Frbbuary 17, 1921 



The Florists' Review 



21 



Each Hoosct 70x400 Feet, at Premier Rose Gardens Contains Approximately 15,000 Plants. 



them ;ire the F. 

 borougli, N. Y.; 

 Kirk wood, Mo.; 

 Riclinioud, Ind.; 

 Rowaytoii, Conn. 



builders of the greeniiouses to be, for 

 rose growers, approxiniatelj' the size of 

 the houses at May wood. 



Houses of similar size — that is, 

 ranging from sixtv to eighty feet in 

 width and from hoo to 6()6 feet in 

 length — have been built of the same 

 sort of eon.struetion for rose growers in 

 various jiarts of tiie eountry. Among 



K. Pierson Co., Scar- 

 Wallace J. Pilcher, 



.losejdi 11. Hill Co.. 



Traendly & Kchenek, 

 Waban Ro.se Con- 

 servatories, Xatick, Mass.; Myers & 

 Samtninn and (ieorge Burton, Chestnut 

 Hill, I'a.; Florex (Jardens, North Wales, 

 Pa.; .Toseidi Heacoek Co., Koelofs, Pa.; 

 Stn]ii)y Floral Co., St. Joseidi, Mo.; 

 Pittsburgh Cut Flower Co., Pittsburgh; 

 William H. Klliott, Madburv. N. H.; 

 Hudlong Rose Co., Providence. R. I.; 

 Alviii Harvey & Sons, Rrandywinc Sum- 

 uiit, Pa., and many others, some of 

 wliosc names are e(|unlly well known. 



Free from Shadows. 



How well (he houses at May wood ful- 

 fill Mr. Weiss 's ide;is of what a modern 

 rose factory should bo may be learneil 

 by looking over those now in use at the 

 Premier Rose Gardens. No cumbersonu* 

 framework overhead throws shadows on 

 tlie blooms below. Indeed, the sasli- 

 bars are .so }iig]i above the benches that, 

 '■veil in strong sunlight, no stripes of 



darkness cross the plants underneath 

 them. The ridge is twenty-six feet 

 from the ground, too great a distance 

 for its light framework to cast a 

 shadow. 



Care has been taken, too, in the 

 spacing between the houses, for, of 

 course, they are detached. The ridge 

 of the south house does not cover with 

 its shadow the nearest benches in the 

 north house in winter when the sun is 

 low, as it would were the s])ace not 

 carefully calculated. Thought has been 

 given to afford the jjlants all the light 

 it is jiossible for th(>m to have under 

 glass. 



Stable Atmospheric Conditions. 



Plenty of air is ])rovided for the 

 ])liints by ventilators at the eaves and 

 at the ridge. By this arrangement the 

 air is ch.-inged in the houses and kept 

 fresh without danger of drafts striking 

 the ])lants. The air current is from the 

 eaves to the ridge close to the glass. 



The large volume of air in the house 

 stabilizes the atmosphere and jirevents 

 too sudden changes in teni]ierature. 

 Fluctuations on the thermometer are 

 not so frequent and common in a house 

 of this size as in one of smaller dimen- 

 sions. This in itself is of much impor- 

 tance to the plants. 



It has been discovered, however, that 

 though the air contained in one of these 

 large houses is greater in volume than 



that contained in two houses each half 

 as wide, the amount of radiation re- 

 quired in the two cases is the same. The 

 (lifl'erence in time required to raise the 

 temperature of the large house and to 

 raise that of two houses half as wide 

 is not discernible. So it would appear 

 that the larger structure adds nothing 

 to the coal bill l)ecause of its greater 

 height. 



In the Benches 



In each of the two houses now in 

 operation are 14,8(10 plants of Premier. 

 There are twelve benches in each house, 

 forty-four iiu-hes in width, allowing 

 walks down each siile and between the 

 benches, of twenty-two iTiche.s, with one 

 slightly wider in the center of the house. 

 This arrangement allows ample room for 

 the worknuMi. 



Each bench contains four rows of 

 ])lants, set sixteen inches a])art in the 

 row. This has been found tlie most de- 

 sirable siiacing. In some of the smaller 

 hiiuses, which are thirty-six feet wide, 

 there are six ."t-foot benches instead of 

 seven 4 foot bt>uches and in the wider 

 benciies there are fi\e rows of plants iu- 

 .«tead of four, as in the narrower ones. 



The benches in the l)ig houses are 

 solidly built of ])ecky -cyjiress on con- 

 crete bases. It may be interesting to 

 note that 4,.")0() concrete bench supports 

 ari' need(>d in each house. On these arc 

 la ill ';x4-iiu>h stringers. Crossjjieces of 



