June 17, 1911 



HORTlCULTURi: 



883 



AN IMPROVED VENTILATOR ARM. 



"The Advance Co.. of Richmond, 

 Ind.. manufactui-ei's of greenhouse ven- 

 tilating apparatuses and fittings have 

 invented a new devise in Ihe form of 

 an arm to be used in connection with 

 their ventilating apparatus to be called 

 the "Twlstless." The following illustra- 

 tions wei'e taken from an arm giving 

 the same throw and opening as an 8 

 inch elbow arm. The cross rods are S 

 inches long and the rod that fastens to 

 the sash is 21 inches long. 



The first of the above cuts shows the 

 arm in a right angle position. It is 

 in this position that an elbow arm 

 twists the shafting pipe the most. 

 In this new arm they have eliminated 

 the twisting when the arm is in this 

 position by reducing the distance from 

 the center of the shafting pipe to the 

 center of the rod rivet without re- 

 ducing the throw. 



The second cut shows the arm in a 

 closed position. When in this posi- 

 tion the distance from the center of 

 the shafting pipe to the center of the 

 rod rivet is S inches or tlie same as in 

 an elbow arm. The advantage of the 

 arm when it is in this position is that 

 it is more rigid and easier to start. 



The third cut shows the arm in an 

 open position. When in this position 

 the arm has the same distance from 

 the center of the shafting pipe to the 

 center of the rod rivet as it has when 

 It is closed, namely S inches. The arm 

 is very rigid in this position and it 

 requires no strain on the machine or 

 other parts of the apparatus to hold 

 the sash open. 



The above cut shows the construc- 

 tion of the arm. Two duplicate 

 castings are riveted together by a cen- 

 ter rivet to form the part of the arm 

 that clamps the shafting pipe. One 

 bolt is all that is required to hold this 

 arm securely to the shafting pipe as 

 the rivet that holds the two clamp 

 parts together also forms a hinge in 

 the proper place on the opposite side 

 ■of the pipe from the bolt. After the 



two clamp |iarts are together an S inch 

 rod is fastened to each one of them 

 near the outer edge. The rods are 

 then crossed and fastened to the rod 

 bracUet which carries the rod that is 

 afterwards fastened to the sash. The 

 rod bracket is so constructed that it 

 carries the sash rod between the two 

 S inch cross rods. The sash rod being 

 carried on the inner side of the bracket 

 is more rigid and has no tendency to- 

 wards side action. The manufacturers 

 say that the standard new style arm 

 will give the same sash throw as their 

 standard elbow arm and when at right 

 angles the rod will stand only T'/o In- 

 ches away from the center of the 

 shafting i)ipe. 



Over six thousand of these arms are 

 already in use. Much more might be 

 said but the Advance Company, Rich- 

 mond, Ind.. will be pleased to answer 

 any inquiries. 



AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT 

 IN ROSE GROWING. 



At the .lune meeting of the N. J. 

 Floricultural Society, a letter was re- 

 ceived from the N. J. Experiment 

 Station at New Brunswick describing 

 their treatment of My Maryland roses 

 under glass. This experiment was 

 planned to study the character of 

 their red shale soil as adapted to 

 roses. This red shale soil is of the 

 same physical character as clay soil 

 and should be of the proper physical 

 condition for roses. They found that 

 carnations succeeded much better if 

 about 30 per cent of sand was mixed 

 with the soil, so that they decided to 

 study the effect of different propor- 

 tions of sand upon the roses and 

 compared the red shale soil without 

 sand with plots containing 10, '20 and 

 30 per cent of sand. You will note 

 that 30 per cent sand means quite a 

 sandy soil. They have cropped these 

 plants without rest for two years, 

 and the plots having 30 per cent of 

 sand are equal to the others. These 

 plots have also received nothing but 

 chemical fertilizers since the experi- 

 ment started, and the last crop was 

 as fine as any they have secured, and 

 they are planning to carry the plants 

 along without rest for another year. 

 The plants are own-root stock and 

 are grown on raised benches with 

 tile bottoms with less than 4 inches 

 of soil on the benches. No new soil 

 or manure has been added since the 

 experiment started. The initial ap- 

 plication of fertilizer for one thou- 

 sand square feet was as follows: 



T.i.iiK) grams gi-ound limestmie 

 13. GOO •• .TPid phosph.ite 

 3.GO0 " sulphate of potash 

 lAiM) •■ nitrite of soda 

 These amounts can be reduced to 

 pounds by dividing by 453, which is 

 the number of grams to the jjound. At 

 the present time they would probably 

 use another source of nitrogen in place 

 of nitrate of soda, preferably concen- 

 trated tankage dried blood or ground 

 fish, and they have applied ISOfl grams 

 of concentrated tankage per one thou- 

 sand square feet each month as a top- 

 dressing of nitrogen. This is the only 

 material that is applied after the initial 

 application, which is stirred into the 

 soil at planting time. This entire lot 

 of chemicals will not cost over $2.00 

 per 1200 square feet for the entire sea- 

 son, which is very much cheaper than 

 any application of manure could be. 

 They have experimented during the 



past year with American Beauty roses, 

 also Killarney, and feel certain that 

 equally as good crops of roses can be 

 grown with chemical fertilizers as 

 with animal manures, providing the 

 proper physical condition of the soil is 

 secured and maintained and provided 

 the proper chemicals are applied. They 

 are going to have a new range of 

 greenhouses built this summer and 

 will be able to experiment on a larger 

 scale. 



WILLIAM REID, Sec'y N. J. F. C. 



SEEN AT MANDA'S. 



Among the many interesting novel- 

 ties to be seen at this noted South 

 Orange establishment, Polypodium 

 Mandaianum will most impress the 

 visitor. This superb crested form of 

 P. aureum is remarkable for its vigor 

 and rapid growth. The fronds, which 

 are of enormous size, will keep from 

 four to six weeks in water, after cut- 

 ting, and are in great demand for use 

 in large floral decorations. Theie are 

 seveial begonias of especial promise, 

 semperflorens crosses, both pink and 

 scarlet, which will undoubtedly become 

 I)opular. A new and very distinct 

 Ne|)hrolepis with red-ribbed fronds 

 adds one more gem to the lengthening 

 list of this sportive genus. Among the 

 desirable things for choice plant col- 

 lections is a Pourcroya, with foliage 

 handsomely variegated with white, 

 and entirely devoid of the usual mar- 

 ginal spines. A great commercial 

 future is in sight for the European 

 novelty, Adiantum Farleyense Glory of 

 Dewtreth, which differs from the Far- 

 leyense type in bearing spores. Among 

 the things not new but yet little 

 known is Dracaena Rothiana, a thick 

 leaved species, which Mr. Manda terms 

 a "money maker." It has been rarely 

 grown outside of botanical gardens, 

 but has all the qualities of a good 

 florists' decorative plant. Mr. Manda 

 reports the demand for dracfenas of 

 all kinds as very heavy this season. 



At the time of our visit a large ship- 

 ment of cacti was being packed for In- 

 dia, and a load of phalaenopses, over 

 6000 plants, was just coming in. There 

 are no less than 108 distinct species 

 and varieties of Cattleya Trianse now 

 in this establishment, all tints from 

 pure white to scarlet. For cattleyas, 

 dendrobiums and all propagated stock 

 frames are utilized in summer, and the 

 plants thrive much better than in the 

 greenhouses during the hot months. 



PLANT TRADE IN SYRACUSE. 



The bedding-out season still con- 

 tinues and will not be finished for a 

 week or two yet. It has been the 

 best ever known here. Geraniums 

 have been in most demand, S. A. Nutt 

 being the favorite; very few white 

 ones are used now. Cannas sold well. 

 The call for Vinca variegata was very 

 large, many florists being sold out 

 soon after the rush began. Each 

 year there is a larger number 

 of porch and window boxes. Large 

 flower pots filled with scarlet gerani- 

 ums and vines are seen on the steps 

 of many houses. Insects and cater- 

 pillars were becoming quite destruc- 

 tive, but a heavy thunderstorm with 

 a deluge of rain a few nights since 

 thoroughly washed trees and every- 

 thing else and it is hoped the pesta 

 were completely disposed of for a 

 good time at least. 



