October 24, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



541 



SOME LESSONS FROM A BOSTON 

 "FLOWER FACTORY." 



A visit to Pierce Bros, big green- 

 house range at Waverley is at all times 

 a pleasure and profit, for at least three 

 reasons: first, the great quantity of 

 flowers grown; second, the many me- 

 chanical adaptations in use for facili- 

 tating the vaiious operations; and third, 

 the cheerful frankness with which 

 either one of the two brothers will 

 show and explain any process or im- 

 provement which contains anything of 

 interest or value to a fellow florist. 



Mechanical Appliances. 

 The heating system in this mam- 

 moth establishment is one of the most 

 complete in the country. It is finely 

 equipped for forced draft and vacuum 

 system with a tier of massive boilers 

 and machinery of the highest efficien- 

 cy. An ingenious system for inter- 

 changable use in syringing with clear 

 water or manure water is in operation. 

 Through the entire length of the cen- 

 tral shed there are laid parallel pipes. 

 a 4 in. for water and 3 in. for manure 

 water, each with branches right and left 

 to the door of each greenhouse, where 

 they unite into one pipe which runs 

 over head to the farthest end of each 

 house, with hose connections at regu- 

 lar intervals. The turning of a sim- 

 ple valve alongside each door stops 

 the flow of clear water and admits 

 the manure water, which is also under 

 high pressure, to such house or houses 

 as desired, or vice versa, at will, with- 

 out disturbing operations in any other 

 house. Attaching the hose overhead 

 saves wear and tear dragging it over 

 the ground and it is more easily 

 handled. A series of artesian wells, 

 all under glass roof, are soon to be 

 opened, with a tank capacity of 150,- 

 000 gallons and 125 pounds pressure. 



Home-Made Cement Benches. 



In all the houses except one cement 

 or tile benches have now replaced 

 those of wood, the construction be- 

 ing home-made throughout. No wood 

 is used other than temporarily to sus- 

 tain the cement while it is drying. 

 The only supports are cement posts 

 built around 3-4 in. pipe uprights. 

 The cement bottom is made by spread- 

 ing the cement over ordinary chicken 

 wire mesh which is also turned up at 

 the edge to hold the cement sides. For 

 drainage perforations the method is 

 to wait until the cement has partially 

 hardened and then punch holes at in- 

 tervals with a piece of 3-4 in. pipe, a 

 much simpler procedure than the cus- 

 tomary plan of inserting wooden plugs 

 to be driven out after the cement has 

 become hard. 



A Unique Propagating House. 



The propagating house, which is a 

 very large 16 ft. wide house on the 

 north side of a chrysanthemum house 

 is also worth describing. Instead of 

 one continuous bench, it is arranged 

 with a series of benches running cross- 

 wise of the house, 5x11 ft. with a sep- 

 arate coil of pipe under each, so that 

 heat can be given or withheld inde- 

 pendently in each as required. A side 

 path runs the length of the house and 

 the short paths branching off between 

 the beds give easy access to every 

 part for the workmen. These beds are 

 all with tile bottom and cement sides 

 and can accommodate from S to 

 lii.Odo cuttings each. The lower half 



of the loot is ol single long lights of 

 ribbed glass thus furnishing continual 

 shade and eliminating all drip. 



Some Interest, ng Items. 



One new house has been addej to 

 the range this season, size 21 x 225, the 

 glass bping laid with the 24 in. length 

 crosswise giving some advantage in 

 light and considerable economy of con- 

 struction. An auto-truck is among the 

 modern accessories. Its record for the 

 ten days preceding last Easter was 

 1000 miles travelled and 7000 pots of 

 lilies delivered in Boston. Lilies 



have always been a big crop here but 

 it is proposed to make them a regu- 

 lar standard crop the year through 

 and to this end a large cold storage 

 house for the bulbs is to be built soon. 



What Are Grown. 



Now a few words in conclusion as 

 to the contents of the houses at pres- 

 ent. Four houses, each 40x300, are in 

 chrysanthemums. With rare good 

 judgment a big planting of Golden 

 Glow was made and with the market 

 all to themselves Peirce Bros, made a 

 hit that certainly caused a stir. It is 

 worth noting that this chrysanthemum 

 is giving evidence of being a "cut and 

 come again" variety, for numerous 

 long branches with fine foliage and 

 buds have started out from where the 

 first flowers were cut. Halliday, Cro- 

 cus, Polly Rose, Virginia Poehlmann, 

 Bonnaffon and Pacific Supreme are 

 among the best liked early and mid- 

 season sellers. Pacific Supreme is a 

 pink sport from Glory of Pacific and 

 will supersede it. October Frost is re- 

 garded as inferior to Polly Rose, and 

 Matchless will not be planted again 

 because of its long bare neck. Of car- 

 nations, 75,000 are grown, comprising 

 most of the popular market varieties. 

 The plants were very small when 

 planted out on account of dry weather, 

 but are now catching up rapidly. Most 

 satisfactory of the new ones is Snow- 

 flake, a superb, free-blooming variety, 

 raised by C. W. Ward. 



Thirty thousand freesias, 5,000 cycla- 

 mens for this year and 10,000 for next, 

 5,000 azaleas, and lilies uncountable, 

 are among the stock in sight at the 

 present time. Such is the story, very 

 briefly told, of what is going on at 

 one of Boston's "flower factories." 



PERSONAL. 

 Chicago visitor: Max Eller of Peo- 

 ple's Floral Co., Kansas City, Mo. 



A FERN GROWER. 



Thomas Christensen who has one of 

 the most up-to-date ranges of iron 

 frame houses devoted to fern culture 

 is expeecting a shipment of interesting 

 novelties in quantity from England. 

 Among these will be Cryptomeria 

 Mayii and Pteris tricolor, the latter 

 not exactly new as it was in the stock 

 of the old Pitcher & Manda establish- 

 ment, but has been practically out of 

 the market since then. Nephrolepis 

 VVhitmanii as grown by Mr. Christen- 

 sen is at its very best. He suspends 

 it in hanging pots close up to the 

 glass and keeps it growing rapidly 

 with the result that a fine green color 

 is secured and the keeping qualities 

 are much better than when it is grown 

 in heavy shade as is done by some 

 growers. 



Alexander McKay of South Framing- 

 ham, Mass., is suffering from a light 

 attack of nervous prostration. 



Boston visitor: Ernest H. Chamber- 

 lain, New Bedford, Mass.; Eugene 

 Schaettel. representing Vilmorin, Paris. 



Thomas L. Creeley of Belmont has 

 been appointed by Governor Guild as 

 trustee of Massachusetts Agricultural 

 College for the term to end at the be- 

 ginning of 1911. Mr. Greeley is a 

 member of the Boston Fruit & Produce 

 Exchange and of the Market Garden- 

 ers' Association and is eminently fitted 

 for the position. 



We are sorry to have to announce a 

 relapse in the case of ex-President 

 John Scott of the New York Florists' 

 Club, who was convalescing nicely 

 from a serious attack of typhoid pneu- 

 monia, but, with over-confidence in 

 his returning strength, exposed him- 

 self too soon. We hope he will soon 

 be on the way to recovery again. 



Visitors in New York: Geo. W. 

 Burke, superintendent park depart- 

 ment, Pittsburgh, Pa., also a large and 

 distinguished delegation of gardeners 

 from Mount Kisco and elsewhere. 

 William lurgens, Jr., Newport. R. I., 

 J. F. Sullivan, Detroit. Mich., S. S. 

 Skidelsky, Phila., Pa.. Mr. Payne, of 

 Jacksonville Floral Co.. Jacksonville, 

 Fla ; Mr. Ghadbourn of Shaeffer Floral 

 Co., Newburgh. 



We had the pleasure of a look at 

 the splendid Carnegie gold medal 

 awarded to Mrs. C. Albert Small by 

 the U. S. Government in recognition 

 of her heroism in saving the lives of 

 two drowning women at Seagate, N. 

 Y., on September 18, 1907. Mrs. Small 

 had two ribs fractured in her efforts 

 and is now in the hospital recovering 

 from an operation necessitated as a 

 result of her injuries. 



Henry Durenberg of Idlewild Green- 

 houses, Memphis, Tenn., is in Chicago 

 with his bride. 



A pretty home wedding took place 

 Monday evening, Oct. 12th, at the resi- 

 lience of Mr. John T. Withers, the 

 well-known landscape gardener, Jersey 

 City, N. J., when Miss Bertha de Grieff 

 became the bride of Mr. M. Vander- 

 have. Miss de Grieff arrived Monday 

 morning on the steamship Rotterdam 

 from Apeldoorn, Holland, and the 

 ceremony was solemnized in her native 

 tongue by the Rev. Dr. Fogg of New 

 York City. Mr. Vanderhave is a 

 graduate of the Botanical School of 

 Holland, and has spent several years 

 in the East. Indies, Belgium, Germany, 

 etc., before coming to America. He is 

 at present superintendent of Shatemuc 

 Nuseries, Barrytown. N. Y. Every- 

 body was made happy with an elabor- 

 ate supper, after which Mr. and Mrs. 

 Vanderhave left for New York. 

 Among the out-of-town guests pres- 

 ent, in the trade, were Mr. and Mrs. 

 L. H. Wise, of Boston, Mass. 



