jA.XUAKt 14, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



361 



A CHRISTMAS DISPLAY. 



The aecompauyiug illustratiou ehows 

 the exterior of a Cincinnati tiower storo 

 at Christmas. Fred Gear has been in 

 the flower business since he was a small 

 boy and now does a very prosperous 

 trade. As one of the wholesalers says : 

 "He and his chief assistant, George 

 Tromcy, are one of the most hustling 

 combinations in the citv. " 



SCALE ON FERNS. 



We mail you a frond of Pteris tremula 

 on which there is some scale. Wo have 

 tried Rose Leaf Extract. Kindly tell us 

 what they are and how to get rid of 

 them. H. H. C. 



An examination of the fern frond re- 

 ferred to proves that the insects in ques; 

 tion are the common turtle scale, also 

 called largo brown scale, one of the 

 pests to which ferns in general are sub- 

 ject, and a pest that spreads very rap- 

 idly among these plants, especially those 

 that are grown in a warm greenhouse. 

 This insect may be kept down by re- 

 peated doses of a solution of the to- 

 bacco extract, the best method of apply- 

 ing the treatment being to dip the plants 

 in the solution anel then to lay them upon 

 their sides to drain off. But it is im- 

 possible to eradicate the insects by one 

 or two doses, from the fact that the 

 solution of tobacco can only be used of 

 moderate strength without injuring the 

 ferns, for example, one part of the Rose 

 Leaf Extract to 100 of water. 



W. H. Taplin". 



GLADIOLI BY THE ACRE. 



Before the recent session of the New 

 Jersey State Horticultural Society, Ar- 

 thur Cowee, of Berlin, N. Y., read a pa- 

 per on the gladiolus, from which the fol- 

 lowing is an extract: 



It may interest you to know liow 

 large fields of gladioli are grown. The 

 grounel is well plowed in the autumn, re- 

 ]ilowed, harrowed, drilled and fertilized 

 in the spring, reacly for the planting 

 gang, which on a plantation of seventy 

 acres requires about 100 men, boys and 

 girls. The rows are drilled thirty-three 

 inches apart, into which the bulbs are 

 strewn, after which the back-aching task 

 of setting takes place. Every bulb is 

 set by hand, two, three and four inches 

 apart across the drill, according to the 

 size of bulb, then covered to a depth 

 of from three to four inches of fine soil. 



In adelition to the bulblets, the 

 growers' stock in trade consists of the 

 small cormels, which are formed among 

 the roots and about the new-grown bulb. 

 These cormels are sowed in row-s 

 twelve inches apart and must be kept 

 free from weeds by'hand. The first year 

 from these are produced small bulblets, 

 which must be again planted another 

 year to secure a m?i-ketable bulb. Ir, 

 most strains few of the cormels bloom, 

 but in the new hybrids many show a 

 fairlv good spike i^hilo forming the 

 bulblct. 



Before the planting of this acreage is 

 completed the early spike begins to show 

 and horse cultivators are started and 

 are kept in motion day after day until 

 buds begin to appea>', after 'which the 

 soil is not disturbed except tn remove 

 scattering weeds by hand. Some ' se.i- 

 fons the cost of cultivating is much in- 

 creased by the necessity of hand weed- 



A Cincinnati Store in its Holiday Garb. 



ing. which is occasioned by the inter- 

 ruption of horse cultivation by exces- 

 sive i'aius. The ground is never worked 

 when there is surface moisture. The 

 last seasou was very aggravating iu this 

 lespect. 



The most interesting but perplexing 

 part of the work eluring the blooming 

 season is the classification anel rogue- 

 ing. The most of this is done by girls 

 who are constantly 'n the fields, except 

 when prevented by rains. 



To strengthen the growth of the 

 bulb is one of the most important oper.o 

 tions and one which excites the raosb 

 comment from visitors. This is done by 

 the removal of the bloom after a few 

 of the lower flowers have withered. 

 During these cuttings we are besieged 

 with visitors, who carry aw-ay these flow, 

 ers by wagon loads and deplore the 

 sgeming waste of the quantities left on 

 (he ground. 



Harvesting is the most simple but 

 tedious part of the grower 's work. 

 Plowing on either side of tJ'e rows loos- 

 ens the soil, from which the bulbs are, 

 liftcel by the spike, which is immediately 

 clipped close to the bulb, after which 

 the bulbs arc spreael upon sheets to 

 euro before storing in the houses, where, 

 eluring the winter, the roots are removed 

 and the stock is sorted, sized and 

 counted for market. In shipping, pack- 

 ages are lined with several thicknesses 

 of paper for frost protection and the 

 bulbs arc packed in planer shavings, so 

 as to prevent bruising in transit. 



I have many times been asked, how 

 many bulbs could be grown upon one 

 acre. Practically the only reply which 

 could be made to this question is, from 

 100,000 up to 1,, 500,000, elepending en- 

 tirely upon the size of stock planted and 

 the elistance apart. 



PIPING FOR STEAM. 



I propose to enlaTge my greenhouses 

 and replace my hot water boiler with a 

 steam boiler. It has been suggested to 

 me that I could leave my 4-inch pipes 

 or a part of them and use them in place 

 of putting in an entirely new system of 



pipes. Would this be desirable or prac- 

 ticable "? Part of the pipes are east 

 iron and part boiler flues cemented to- 

 gether. The houses connected run nortl* 

 and south, north ends protected, soutli- 

 gables glass, with eighteen inches glass- 

 on the east side. With the proposeiJ 

 addition there will be: House No. 1,. 

 12x70, east beech for roses or bedding 

 stock, west bench for cuttings. House 

 No. 2, 17x70, roses. No. 3, 12xS0, roses- 

 ox cuttings. No. 4, 25x90, carnations. 

 No. 5 runs east and west from the shed,, 

 across the ends of the others. 12x65- 

 feet, and is used for palms, begonias,, 

 etc. How shoulel these houses be piped- 

 for steam? C. J. B. 



It is not practicable to use either th»- 

 4-inch cast iron pipes or the cemeat 

 joined boiler flues for steam. The ex- 

 pansion is too -great. • The calked joints 

 will not stand it and, in the seeo-nd! 

 place, the radiating surface, if the same 

 piping w-ere to be used, would be too 

 great. 



For steam under five pounds pressure- 

 house No. 1 will recjuire a 2-iueh riser 

 running from front to rear under tha- 

 gablo and at the south' end divided! 

 and made to ■ distribute into five I%j- 

 inch pipes on the west side under is&ef 

 bench and four on the east side. Hoose* 

 No. 2 will require practically the same- 

 piping. It is somewhat less exposed- 

 anel can be heated by 'five pipes under- 

 each side bench, if a two-bench house 

 or' if a three-bench house by three- 

 pipes under each side bench with four 

 pipes under the middle bench. This* 

 house should also be provieled with O' 

 2-inch riser running from end to end^ 

 game as in No: 1. House No. 3 ■v^ill be- 

 sufficiently heated by a 2-inch riser- 

 divided at the south end to return un-- 

 der the two side benches in four 1%- 

 inch pipes under each bench. Houso- 

 No. 4 will require a 2%-inch riser dis- 

 tributing into fourteen l^^-inch retnrcs=- 

 under the benches. A satisfactory ar- 

 rangement for these will be' four pipes- 

 under the west bench, five under the- 

 east bench and five under the center- 

 bench. House No. 5 will require a 2-incia 



