16 



The Florists^ Review 



AoonsT 7, 1919. 



SqOBNCE IN GSEENHOUdES. 



[ThU la the fourth and last Installment of the 

 article on "How Science Alda Florists." by B. 

 A. White, professor of floriculture. Cornell Unl- 

 ▼erslty, Ithaca. N. Y.] 



It is impossible to discuss fully all 

 that" scientific chemistry has done for 

 floriculture. The results of this type 

 of work have been far-reaching, not 

 only as regards a plant's environment 

 with reference to atmosphere and to soil 

 and its fertility, but along the lines of 

 insecticides and fungicides as well. We 

 know that sanitary conditions in the 

 home have much to do with keeping 

 disease germs and insect pests from 

 gaining a foothold; nevertheless, con- 

 tagion sometimes spreads from less care- 

 ful individuals in the human family. 

 The same principles apply to plants, 

 especially in greenhouses. The scientific 

 chemists have solved many 'a complex 

 problem for the florist in the eradication 

 of both insects and fungi on plants. 



In this work the chemist has been 

 assisted in a considerable degree by the 

 entomologist and the plant pathologist. 

 The work of the entomologist has been 

 to study the character and the life his- 

 tory of different groups of insects inju- 

 rious to plant life, and through this inti- 

 mate knowledge to aid the chemist in 

 compiling formulas of sufficient strength 

 to exterminate the pests. As certain 

 chemical substances are injurious to 

 plant tissue, the scientific work of the 

 plant physiologist has also been neces- 

 sary to bring about methods of insect 

 extermination by the use of chemical 

 substances which are effective, and 

 which are in no way detrimental to the 

 vigor of growth of plants. 



The Value of Physics. 



A question has sometimes arisen in 

 various departments of agricultural col- 

 leges regarding the value of a knowl- 

 edge of physics. One of the funda- 

 mentals of plant growth is light inten- 

 sity, and the writer considers physics 

 a most important subject for all stu- 

 dents in floriculture. The science of 

 phyaics has been of great value to the 

 florist, but it might be much more so if 

 some enthusiastic student would per- 

 form his experiments on light intensities 

 in greenhouses and demonstrate the in- 

 fluence of different light intensities on 

 different types of plant growth. We 

 know in nature that there are many 

 species of plants which are light de-, 

 manding; others are shade enduring and 

 even shade demanding. We usually con- 

 sider that it is necessary that green- 

 house plants obtain all the sunlight pos- 

 sible. This is, in general, true for most 

 plants, but others demand some shade. 

 The percentage of light under which 



is important for the flower grower that 

 hia plants get all the sunlight possible 

 during these months. No branch of 

 science will probably ever make pos- 

 sible the manufacture of artificial light 

 equal in value to that from the sun. 

 It therefore devolves on the student of 

 physics to tell us how to so construct 

 our greenhouses that the plants may 

 obtain the maximum amount of light 

 during such time as sunlight is avail- 

 able. In greenhouse construction, wood 

 is an undesirable factor from many 

 viewpoints. It quickly decays under 

 the moist atmospheric conditions, and 

 the necessity of using large dimensions, 

 in order to secure strength, makes it 

 detrimental to light intensities; yet, 

 thus far, it has been found impossible 

 to eliminate it f^om the construction of 

 greenhouses because of the expansion 

 and contraction of metal under the influ- 

 ence of varying degrees of heat, which 

 breaks the glass. 



Aid to Oreenliouse Builders. 



It is, therefore, desirable to eliminate 

 as much wood as possible from the con- 



struction and to use the smallest dimen- 

 ' sions for sashbars and supports. Be- 

 cently, small wooden sashbars have 

 come into general favor with green- 

 house builders; wooden posts for interior 

 supports have been eliminated, and a 

 system of supporting the roof by various 

 trusses is much in favor. Greenhouse 

 builders are, therefore, depending on 

 students of physics to demonstrate to 

 them the supporting power of trusses 

 for different sized roofs, so that the 

 rigidity of the greenhouses may be in- 

 creased. Upon this rigidity depends, in 

 a large measure, the value of the green- 

 house, for where there is considerable 

 vibration there is a consequent breakage 

 of glass. 



It is impossible to properly demon- 

 strate in a single article all that science 

 has done and will do in the future to 

 develop the art of flower and plant pro- 

 duction. As has been stated, the neces- 

 sity for an application of scientific prin- 

 ciples to floriculture has been of com- 

 paratively recent origin. As competi- 

 tion increases in the world of flower 

 production, there is sure to be a greater 

 demand for scientific information, and 

 the field of investigation is broad. 



There is a constantly increasing de- 

 mand for men in the flower-producing 

 industry who have had broad scientific 

 training. These men are to become in 

 the future America's foremost flower 

 producers. 



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RETAIL STORE ON ROOF? 



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GREENHOUSE ON HOTEL BOOF. 



Offers Betail Possibilities. 



"With the increasingly high main 

 floor rentals in the congested hotel, of- 

 fice and department store sections of 

 the city, the retail florist is put to it to 

 flnd an advantageous place in which to 

 display his wares for sale without sac- 

 rificing all profit to his landlord. 



"If he is content with small fry in 

 the way of customers, he will aotk a 

 basement or an upper floor. If he is 

 after big fish, he is under the necessity 

 of maintaining a costly establishment 

 on the street level or of finding an equal- 

 ly advantageous location elsewhere. 

 Then what is more natural than that 

 he should make capital out of his quan- 

 dary and retire to the roof, where, with 

 a well stocked 'sky garden,' he has 

 every bit of human psychology working 

 for instead of against him? The advan- 

 tage of light and fresh air are all on 

 his side. The lure of an always fas- 

 cinating panorama constantly draws 

 buyers. In fact, he is right on top of 

 hundreds of possible customers, whether 

 hi6 greenhouse tops a hotel or an office 



plants make their best development is—^biiilding. Then, too, it has the added at- 



still a matter of conjecture. The physics 

 of light, however, has been studied, and 

 science has demonstrated the possibility 

 of building greenhouses with the pitch 

 of the roof at such an angle that the 

 maximum amount of sunlight will be 

 available. 



In Ithaca and in some other sections 

 of the United States, there is a low per- 

 centage of sunlight, especially during 

 December, January and February. It 



traction, in the eyes of the big game, of 

 being out Of the path of the rabble. 



"Take, for an instance, the case of 

 some of Chicago's most prominent loop 

 florists. Will anyone venture to say that 

 Oscar Friedman would suffer a loss of 

 patronage in transferring the scene of 

 his activities from Peacock alley, in the 

 Congress hotel, to an elaborate roof 

 greenhouse on the same building? Or 

 that the Fleischman Floral Co. would 



find the figures on the wrong side of the 

 ledger were its goods displayed for sale 

 in a greenhouse on the roof of, say, the 

 Bailway Exchange building! From such 

 a vantage point the attention of the 

 patron would not be divided by some ob- 

 ject foreign to the main issue." 



On Top the Hotel Pennsylvania. 



The foregoing query was suggested 

 by H. O. S. Nichols, of the American 

 Greenhouse Manufacturing Co., Chi- 

 cago, in connection with the "sky gar- 

 den," so called by the hotel, just erect- 

 ed on the roof of the Hotel Pennsyl- 

 vania, New York's newest and most 

 elaborate hostelry. The main greenhouse 

 is 55x85 feet. It is connected by a 

 smaller one, at right angles to it, 16x40, 

 leading to the big roof garden dining 

 room. 



As the work of erection progressed, 

 the plans of the hotel management be- 

 came more elaborate. At first the con- 

 servatory was named the ' ' sky garden. ' ' 

 Then, when the idea was conceived of 

 lighting it by electric bulbs in the shape 

 and color of butterflies, modeled and 

 tinted as nearly like nature as possible, 

 the name became the "butterfly con- 

 servatory. ' ' The decorations are planned 

 to be oriental in character and lavishly 

 carried out. Whether the greenhouse 

 will be merely a conservatory for the 

 enjoyment of the hotel's patrons, or 

 whether the Hotel Pennsylvania will 

 follow the lead of a number of other 

 hotels and establish a florists ' business 

 in con/leclion with it, is not yet cer- 

 tain. The latter possibility prompted 

 the speculative remarks of Mr. Nichols. 



