434 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



FEBRUARY 



ISliS. 



pense of exhibiting before them all 

 would be so great as to prohibit a 

 sniall grower from presenting a seed- 

 ling for the consideration of the so- 

 ciety. All the best new varieties do 

 not come from the large growers, to 

 whom the extra expense might not be 

 a serious objection. As I understand 

 it. the object of the society is to en- 

 courage the production and dissemina- 

 tion of meritorious new varieties, as 

 well as to deter growers from dissemi- 

 nating those that lack merit. If the rule 

 suggested were adopted, the society 

 would assuredly take a step backward. 

 Don't bar out the little fellows. They 

 may do better work occasionally than 

 the big ones. JOHN BEIMF'ORD. 



DISEASED LILIUM HARRISn. 



To Prevent Their Importation. 



Editor Florists' Review: — I see 

 through the press, that a bill has been 

 introduced in the Senate regulating the 

 importation of trees, plants and shrubs 

 and other nursery stock, to prevent the 

 importation and spread of injurious in- 

 sects and fungous diseases. The bill as 

 I understand it, provides that all nur- 

 sery stock imported shall be inspected 

 and If found free from injurious insects 

 or disea.ses receive a certificate to al- 

 low the owner to transport and sell it 



Could not this be extended to bulbs 

 also? The way we have been taken in 

 by the Bermuda lily growers of late is 

 nothing less than fraud and has some 

 similarity to the Chicago gold brick 

 industry. I am positive that if a law 

 was in force preventing the importa- 

 tion of bulbs infested with dangerous 

 insects, 75 per cent of the lily bulbs we 

 receive now from Bermuda would have 

 to be sent back, and the growers would 

 wake up to the necessitv of discrimi- 

 nating between a good and a bad bulb 

 I hey have now a practical raonopolv of 

 the Lihum Harrisii trade, and this may 

 account for the carelessness, greed and 

 insolence they have shown. 



I am convinced that the disease ( •>) of 

 the Liliuni Harrisii is caused by the 

 bulb mite Rhizoglyphus echinops. or 

 Rhizog yphus Robini, as some German 

 publication calls it. This is a very 

 dangerous insect. It is as fond of the 

 hyacinth, tulip, iris, or other flowering 

 bulbs as It is of the lily, and careful- 

 ness by grubbing out and burning 

 every bulb that shows the least sign of 

 this msect has kept it down in Hol- 

 land. But sometimes we strike bad 

 cases from there. I received a shipment 

 ot 10,000 Spanish Iris this fall which 

 were badly infested with Rhizoglvphus 

 some bulbs literally filled with these in- 

 sects so that I had to burn the whole 

 lot. 



Every forcer of bulbs will find among 

 his hyacinths, tulips, etc., bulbs where 

 the center is rotted out. If he will open 

 these and examine them with a good 

 glass he will find Rhizoglyphus pres- 

 ent. As to Bermuda lilies, he will have 

 no trouble in finding from 25 to 250 on 

 each bulb. I understand that the 



Japanese have imported some Lilium 

 Harrisii from Bermuda. If this is the 

 case it may account for the presence of 

 this bulb mite in Japanese Lilium lon- 

 giflorum. About 5 per cent of my Lili- 

 um longiflorum from Japan are so in- 

 fested, and if the same carelessness is 

 shown over there as in Bermuda, this 

 percentage will increase from year to 

 year. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I wish you wou'.d 

 agitate a little, through your paper, 

 amongst the florists of the country, in 

 favor of such a law as mentioned above. 

 It is impossible for each individual flor- 

 ist to inspect his own importations, as 

 he would be obliged to pay duty first 

 before he could do this, besides putting 

 himself to trouble and annoyance. A 

 government inspector could do his work 

 .•it the port of entry. It would also stim- 

 ulate the growing of these bulbs in the 

 United States. EMIL BUETTNER. 



BUILDING AND HEATING. 



Replying to the inquiry of Madelia. 

 the property he describes is an ideal lo- 

 cation for a range of greenhouses. No- 

 ticing that his present and immediate 

 future business demands the production 

 of a general and miscellaneous slock of 

 plants and cut flowers, I would suggest 

 the erection of an even-span structure, 

 about 18 feet wide, running north and 

 south along the western edge of the 

 central ravine, the house to be divided 

 into sections according to his require- 

 ments, by means of glass partitions, 

 the house being placed sufficiently 

 north of the ravine to allow of a road- 

 way between the house and the ravine. 

 1'he boiler house would be placed on 

 the slope of the ravine, about 25 feet 

 from its upper edge, thus leaving space 

 for the building of a three-quarter span 

 house along the top of the ravine, fac- 

 ing the south, should he at any future 

 time require such a house for rose- 

 growing, which he undoubtedly will. 

 This future rose house would then be 

 low enough and sufficiently distant 

 from the southern ends of the even- 

 span houses to avoid any shadows be- 

 ing thrown upon them. 



The sides of such a house would be 

 about 4 feet 6 inches high, of which two 

 feet would be of glass, made stationary; 

 the ridge would be about eleven feet 

 high, with a continuous line of venti- 

 lating sashes along each side of it. For 

 posts I would suggest locust, red heart I 

 cedar or cypress, giving preference in j 

 the order mentioned: these posts ' 

 should be sawn on all sides to any con- 

 venient size, 3x4 inches being desira- 

 ble, and should be set not less than 3 

 feet in the ground, and in setting the 

 posts be careful to set them square to 

 the grade line, not plumb, and see that 

 all other work follows the same square 

 lines, or you will have troul)le in the 

 glazing. The roof bars should be two 

 and three-quarter or three inches deep 

 by one and one-half inches wide, ma- 

 chined with a condensation groove, all 

 bars running from ridge to eaves, and 

 for the header upon which the ventila- 



tor closes use a strip about two by one 

 and one-half inches, in which square 

 grooves are cut, corresponding to the 

 top ot and to the spacing of the roof 

 bars, these grooves being, thus, about 

 eleven-sixteenths of an inch wide by 

 one-half inch deep and with 16 eleven- 

 sixteenth centers, if IG-inch glass is 

 used: this strip to be nailed on to the 

 top of the bars so that each bar fits into 

 its respective groove, thus maintaining 

 the proper spacing of the bars and fur- 

 nishing a true line upon which the ven- 

 tilators may close. The ridge could be 

 of 2x6 or 2xS, and the cap of Sxlt^.-inch 

 cypress. For the support of the roof 

 place 2-inch pipe columns every eight 

 feet under the ridge, and about 18 

 inches up from the center of each slops 

 of the roof attach a continuous line of 

 1 '4-inch pipe, by means of tin straps, 

 and then by means of l-iuch pipe struts 

 or posts, connect these horizontal pipes, 

 or purlins, to the central 2-inch col- 

 umns, about 5 feet 6 inches up from the 

 floor. This makes a very economical, 

 rigid and durable bracing. 



For glass, I would suggest using that 

 16 inches wide by 20, 22 or 24 inches 

 wide, according to the stock held in 

 your market, the quality to be thai 

 known as second, and of double thick- 

 ness. The bench legs and bearers should 

 be of cypress, 2x4, and the bottoms 

 may be of cheaper material, say, of 

 hemlock, but if you have the capital to 

 invest, use the cypress; it will p;iy. 

 The side benches would be about three 

 feet wide by two feet high, the center 

 bench about seven feet wide by 2 feet 

 3 inches high, and the two walks about 

 2 feet 2 inches wide. 



For heating, I would suggest the in- 

 stallation of a boiler having sufficient 

 capacity for double the first house, say, 

 one with about thirteen square feet of 

 grate surface and heating surface in 

 proportion, and for the piping of the 

 house use 1-inch pipes, the TO-degree 

 section requiring 22 lines, the 60-de- 

 gree portion 16 lines and the 50-degree 

 part 13 lines, the pipes in each section 

 being arranged for a separate circula- 

 tion. The work room, offices, etc., 

 could be conveniently placed at the 

 north end of the house, and would there 

 afford some protection. 



HENRY W. GIBBONS. 



New York. 



BUILDING AND HEATING. 



In reply to E. G.'s inquiry, as to the 

 general lay-out for a range of green- 

 houses to cover a plot of ground lOTx 

 150 feet, its length running east and 

 west, on which stands a two-story 

 building, 18x25 feet, this building being 

 located centrally at the eastern end of 

 the plot, about 12 feet west of the 

 eastern boundary, the grade of the land 

 falling slightly towards the southeast 

 corner, and the houses to be arranged 

 for the production of carnations, gen- 

 eral bedding slock and violets, I would 

 suggest a range of even-span houses, 

 running north and south, arranged 

 about as follows: Commencing on the 



