have iron frames, iron pipe 

 benches, with tile or slate bottoms, iron 

 gutters, all of which are good in their 

 way, if one has the money to buy them, 

 but the poor man will always commence 

 business in wooden structures, and for 

 this class I have penned these instruc- 

 tions, and if they beneflt or aid any fel- 

 low-being I am fully rewarded for the 

 labor spent. 



NOW. 



Now is a good time to secure a copy 

 of the Florists' Manual, by William 

 Scott. You need it in your business. 

 It is a book that will help you to save 

 money and to make money. You can- 

 not expend J3.00 in any better way. It 

 is the best business investment you 

 can possibly make. Start the new sea- 

 son in the right way — Mr. Scott's way. 

 Let us have your order now. 



BUFFALO TO MONTREAL. 



Joining a small delegation at To- 

 ronto, we journeyed on Wednesday 

 night to the metropolis of Canada, the 

 ancient city of Montreal, We always 

 form a picture of every city, whether 

 we have ever seen it or not, whether 

 it be Timbucto or Kalamazoo, and 

 knowing just the geographical lay of 

 Montreal we were more than agree- 

 ably pleased with this ancient town. 

 It is a great business place and is to 

 be much greater. Now that the great 

 canals are finished 800-ton barges can 

 be loaded at Duluth, Minn., and their 

 freight transferred to ocean liners at 

 Montreal, 



You won't, Mr. Editor, let me write 

 a historical sketch of the city, I know, 

 because you want horticulture, but I 

 could open quite a yarn about this 

 bustling city and its hospitable peo- 

 ple. What struck me at present was 

 the great activity in building, and 

 substantial structures at that. All 

 Canada is at present time most pros- 

 perous. If you want to see most mag- 

 nificent churches, go there. It's a 

 wonder the grand architecture and 

 marvelous decorations of "Notre 

 Dame" have not started the ever bub- 

 bling muse of our Poet Laureate, Aus- 

 tin Shaw. If you want to see a moun- 

 tain rise like a giant 800 feet above 

 the waters of the St. Lawrence, gaze 

 at Mount Royal. If you want to see 

 a lot of well kept private gardens kept 

 in fine order by real gardeners you will 

 find them in all directions up and down 

 the St. I.jawrence and on the moun- 

 tain slope. If you like the genuine 

 Scotch highlander, you will find ster- 

 ling specimens in Mr. S. S. Bain and 

 Colin Campbell. You can imagine 

 either of them holding a lowlander in 

 disdain, and saying: "These are Clan- 

 Alpine's warriors true and, Saxon, I 

 am Roderick Dhu." 



There are immense establishments 

 for making mountain dew, but we 

 don't speak as we pass by. If you like 

 frogs' legs and admire French beauty 

 in variety, two-thirds of all the city 

 are it. But I am informed that the 

 French that is spoken in Montreal 

 would not be understood in Paris. 



If you would like to have your rem- 

 nant of hair stand up straight and be 

 told all the time, "Look, S., is it not 

 grand?" go through the Lachine Rap- 

 ids. If that old Indian who pilots 

 that steamboat through this channel 

 of rocks with the boiling, raging 

 waters round you, a mile from 

 shore, should have a fit some 

 afternoon while at the wheel, there 

 would be several bunded others 

 have a fit, and well for them if they 

 were fit to go, for it would be all off. 

 I was not scared in the least, but, as 

 Mr. Mefsled remarked, we would pre- 

 fer that a few more rocks were re- 

 moved before our next visit. No 

 hurry about it at all. 



We were delighted with the cordial 

 greeting given the visitors and the 

 continual desire to make us happy. 

 This I know is the sentiment of all 



