July 10, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



195 



Bed of Pandanus and Crotons at Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



is when it is just burstiug through the 

 grouinl. Don't bother with shade but 

 water the seed bed twenty times a day 

 if necessary. Never let it be dry till 

 the plants are up. 



William Scott. 



WOOD AS FUEL. 



In view of present coal difficulty, would 

 appreciate any information you may be 

 able to supply concerning relative effi- 

 ciency of coal and wood for steam heat- 

 ing during fall and winter of five or six 

 months in a greenhouse establishment of 

 some 12,000 or 15,000 square feet of 

 glass. How much (cords) of 4-foot wood 

 would I need to burn to equal steam 

 producing power of one (1) ton of fur- 

 nace (hard) coal? 



As I am bothered by water. in cellars 

 in fall and spring, thus making it im- 

 possible to keep the fires going, would 

 like a suggestion as to how the houses 

 (200x20) could be heated by some port- 

 able heaters. Have three such houses, 

 two being connected. Would it be possi- 

 ble to keep out frost on such occasions 

 by using say four medium-size oil heat- 

 ers for each house? No. 404. 



Eeplying to Correspondent No. 404, 

 the heat producing powers of all woods 

 when thoroughly dry have approximately 

 the same value per pound of wood; it 

 -will thus readily be seen that the heavier 

 the wood (when dry), the greater the 

 heating value per cord. In general prac- 

 tice, 2V4 pounds of wood (dry) vpill give 

 the same results as one pound of anthra- 

 •cite coal. Of the woods most readily 

 procurable the heat values are in about 

 the following order: 



Hickory, white oak, maple, beech, red 

 and black oak, poplar, chestnut and elm; 

 thus, a cord of dry hickory is equal to 

 two thousand pounds of anthracite coal, 

 a cord of white oak to seventeen hun- 

 dred pounds of anthracite coal, beech, 

 red and black oak to fourteen hundred 

 pounds of anthracite coal, poplar, chest- 

 nut and elm to one thousand pounds of 

 anthracite coal. 



The value of wood for fuel depends 

 very largely upon its dryness, the value 

 decreasing very rapidly with the per- 

 centage of moisture held by the wood. 



I know of no portable heaters which 

 could be satisfactorily u.sed for tempor- 

 ary heating houses of the sizes given 

 (200x20). If it is not immediately con- 

 venient to make your boiler cellar water 

 tight, why not run a circuit of steam 

 pipes over-head in eacli house, say a one- 

 inch flow and return for such temporary 

 heating, using a small steam boiler which 

 can be placed on the ground level. 



Henby W. Gibbons. 



New York. 



THE COMING CONVENTION. 



It's refreshing to hear from other cit- 

 ies of the preparations that are making 

 for tlio trip to Asheville. It's a good, 

 long journey for those whose stamping 

 ground is located in northern New York 

 or Minnesota or the wilds of Canada, but 

 think of what you will get in return for 

 the expense of this southern trip. Many 

 of us would kiss the well-washed feet of 

 an earthly angel, and here we are prom- 

 ised wlien crossing the passes of the Ap- 

 palaeiiian Mountains to take a smack at 

 the understandings of a real angel. It is 

 hope<l that Mr. Deake has ordered a 

 goodly sized flock of these celestial cher- 

 ubim, so that there will be one for each 

 brother and that they will float along hor- 

 izontally by the side of the cars, so that 

 this pleasant incident can be accom- 

 plished without an unusual kinking of 

 neck or vertebrae, for some of those who 

 intend journeying to Asheville love deli- 

 cacies, but are willing to refrain from 

 them if they come with too much physical 

 inconvenience. 



Dropping these mythical and celestial 

 features, there are many good reasons 

 why all who possibly can should be in 

 attendance at the annual convention of 

 the S. A. F., and some of the reasons, 

 with the editor's permission, I should 

 like to comment on. At Indianapolis 

 last February the writer was given the 

 great honor of responding to the toast, 

 ' ' The Society of American Florists. ' ' 1 

 did not deserve the honor, and have 

 many times since reflected on the poor 

 effort made. Some men can talk better 

 with their tongues than with their peus; 

 others the reverse. Some have plenty of 

 good ideas and thoughts, but would soon 

 get nervous if talking to an audience 

 five minutes without raising a laugh. So 



tlie opportunity to say many good, 

 truthful and deserving things was lost 

 and the tft'ort petered out into more or 

 less amusing stories. 



It is the duty of all who are physically 

 and financially able to be at Asheville. 

 The old guard will be there sure, but we 

 want more than that. The S. A. F. has 

 doup much for all of us ; more than most 

 realize. It may have destroyed the prof- 

 its of some fakir firms, which no honest 

 man regrets, but has made all acquainted 

 with ' ' who 's who. ' ' It has been the me- 

 dium of our getting acquainted personal- 

 ly not only with the leaders of the pro- 

 fession, but with hundreds of lesser 

 lights whose acquaintance has been just 

 as pleasant and just as much cherished. 

 It has been a healthy stimulant to the 

 whole trade. We have learned from each 

 other. It is the parent, if not the sus- 

 tainer, of our florist papers, and who 

 will dare to say that the rank and file 

 of the florists of the country could get 

 along without them? 



A few bright men arc gifted with the 

 inspiration to originate methods of cul- 

 ture in advance of what has gone before 

 and the rest of lis are purely copyists. 

 I don't attribute the marvelous increase 

 of glass and the use of flowers of the 

 past fifteen years to the influence of the 

 S. A. F., but for the labor-saving, expe- 

 ditious methods of producing these plants 

 and flowers we owe much to the national 

 society. Ours is a profession, and, like 

 the legitimate medical profession, has no 

 secrets. A few men may keep a wrinkle 

 to themselves, but the majority of the 

 leaders are proud to diffuse their knowl- 

 edge to their fellow craftsmen. There 

 are any amount of fools, lazy and indo- 

 lent men, who will not take advantage 

 either by observation or advice. The 

 good society may have threshed out many 

 of the practical and more familiar sub- 

 jects, yet there is an immense field of 

 work before it. 



And now we are ornamental horticul- 

 turists as well as florists, and do you re- 

 alize what that rather high-sounding title 

 implies? Unlimited is the vision before 

 us, and instead of being exhausted for 

 topics the field of knowledge is inex- 

 haustible. To keep up the good work 

 of the society, to create enthusiasm, it is 

 necessary to have a good, lively meeting. 



