November 30, 191S 



H RT I CULTURE 



529 



THE OUTLOOK FOR GREENHOUSE BUILDING 



AND HEATING 



By Philip J. Foley, Chicago. 



It is pretty hard for one to predict the future, but 

 were 1 to att-empt it, 1 Avould say that we look for a 

 revival in the construction of greenhouses on private 

 estate,*, with some activity in commercial greenhouse 

 oonstniction, as many of the old ranges iu-c in pretty 

 bad shape and will have to be re^juilt, repairetl, etc. A 

 great many will have to be torn downi, as the cost of heat- 

 ing them in their present condition, with the future 

 price of coal giving promise of bringing fairly higli, if 

 not as high as it has been, making it necessary to con- 

 serve on heat, which conservation can only l)e attained 

 by the rebuilding of the old tumbledown structures or 

 their destruction and the building of new ones. 



It may seem a strange statement to make, Init the 

 savings made by some of our customers who have tight 

 houses and properly installed heating plants, pay interest 

 on the total investment. We have in mind one plant, 

 where the heating for the wnnter .season of 1917-1918 

 cost loss than he. a square foot, while other plants now 

 in operation are tning to make money and pay interest 

 on their investment when their heating is costing from 

 10 to 13e. per square foot. 



Now just for example, take a range having .50,000 

 feet of ground covered, which is costing 10<'. a square 

 foot for heating, which would be -$5,000. A similar 

 sized plant of ."iO.OOO square feet is heated at 5c., hence 



a saving uf one-half or $-.^500. Now .$2,500 will pay 

 interest at 5 yiev cent, per annum on $50,000, and mam- 

 plants of medium, or even large size have not cost $1.00 

 per sciuari' foot to constnict, consequently 50,000 square 

 feet of ground covered, costing we will say $1.00 per 

 square foot including ground, would mean an invest- 

 ment of $5i>,000, with a consequent saving of 5 per cent, 

 on the investment. 



Unfortunately too many of our commercial growers 

 try to "save at the spigot and lose at the bung-hole." 

 They seem to lo.se track of the fact that a greenhouse 

 properly constructed will last 20 to .30 years, and a good 

 heating jilant properly installed, will not add more than 

 5 per cent, or 10 per cent, at the outside to the cost of 

 that range with a slipsliod poor heating plant. That 

 10 per cent, if you wiU, ^nll surely be saved in the first 

 two years in the cost of heating, and not only is that 

 saving made in the cost of the fuel, but it costs for labor 

 to haul and shovel the coal and take out and dispose of 

 the ashes. 



It is my opinion that the men who build houses here- 

 after will, or at least should pay more attention to the 

 installation of a proper heating plant, if they expect to 

 make the mojiey out of their business that they would 

 be entitled to. having an investment in money and ]>ut- 

 ting in their best years and efforts in ti-ying to make a 

 successful business. 



BARBERRY THUNBERGIi IM- 

 PURITY. 



E. C. Stakmau. pathologist, states as 

 ollows: 



"If our observations are correct, 

 practically all of the barberry sold as 

 Thunbergii is raised from seed. It is 

 presumable that this seed is mostly 

 oolleete<i from fruiting bushes in this 

 country, rather than being imported. 

 It is well-known that Thunbergii hy- 

 bridizes freely with Vulgaris if there 

 is the least opportunity. So many of 

 the nurseries and private estates offer 

 this opportunity, that it is a certainty 

 that much of the barberry now offered 

 as Tliunbergii is first generation hy- 

 brids or seedlings from such plants. Ap- 

 parently the only arberry that we can 

 be sure is the true Thunbergii which 

 must be grown from cuttings or from 

 seed gathered where no possibility of 

 hybridization can possibly occur. The 

 great variety of form of growth and ar- 

 rangement of fruiting clusters observ- 

 able in the barberry sent out in the 

 past several years by most nursery- 

 men, is evidence of lack of purity." 



Supplementary an inquiry as to the 

 foregoing statement. Prof. Stakman 



writes to the Elm City Nursery Co.. 

 as follows: 



Gentlemen: — Replying to your letter 

 of October 22 in which you ask wheth- 

 er hybrids between B. vulgaris and B. 

 Thunbergii are susceptible to rust, 

 such hybrids are very likely to rust. 



We have made observations on a 

 large number of them and there is no 

 question of their susceptability. As a 

 matter of fact, hybrids between the two 

 varieties often show practically all of 

 the characteristics of B. Thunbergii 

 and still rust severely. 



LIME NOW ON FREE LIST. 

 Hrof. A. E. Stene of the Rhode 

 Island State College calls attention to 

 the removal of all restrictions upon 

 the i)roduction or use of lime or 

 crushed or pulverized limestone in any 

 form for agricultural use and that this 

 restores the sale of lime for agricul- 

 tural purposes to its pre-war status, 

 also that the importance of lime in 

 agriculture has been recognized by the 

 War Industries Board and that it is 

 one of the first commodities to be 

 placed upon a normal basis in an after- 

 the-war program. 



BITUMINOUS STORAGE LIMIT OFF 



All storage restrictions on bitumi- 

 nous coal were removed November 22 

 l)y the United States Fuel Administra- 

 tion in conformity to the action of the 

 War Industries Board in cancelling 

 its preferential industries list. An- 

 thracite coal is not affected, however, 

 by the ruling of the Fuel Administra- 

 tion. E;very industry and every house- 

 holder in the country now may store 

 as much bituminous coal as desired or 

 obtainable, as the action of the War 

 Industries Board removes the. neces- 

 sity for the Fuel Administration to 

 distinguish longer among different 

 classes of industrial plants. 



The restrictions just raised provided 

 for the accumulation by the consum- 

 ers in the preference classes defined by 

 the War Industries Board, of reserve 

 .stocks of bituminous coal, in accord- 

 ance with their location in relation to 

 various mine fields and their classifi- 

 cation on the preference schedule. 



All industries located farthest from 

 distribution points, particularly those 

 in New England and in the northwest 

 are found not only to be well stocked, 

 in accordance with Fuel Administra- 

 tion specifications, but in many cases 

 have surpluses above those amounts. 



