FEBRUARY 3, 1S9S. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



435 



Suggested Range of Glass for E. G. 



eastern line of, and running south from 

 the two-story building, would be an 

 even-span violet house, No. 1, 10 feet by 

 46 feet 6 inches, with one line of ven- 

 tilators on the eastern slope of the 

 roof, and one on each of the vertical 

 sides, below the eaves. I would leave a 

 space about 5 feet wide, which would 

 allow of a second violet house as above, 

 having a line of ventilators on the roof, 

 and one line on the east vertical side 

 only, the eaves on the west side being 

 on a line with the west side of the two- 

 story building, would have a gutter, 

 and from here out towards the west 

 would be a solid block of even-span 

 houses built on the ridge and furrow 

 plan, the first, which would be house 

 No 3, being 18 feet 3 inches wide by 107 

 feet long, as would also be houses No. 

 5, 7 and 9, houses No. 4, 6, S and 10 be- 

 ing 10 feet wide by 107 feet long, the 

 wider houses having a continuous line 

 of ventikitors on each side of the roof, 

 and the narrower houses only one line, 

 which would be on the east side of the 

 roof. 



It will be necessary to make connec- 

 tion between each house by means of 

 doors, these may be at either end or at 

 the middle as may be most convenient, 

 the gutters having a fall from the door- 

 ways to the ends of the houses. Houses 

 No. 1 and 2, having extra light and 

 ventilation, would be best adapted for 

 the violets, the others being used for 

 carnations or bedding stock as conven- 

 ience or requirements may dictate. If 

 it is not desirable to cover the entire 

 plot, the intermediate narrow houses 

 may be omitted, in which case I would 

 advise that the vertical sides of the 

 wide houses be made with glass. 



For the heating of the entire range, 

 you will require double-flue chimney, 

 each of the flues being lCxl6 inches, and 

 extending about eight feet above the 

 roof of the building. Two boilers will 

 he necessary, each having about eight 



square feet of grate surface, and for the 

 piping of the houses, I would use 2- 

 iucli wrought iron pipes, arranged 

 about as follows: In house No. 1. three 

 lines of pipe under each side bench; 

 house No. 2 will need three lines under 

 the west and two under the east bench; 

 house No. 3 should have three lines un- 

 der each side bench, and four lines un- 

 der the center; this would also be the 

 arrangement for houses No. 5, 7 and 9; 

 in No. i two lines under the east and 

 three lines under the west bench would 

 be required, as would also be the case 

 with houses No. 6 and S; house No. 10 

 should have three lines under the west 

 and two lines under the east bench. 

 The mains, which would run from the 

 boilers into No. 3 house, and then along 

 the east side of this house to the south 

 end, and thence across the end of the 

 other houses, would be of 6-inch pipe 

 from the boilers to the west of house 

 No. 5, then reducing to 5-inch to the 

 west of No. 7, and then 4-inch, a separ- 

 ate 3-inch main leading from the boil- 

 ers to No. 1 and 2. I would valve the 

 pipes in each house, and place the ex- 

 pansion tank in the second story of the 

 present building. 



HENRY W. GIBB0N3. 

 New York. 



SWEET PEAS. 



As this reaches growers only, we 

 will refrain from giving any attempt 

 at extended cultural directions, as the 

 field has been so ably covered from 

 time to time in the various journals 

 that by this time probably every one 

 has formed an opinion as to the meth- 

 ods they intend to follow. There are 

 a few points, however, that we can- 

 not refrain from touching upon. 



The soil should be worked as deeply 

 as possible, and before planting be well 

 rolled or trampled. 



Drainage should be seen to care- 



fully — better a spot on the dry side 

 than one where at times the water is 

 hard to dispose of. 



Supports must be provided — either 

 wire or brush. If brush can be ob- 

 tained it is preferable, and elm brush 

 is the best, but it must be free from 

 leaves, as they harbor so many in- 

 sect pests. It is foolishness beyond all 

 reason to attempt to have healthy 

 vines where you wait till leaves are 

 out before cutting the brush and fail 

 to remove them. 



As to the merits of deep or shallow 

 planting, we would say that we favor 

 both, and will explain: First, for 

 early planting where severe frosts are 

 to be expected, plant deep. Second, 

 late planting should be planted shal- 

 low — fio to 2 inches is plenty — and the 

 seed should be previously soaked in 

 lukewarm milk or water for five or six 

 hours. 



it you can't or don't plant early — 

 real early — then plant late and plant 

 shallow. Wait till danger of frost is 

 past (counting from time you expect 

 the peas to be up), and watch them 

 carefully. Do not allow them to get 

 dried out early in life. Water them 

 when young, and later on in the sum- 

 mer they will take care of themselves. 



Whether planted in trenches or not, 

 if sowed broadcast, the row must be 

 thinned out by hand when large 

 enough; overcrowding is one of the 

 greatest faults with which we have to 

 contend. We strongly advise the sep- 

 arate dropping of the seed by hand as 

 being the cheapest in the end (an ideal 

 marker is a notched stick 1x4, about 

 8 feet long, with side braces to handle, 

 something like an overgrown rake with 

 the teeth straight out). 



If possible, mulch the ground be- 

 tween the rows heavily. This keeps 

 down weeds, and if stable litter is used 

 the rains or waterings will carry the 

 soluble parts to the plants, greatly to 

 their benefit. 



The gray blister beetle, so destruc- 

 tive to asters, is equally fond of young 

 sweet pea vines. A mixture of one 

 tablespoonful of London purple, two 

 of fresh slacked lime to an ordinary 

 pail of water, sprinkled on with a 

 whisk broom, will drive away those it 

 doesn't kill. 



During hottest weather an occa- 

 sional evening or entire night, if neces- 

 sary, is well spent spraying. The dust 

 must be washed off and the red spider 

 kept down. Never sprinkle when the 

 sun is out — better leave it undone. 



If you want flowers from the begin- 

 ning of the season, without a break 

 till frost cuts vines down, cut every 

 flower formed — good, bad and indiffer- 

 ent. Whether you need them, can sell 

 them or not, they must be taken off. 

 Often a rain will spoil thousands of 

 blossoms; let the pickers go througb 

 and gather them. During the height 

 of the season, when the glut is on, it 

 don't pay to pick them — pick them just 

 the same. Send only the best to mar- 

 ket — your time will come later; you 



