Jancary 7, 1915. 



The Florists^ Review 



13 



this forms a heating coil and I find that 

 f if the valves are just half ooen, there is 

 circulation enough. In mils weather I 

 keep the %-inch valve closed and only 

 the 1-inch valve open for tke expansion. 



I have had this tank only two years, 

 but I have not yet noticed that more 

 firing is required, even in our coldest 

 Ohio weather, than was needed before. 



Carl Baer. 



MORE ABOUT CONCRETE BENCHES 



I was much interested in the article' 

 in The Review for December 24 on con- 

 crete bench construfttion. I have had 

 considerable experience with this kind 

 of bench, for there are only two short 

 wooden benches in my whole range of 

 15,000 to 20,000 feet^f glass, the rest 

 being concrete. 



I built these myself, throwing out the 

 wooden ones as fast as they rotted, and 

 now, instead of the old-style, short- 

 lived bench, I have something that will 

 last for all time. My benches are all 

 of the monolithic style. 



The side benches have two rows of 

 posts underneath, but the 5-foot ones 

 have three rows. I make the legs in 

 tar-paper molds and use the same paper 

 several times. The legs are about 'five 

 inches in diameter and are placed four 

 feet apart. Posts in the two outside 

 rows stand opposite one another, those 

 in the center row alternating with them. 



I make concrete as follows: Two 

 parts of sharp sand, two parts of gravel 

 and one part of cement. For reenforc- 

 ing, I use poultry netting for the top 

 and sides and any old wire for the legs. 

 The }eg reenforcement runs into the 

 bench top, so that when the leg is set 

 it is impossible to move or even jar 

 the .bench. For drainage, I punch 

 holes with a rotating motion when the 

 concrete has set for about a half-hour. 

 I leave the leg molds on for thirty-six 

 hours. If they are left on longer, the 

 paper will stick. 



As to cost, I have figured carefully, 

 and find that without considering the 

 time it takes to build it, a concrete 

 be'lush costs the same as a wooden one 

 when lumber is $25 per thousand feet. 

 I pay $1.75 per cubic yard for sand and 

 gravel and $1.50 per barrel for cement. 



In the last benches I built for carna- 

 tions, I put galvanized pipe upright in 

 the posts to hold the supports for 

 wires, and the idea is a fine one. There 

 are no cleats anywhere on the sides, 

 and no braces on the ends. You may 

 pull as hard as you want to and noth- 

 ing will give way. 



As to the quality of stock that can 

 be grown on concrete benches, anyone 

 having " doubts is invited to come and 

 be shown. For a propagating bench the 

 concrete one has no equal. Stone is 

 a much better conductor of heat than 

 wood, so that only half the number of 

 pipes are required. 



Some day florists will be making 

 their own gutters, and they will be the 

 lasting kind — concrete. I have been 

 giving this idea a great deal of thought, 

 and believe it is possible and practi- 

 cable. For a backbone, I would employ 

 a reenforcement of angle iron, such as 

 is used in windmill towers. Two rows 

 of this will be cross-tied and further 



reenforced by long fence wire. Then I 

 would put my mold on top of the posts 

 and pour in the concrete, and the re- 

 sult would be a tight, one-piece gutter 

 that would defy time and the elements. 

 How to fasten the sashbars on, might 

 be a puzzle at first, but I can see a way 

 out of that. J. L. Johnson. 



FAVORS CONCRETE BENCHES. 



In The Review for December 24 M. 

 B. S. asks for advice on concrete 

 benches. I have benches of this kind 

 and am much pleased wit^ them. At 

 first I was kept guessing, just as M. 

 B. S. is, but finally I thought I would 

 fit one houses 28x125 with concrete 

 benches. Now I find I like them bet- 

 ter than those of wood, because they 

 give more uniform drainage. 



The growers who do not have con- 



crete benches are always criticizing 

 them, perhaps because they cannot af- 

 ford them or do not like the job of 

 making them. Some said to me, 

 "Those benches are tqo cold to grow 

 carnations in;" so I two Ij^ one of them 

 over to my house a few weeks ago and 

 said, "Feel those benches and see if 

 you don 't freeze your hand. ' ' He felt 

 the benches and was convinced that 

 concrete benches are warmer than 

 wood, because when concrete gets warm 

 it stays warm, just as a brick does. 

 Then too, wood swells and closes the 

 space between the boards of a wooden 

 bench; concrete stays uniform. 



As to the strength of these benches, 

 I can say that if they are made right 

 they will*not break or cause trouble in 

 the least. They can be given more 

 rough usage than a wooden bench. 

 Three men, each weighing 175 pounds, 

 can stand on one of our slabs, which 

 are three feet long, eight inches wide 

 and one inch thick iii "the center, with 

 a 2-inch rim amound the outside. Now, 

 that is more than you can put on a 

 piece of cypress of equal length. 



The cost of our benches was small, 

 as we can get all the gravel we want 

 two feet below the surface of the 

 ground. We used 200 sacks of cement 

 and mixed the concrete 3 to 1 through- 

 out the job. The cement cost us $70 

 and the reenforcing $14; so you see 

 wo got off as cheaply as with wood. 

 There are four benches 5x122 feet. 

 The benches are sectional, with boards 

 or slabs running lengthwise, just as in 

 a wooden bench. Fred J. Louck. 



Maiidy About IPfeode 



Pueblo, Colo. — Waldemar Fleischer,* 

 son of G. Fleischer, is in the employ of 

 the C. C. PoUworth Co., at Milwaukee, 

 Wis., where he has been since the spring 

 of 1913. , 



Lancaster, Pa.— William R. Grove, of 

 Manheira, was married to Miss Jane K. 

 Rodgers at the parsd;iage of the Grace 

 Lutheran church December 26. They 

 will reside at 29 East Lemon street. 



Bluefield, W. Va.— W, G. Alexander, 

 son of the late J. W, Alexander, of 

 Charleston, who was for years his 

 father's assistant, married Miss Mae 

 Byles, of Buffalo, November 17, and 

 has opened a fine flower store in the 

 old Western Lnion stand. He has done 

 well to date. 



Erie, Pa. — Mr. and Mrs. Frederic 

 James Barlow announce the marriage of 

 their sister, Miss Margaret Marie Bemus, 

 to Frederick Lautenschlager, Saturday,. 

 August 29, 1914. Mr. Lautenschlager 

 is well known in the trade as the rep- 

 resentative of Kroeschell Bros. Co. 

 They will make their home in Chicago. 



Savannah, Qa.— John Wolf has more 

 than the usual reason to celebrate New 

 Year's: it is the anniversary of his 

 starting in business and of his marriage. 

 January 1, 1915, he had spent just 

 twenty years as a florist here and it 

 was the fourteenth anniversary of the 

 wedding that brought him an efficient 

 helpmate. . 



Anderson, Ind. — J. S. Stuart and J. 

 A. E. Haugh, for many years partners 

 in everything, have been sharing ill- 

 nesses equally. Mr. Stuart was con- 

 fined to his home for a fortnight be- 

 fore Christmas, after which it was 

 Mr. Haugh 's turn.' 



Fort Dodge, la. — The front cover of 

 the December number of the Parcel 

 Post and Store News, a local advertis- 

 ing monthly, bore a picture of the pop- 

 ular movie actress, Lillian Walker, 

 among the chrysanthemums in the 

 greenhouse of R. P. Atwell. 



Lewlston, HI. — Miss Lulu Martha 

 Davidson has received many expres- 

 sions of sympathy in the death of her 

 father, who passed away January 4. 

 He was 80 years of age and died of 

 the infirmities resulting from his long 

 and active life. Never a florist, he 

 was, nevertheless, well known to the 

 patrons of his daughter's successful 

 flower store, in operation here some 

 five years. 



Tilton, DL — H. A. Dubois, in digging 

 to locate a leak in a steam pipe below 

 the ground, Saturday morning, Decem- 

 ber 19, had one of his feet scalded 

 when the earth under it gave way, so 

 that he stepped into a pool of boiling 

 water. Medical attention failed to al- 

 leviate altogether the intense pain, but 

 it is believed Mr. Dubois will be able 

 to be around in a few weeks as well 

 as ever. 



