Skptembku 10, 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



635 



SPIDERS. 



Can you tell me how to get rid of 

 spiders in our greenhouse? They have 

 very long legs and small bodies and are 

 harmful to the plants. We should be 

 very thankful for advice as to how to 

 dispose of them. E. K. 



This must be a different spider from 

 any we have seen or heard of. E. K. 

 does not say how they are harmful to the 

 plants, or what plants suffer, whether 

 they cut or suck the juices of the plant, 

 or spin their webs so thickly about the 

 plants as to prevent growth. The little 

 red pest we call red spider is, I sup- 

 pose, a true spider, because he spins a 

 web, and in syringing the leaves we do 

 no harm to the spider himself but we 

 destroy his web and he can't travel with- 

 out it and so perishes. He is a vegetar- 

 ian, but all long-legged spiders that we 

 ever saw are carnivorous. They eat or 

 suck the juices of flies, wasps, butter- 

 flies or any insect that is guileless enouch 

 to ' ' enter my parlor. ' ' Tobacco smoke 

 has no effect on them. M'e have often, 

 while watching the fumigating pot, no- 

 ticed the capers of the spiders whin tin' 

 smoke rolled their way. They drop down 

 a few feet, then up again, ami arc quite 

 busy for a few moments, something as 

 we are at the commencement of a hail 

 storm, but after a time they retreat into 

 the innermost depths of their wonderful 

 dwelling, shut their eyes and dream of 

 some good, fat fiy, while we in the hail 

 storm think of John Esler. The hydro- 

 cyanic acid gas will kill them, as it 

 will anything that has lungs. If the 

 house were empty, strong fumes of sul- 

 phur would settle them, but no house is 

 empty just now. Cobwebs in the corner 

 don 't look very nice, but outside of ap- 

 pearances I never heard of their doing 

 any harm. 



How many of you have ever read that 

 delightful little book Flashlights of Na- 

 ture, by Grant Allen, a man who had the 

 faculty to notice more of nature 's work 

 in the fields and woods and in the lowly 

 things that creep and fly than any natur- 

 alist, perhaps, of any past century. One 

 chapter is devoted to the domestic life 

 and habits of the commonest spider, 

 name I don 't pretend to remember, but 

 think it is " Ornithireueum Cannibalen- 

 sis. ' ' Among other intensely inter- 

 esting descriptions of forming his web, 

 etc., Mr. Allen tells us that when Lady 

 Spider decides to take unto herself a 

 husband she gives due notice in the 

 neighborhood, and two suitors promptly 

 make their appearance, but both at 

 a respectful distance and at different 

 angles. After half an hour of close 

 scrutiny of the charms and other attrac- 

 tions of the two candidates, her choice 

 is made, and the rejected one is over- 

 taken and devoured. The lucky one is 

 then invited home and housekeeping 

 commences. After a few days of bliss- 

 ful honeymoon Mother Spider tires of 

 hubby, and to save herself a lot of talk 

 and divorce proceedings, she pounces 

 on her dear Alphonso and promptly de- 

 vours him. It is economy in the family 

 and saves a lot of trouble. I may add 

 that in the spider world the wife is su- 

 perior to the husband in size, sagacity, 

 good looks and utility, and seems to 

 have much the better time of it in this 

 world. Many such true stories of flowers 

 and insects can be found in that wonder- 

 ful little book, and it is a thousand times 

 better reading than the latest murder 

 trial. William Scott. 



GREENHOUSE CONSTRUCTION. 



The following is a summary of remarks 

 under this head, by R. W. King, of To- 

 ronto, before the recent meeting of the 

 Canadian Horticultural Association: 



Outside of the aspect as regards the 

 sun's rays and the lie of the land for 

 drainage" purposes, there appear to me 

 some questions yet to be considered in 

 chousing a site for greenhouses. Presum- 

 ing, for instance, that rose-growing is 

 the purpose of the plant, should the lo- 

 cation lie high or low? Should the cli- 

 mate be warm or cold? In fact, loca- 

 tion generally, and for different purposes, 

 is a question that I would like to hear 

 very fully discussed. 



I think it would be a good idea to 

 take a census of all growers, successful 

 or otherwise, to determine such ques- 

 tions. For instance, the Dale estate rose 

 ground is practically table land, having 

 a cliff on two sides of it, and is consid- 

 erably elevated above the level of Lake 

 Ontario. Lawrence, of this city, I think, 

 will tell you that he had poor success in 

 growing roses at Mimico, but good suc- 

 cess when he moved his houses to the very 

 much higher land of North Toronto. Mr. 

 Mussen has also had good success at 

 North Toronto. Mr. Dunlop is at a fair 

 distance from the damp air of the lake, 

 and considerably elevated in position. His 

 prevailing winds blow not from, but to- 

 wards the lake. 



In talking with the late Harry Dale 

 on the merits of different forms of con- 

 struction, with a view to selecting a 

 standard house, he told me what I know 

 to be true. He had built houses running 

 north and south; he had built them run- 

 ning east and west ; he had built them 

 short-span-to-the-east and short-span-to- 

 the-west, and he had built them even 

 span; he had built them divided, and he 

 had built them under one roof. The sum- 

 up of his experience as then expressed 

 was, that he had grown prize flowers in 

 them all, and to a profit. 



In approaching the question of form 

 for permanent houses on a large scale, I 

 mentally reasoned as follows: Given an 

 area of ground suitably located which we 

 want to cover so we may regulate the 

 temperature artificially without interfer- 

 ing with the sun's rays, let us say, for 

 our argument 's sake, that the roof is one 

 solid sheet of glass of circular shape, 100 

 feet in diameter, surrounded by walls 

 seven feet high. It does not matter how 

 you face that house; it faces the same 

 any way you put it, but it does matter 

 how you plant it. Certain parts will be 

 shaded by the walls, but make your walls 

 of glass, and, as far as absence of shade 

 is concerned, all parts are the same. 



Now we will support our roof by posts, 

 say fifteen feet apart each way. If they 

 form rows north and south, they will also 

 form rows half way or diagonally be- 

 tween either of these two positions. The 

 shade thrown by these posts will travel 

 substantially equally over the whole of 

 the house. 'Following out this argument, 

 I think you will arrive at the conclusion 

 that position in regard to sun's rays has 

 little to do with the form of the house, 

 the main thing being to give the least 

 size to all parts of the roof support con- 

 sistent with safety. 



To illustrate the objection to divided 

 houses from cost of heating standpoint, 

 we will imagine that roadways are cut 

 through the circle referred to. Every 

 roadway necessitates the cost of walls on 

 either side and subtracts from the grow- 

 ing space. The walls, even though glazed. 



require extra sash and supports, which 

 add to the shade. To avoid the shade 

 of wall surface, was the first object aimed 

 at in raising benches to bring the plants 

 to the light ; but as soon as you dispense 

 with your walls this necessity for raised 

 benches disappears. My own solution of 

 this question of form of houses is to 

 keep your blocks square and your roof 

 supports as few as possible. 



There is another question affecting the 

 block form of building, and that is ven- 

 tilation. You know the bugbear of the 

 block system at present is the absence of 

 opportunity in the center of the block 

 for side ventilation. It is said this is 

 not a point in rose growing, but that it 

 is essential for carnations, although I 

 have seen excellent carnations growing in 

 detached houses with no side ventilation, 

 and I may say that I find it is the grow- 

 ers advocating this additional ventilation 

 who are now building very wide houses. 

 I do not wish to propose a question of 

 this kind in any partial light, but since 

 it has become advisable if not impera- 

 tive for economy in heating, to block 

 your houses, it is wise to consider first 

 such improvements in ventilation as will 

 accord therewith. This I think may be 

 found in double ventilation, or the plac- 

 ing of ordinary ventilators on each side 

 of the ridges. 



Another point that might be touched 

 on is that of drainage. When we come 

 to build in block, where the rain can- 

 not get away at the sides of narrow 

 houses, the disposing of a downfall of 

 the liquid element becomes a question to 

 be carefully considered. We do not, in 

 long runs, " want to make gutters large 

 enough to carry it off to the ends; and 

 most of us want to use butted glass, 

 which has a faculty of leaking badly 

 when a down]. our of rain fills up the val- 

 leys beyond the capacity of the gutters 

 to carry it away. 



Where the auxiliary gutters are used 

 to catch the leakage and drip, being re- 

 lieved at short intervals so as to empty 

 into underground drains, we find a dispo- 

 sition to make these underground drains 

 too small. Experience seems to dictate 

 that for a 17-foot house a 2y 2 -inch tile 

 may be used for the first 150 feet, a 3- 

 inc'h for the next 125 feet, and a 4-inch 

 for the next 125, and 500 feet is as long 

 as we think it advisable, for several rea- 

 sons, to run a house on the same grade, 

 unless specially designed. 



TO REMOVE BOILER SCALE. 



Kindly let me know what will take the 

 scale off of boiler tubes and sides. I 

 bought a second hand boiler and there 

 is about Yi of an inch of scale all over 

 the inside. J. R. 



There are many preparations sold for 

 this purpose, but the best I have found 

 is a careful application of hammer, chisel 

 and scraper. Henry W. Gibbons. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



11. It. Berger & Co., New York, bulbs 

 and plants; H. F. Michell Co., Phila- 

 delphia, bulbs, seeds, etc.; Chas. Haw- 

 kinson, Excelsior. Minn., nursery stock; 

 J. H. H. Boyd, Gage, Tenn., trees and 

 tree seeds; Clare & Scharrath, Jackson- 

 ville, Fla., decorative goods; W. C. Beck- 

 ert, Allegheny, Pa., seeds and bulbs; 

 Alexander Seed Co., Augusta, Ga,, seeds 

 and supplies. 



