20 



The Florists^ Review 



May 2G, 1921 



Presby, Montflair, X. J., treasurer; 

 Mr. and Mrs. Loe Roniiewitz and daugh- 

 ter, Alice, Van Wert; Carl F. Wassen- 

 berg, Van Wert; Harry A. Norton, 

 Quebec, Canada; V. P. Mead, Fort 

 Wayne, Ind.; C. P. Connell, Nashville, 

 Tenn.; B. H. Farr, Wyomissing, Pa.; 

 W. J. Engle & Son, Davton; Charles i: 

 Wing, Mechanicsburg; E. E. Shaw and 

 Frank B. Garnian, Akron; K. K. Lorenz, 

 Dayton; Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Buskirk, 

 Independence, ()., and E. F. Eowlev, 

 Toledo. J. ^V. T. 



DAHLIA SUGAB. 



It was not so long ago that the cane 

 sugar growers had a corner on the sugar 

 market. Then came beet sugar and it 

 put quite a considerable hole in their 

 trade prestige. And now it seems that 

 both beet and cane sugar are going to 

 be up against a strong competitor. 



For several years, E. "Vincent, Jr., of 

 the Richard Vincent, Jr., & Sons Co., 



White Marsh, Md., has been sending 

 several tons of dahlia tubers to an in- 

 dustrial school at Schenectady, N. Y., 

 and last spring he sent several roots to 

 the economic bureau of the Department 

 of Agriculture. Both of these places 

 have carried on extensive experiments 

 for the purpose of learning the exact 

 economic value of dahlia roots for mak- 

 ing sugar. 



Some of the experts from the bureau 

 recently visited Mr. Vincent and, from 

 what they told him, he believes that 

 there is a great future in dahlia sugar. 

 A splendid article can be produced. It 

 makes a beautiful, clear, white syrup. 

 And the sugar produced is sweeter than 

 cane or beet sugar. Furthermore, it is 

 a sugar that persons suffering from 

 diabetes can use, whereas the other 

 sugars are generally fatal to them. 



Mr. Vincent says that there are plans 

 to plant about 5,000 acres of dahlias for 

 their tubers only. 



ODCN W[TEaS>y^ DEADEIi6 



WATCH OUT FOR THIS MAN. 



About a month ago we employed, at 

 our greenhouse, a young man about -(i 

 years old, who gave his name as John 

 L. Wilkenson. He stated that he had 

 recently arrived from the western coast 

 and claimed to have worked at various 

 large places, among which he gave the 

 name of R. F. Wilcox, Montebello, Cal. 

 From the way he went about his work, 

 we believe that he has had considerable 

 experience. Friday night. May 13, he 

 disappeared, taking with him cash which 

 he had received from sales at the green- 

 house, to/ the approximate amount of 

 $35 or $40 that can be accounted for; 

 possibly it might have been more. Be- 

 sides this, he forged a check and cashed 

 it at a grocery store, to the amount of 

 $62.50. 



His description is as follows: About 

 five feet eight inches tall, well built, 

 light complexion and blue eyes, with 

 inflamed, red eyelids. His speech is 

 fluent and fast. His front teeth are 

 rather prominent and far apart. He 

 is in company with a young girl, who 

 claims to be his wife. She is slight and 

 small. 



He, no doubt, will seek employment 

 at other greenhouses, and we wish that 

 the man may be apprehended. 



Swanson's, Inc. 



counts in prime condition. Mr. Poche- 

 lon deserves the credit which Lord & 

 Burnham Co. thought so kindly to give 

 to Max Schling. I thought so well of 

 Mr. Pochelon 's introduction that in 

 some cases we are using the little paster, 

 which is supplied by the F. T. D. oflSce 

 on request, on some of the bills of our 

 private customers, with good results. 



Max Schling. 



CREDIT WHERE IT IS DUE. 



I admired on the inside cover of your 

 issue of May 19 the set-up of the Lord 

 & Burnham Co. advertisement, and 

 while reading it I noticed my name 

 mentioned. 



I do not mind if at times somebody 

 else gets credit for what I am doing, 

 but I certainly do not want to get credit 

 which belongs to others. The credit for 

 that little slogan, "After thirty days 

 say it with a check," belongs absolute- 

 ly to the F. T. D. office in Detroit. I 

 believe Mr. Pochelon introduced it, and 

 it certainly helps florists keep their ac- 



MECHANICVILLE FUEL BURNER. 



The Mechanicville fuel burner, which 

 I used last winter, is one in which the 

 fuel is burned under forced draft. 

 The customary grates are entirely done 

 away with, and the grate surface is 

 filled with plates of cast-iron in which 

 are burners, somewhat on the principle 

 of a blacksmith's tuyere. They are 

 placed at regular intervals, and the num- 

 ber is according to the size of the 

 boiler. The draft is supplied by a 

 blower run by an electric motor, and 

 the air is conducted through piping be- 

 neath the boiler room floor which con- 

 nects with burners in the ash pit. The 

 motor is regulated by an attachment 

 which automatically starts it when the 

 steam goes down to the desired minimum 

 pressure and stops it when the pressure 

 reaches the desired maximum. The air 

 and pressure can be varied to suit al- 

 most any condition. 



Formerly we used the three-quarter 

 lump soft coal, hand fired, over the 

 usual grates and with all the resultant 

 smoke and dirt. W^e are now using 

 hard coal screenings, hand fired, at 

 considerably longer intervals and with 

 much less dirt and no smoke. After 

 numerous trials, twenty-four hours with 

 soft coal and then twenty-four hours 

 with screenings, we find the consump- 

 tion in weight practically the same, but 

 as the soft coal costs us $9 per ton 

 and the screenings $3.50, there is a sav- 

 ing here which is worth while. We 

 figure that the less attention required 

 in firing will pay the cost of power, 



which averages around 40 cents for 

 twenty-four hours. 



If some genius of mechanical bent 

 could invent a magazine with automatic 

 feed in connection with this outfit, it 

 would be a boon indeed, for florists 

 especially. John Lawrance. 



TAR FOR PECKY CYPRESS. 



I heartily endorse the use of gas tar 

 for pecky cypress as advised by William 

 Walker in The Review for May 19. 

 However, I prepare the lumber in an- 

 other manner. I apply the tar liberally 

 and hot to thoroughly dry boards, using 

 a large paint brush. Then the lumber 

 is piled outside and given a slant to 

 shed rain. Between the layers on the 

 pile are placed 2x4-inch lengths of lum- 

 ber, and thus a 4-inch air space is ob- 

 tained. The boards are given a drying 

 out for two weeks and then another 

 coat of tar is applied. At the end of 

 the second cure, a board is sawed and 

 the gas tar penetration is observed. If 

 it did not soak in to a depth equal to 

 one-quarter of the thickness of the 

 board, another coat is applied to the 

 side of the board that is to be the fin- 

 ished inside of the bench. All nail 

 heads are set and floated level with the 

 tar in order to prevent rusting. 



Ventilators should remain open dur- 

 ing the erection of the benches and the 

 covering of the surface. Such a bench 

 will last for twenty years, provided it is 

 not attacked by white ants or termites, 

 and even they will not operate through 

 the tar-treated section. 



Andrew Arnot. 



AN IDEA FOR MORE BUSINESS. 



Referring to the article in The Re- 

 view for May 12 concerning the com- 

 pilation of a mailing list, I have an idea 

 that may help those who sell trees, 

 shrubbery, rose bushes and nursery 

 stock to be planted. My idea is to get 

 names from the construction depart- 

 ments of the various building maga- 

 zines, which are on sale at almost all 

 news stands. Such a magazine usually 

 publishes reports of construction plans, 

 some time before the date of building, 

 on everything from a dwelling house to 

 a skyscraper. I believe nurserymen and 

 florists doing landscape planting could 

 get a good many prospective customers 

 from those announcements. They put 

 the seller in direct contact with the 

 builder, who has the ready money and 

 the place to plant growing stock. 



Frank Scott. 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Chicago, 111. — A petition in involun- 

 tary bankruptcy was filed against the 

 Carl Netschert Co., May 23, the peti- 

 tioning creditors being Oscar Leistner, 

 Eossig Bros, and the Millinery World, 

 with aggregate claims of $3,206. No es- 

 timate of the assets was available. In 

 the early days of the trade Carl Netsch- 

 ert was the principal dealer in florists' 

 supplies in Chicago, handling the then 

 staples in conjunction with church and 

 millinery accessories and artificial 

 fiowcrs. As supply houses developed 

 specializing on florists' stock Mr. 

 Netschert gradually was crowded from 

 the field and since the business passed 

 to other hands little effort has been 

 made to do business among florists, al- 

 though some old-time customers still 

 sent orders. 



