MARCH 24, 189S. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



683 



A Tile Bench. 



plant, and sell great quantities during 

 tlie summer. The variety known as 

 •'The Pearl," a beautiful white of 

 rather dwarf and stout habit, is a good 

 one for the purpose. To get them 

 early, a clump could have been lifted 

 in the early winter and kept dormant 

 till February, then started in a little 

 heat, and any amount of cuttings pro- 

 cured. It is not yet too late. Put the 

 young growths in the sand; they will 

 root readily, and can be shifted as' 

 they need it, but must be often 

 pinched, to keep them from flowering 

 and make them bushy and shapely. In 

 ,lune they would be in 4, 5 or 6-inch 

 pols, or as large as you want them to 

 grow. When they are compact plants, 

 stop pinching, and you will soon have 

 a handsome little plant, covered with 

 flowers. Any variety can be treated 

 thus, but Pearl is such a grand flower 

 ;)nd so well known that it is a good one 

 with which to give this plan a test. 

 WM. SCOTT. 



TILE BENCHES. 



We present herewith a sketch of the 

 tile bench now largely used by Messrs. 

 Bassett & Washburn, at their large es- 

 tablishment in Hinsdale, 111. They are 

 so well pleased with this style of bench 

 that during the coming summer all of 

 their remaining old style benches will 

 be replaced with those of tile. They 

 find the first cost of the tile bench 25 

 per cent to 30 per cent greater than the 

 wooden bench, but a vast sight cheaper 

 in the end as well as giving much more 

 satisfactory results. While the drain- 

 age is perfect still the soil will not dry 

 out so completely as with the board 

 bottom bench. And benches that have 

 been in use three years (the average 

 life of a wooden bench here) are ap- 

 parently in as good condition as ever. 

 Mr. Bassett believes the benches will 

 last as long as the houses. 



The benches rest on cedar posts 

 placed four feet apart. The cross 

 pieces are 2x4, and the stringers upon 

 which the tile rest are also 2x4. The 

 tile used are ,3-inch. The 2-inch would 

 be slightly preferable, but the .3-inch 

 cover so much more space for the same 

 amount of cost that they are much 

 more economical. On these benches 



five inches of soil are placed, as the 

 drainage is so rapid this depth can be 

 safely used, and depth is considered 

 desirable where the drainage is such as 

 to warrant it. The tile are a trifle 

 over one foot long and three lengths 

 are used on a side bench, five lengths 

 being used on a center bench. Oc- 

 casionally a few of the tile are broken 

 in changing the soil, but this breakage 

 is so infrequent that the expense on 

 this account is insignificant. They 

 have already used some twelve car- 

 loads of tile (the common porous drain 

 tile) on their benches and would not 

 think of building any other style of 

 bench. 



wide, I would suggest an arrr.ngenient 

 of benches and 2-inch heating pipes 

 as shown by Fig. 1, but a range of such 

 houses would not be economical, as 

 the cost would be considerably more 

 and the bench surface much less and 

 less convenient than if the houses 

 were made wider. I would suggest 

 his buildiug only two houses and mak- 

 ing them about seventeen and one- 

 quarter feet wide, with bench and heat- 

 ing pipes arranged as shown in Fig. 2. 



For ihe heating of either lange, I 

 would advise hot water in 2-inch 

 wrought iron pipes as being the more 

 desirable and the more economical in 

 working, the arrangement of the 

 running pipes being clearly shown 

 in the cuts. The arrangement of 

 mains and their capacity cannot be 

 slated until it is decided as to the 

 make and style of boiler to be used, 

 and the exact location of same. I 

 would place the boiler at the north 

 end, opposite the center of the ends of 

 the houses and connect to a chimney- 

 having a hue 12x12 inches and about 

 lo feet high above the floor of the 

 liour-es. The boiler should have a 

 grate t^urface of not less than 5 square 

 feet, with its heating surface in pro- 

 portion. Whatever boiler you decide 

 upon using, be sure to procure one 

 in which all flues and inner parts are 

 readily accessible for cleaning pur- 

 poses. HhlNKY W. GIBBONS. 



New York. 



Heating. 



HEATING. 



I am about to build three green- 

 houses, each 12x100, for carnations. 

 Which will be the most economical 

 heating system, hot water or steam? 

 What boiler and how many horse 

 power? Size of pipe? Bottom or over- 

 head? What would be best arrange- 

 ment of benches? Houses are to be 

 connected, but the space under the 

 gutters will be open. Houses even 

 span, with brick walls. S. H. E. M. 



In answer to S. H. E. M.'s enquiry, 

 should he decide to build the three 

 i'arnation houses only twelve feet 



GREVILLEA ROBUSTA (SILK OAK). 



A subscriber asks from some one of 

 experience with these trees whether 

 they should be "stopped" or pinched 

 at any time of their growth, and adds 

 that he now has a lot which are 16 to 

 18 inches high and in 4-inch pots. 



If they were sown in September they 

 would be about a foot high now and 

 would not need pinching. Those were 

 likely sown in March or April and per- 

 haps kept rather warm and grown 

 rather long. They are best pinched, 

 that is, just the top of the leading 

 shoot picked out, when they are 7 or 

 8 inches high. It depends a good deal 



