w- :^-~;-<^:fv- v- 



\7'>y w " .vr-'n ■ S" 



JANDABX 28, 1915. 



The Horists' Review 



CONNECTICUT CONCRETE BENCH. 



In The Review for December 24 ap- 

 peared an - article about concrete 

 benches in reply to an inquiry from a 

 subscriber, whether they were satis- 

 factory or 'not. We have had consid- 

 erable experience both in building and 

 in using concrete benches and are more 

 than willing to give anyone the benefit 

 of our experience. 



We have used solid concrete benches 

 for the last six years, raised benches 

 for only about two. We find both styles 

 of bench give fully as good satisfac- 

 tion as wood, either for carnation or 

 rose growing. The larger part of our 

 roses are grown on concrete benches, 

 and we are replacing our wooden car- 

 nation benches with concrete as fast 

 as they need replacing. We have on our 

 place now about 5,000 lineal feet of 

 concrete bench and feel safe in saying 

 that we plan to use concrete in pref- 

 erence to wood hereafter. 



All of our solid benches are built on 

 one general plan, and as it has given 

 perfect satisfaction for the last six 

 years we continue to use -it. In our 

 last two rose houses, each 35x200 feet, 

 we are using solid benches throughout. 

 In one house the benches are sixteen 

 inches high and are the least expensive 

 W6 have yet constructed. The sides are 

 four inches thick, as shown in the 

 sketch, and are made of ten parts of 

 ashes as taken from the boiler, not 

 screened, to one part of cement. On 

 top of this 4-inch work we put our 

 regular sideboard, two inches thick and 

 six inches high, using a miYturfl of 

 three parts of screened ashes and^^ope, 

 part of cement "^" "' _-:_«— >w > 



the planks. The planks are 2x10x36 

 inches and are reinforced with two 

 pieces of 5-16-inch round iron. We use 

 a mixture of eight parts screened 

 ashes to one of cement for all parts of 

 the bench. The legs are 4x4 inches, 

 not reinforced, and the bed pieces are 

 4x4 inches reinforced. The sides of 

 these benches are the same as those 

 used in our solid benches and are put 

 on after the bench is set up. Having 

 a continuous side in this way gives 

 strength, as it holds everything rigid. 

 Our forms are crude. For planks, we 

 use 1x2 strips nailed together and laid 

 on a smooth board floor. For legs and 

 bed pieces, we use two 4-inch boards 

 about twenty feet long and put blpcks 

 between at the desired length. 



We estimate the cost of this bench 

 to be the same as stated by J. L. 

 Johnson in the issue of January 7; that 

 is, $25 worth of concrete will build as 

 many linear feet of bench as the same 

 value in wood. As to the different 



Id 



vti 



vo 



+ •;. 



^-r-^ 



STONE5 



I 



J. 



/Ph 



SOIL ^r, 



I 



^4" 



lo 



Taylor's Concrete Solid Bench. 



We use no reinfor^-N items of expense, cement costs us 34 



ment whatever. The 4-inch work is not-: 

 tamped, but left as porous as possible; 

 the 2-inch work is tamped with a small 

 stick, merely to make it smooth. The 

 bench is filled with field stone to the 

 top of the 4-inch concrete and covered 

 with one inch of ashes. In our other 

 rose house the first bench is sixteen 

 inches high and each successive bench 

 about three inches higher, the last one 

 being about twenty-six inches high. As 

 before stated, these benclies have been 

 in use about six years and we have had 

 no repairs whatever. Owing to the 

 scarcity of stone, we are now filling 

 our solid benches with ashes, . pnd we 

 think they are fully as good. 



As to our raised benches, we are 

 using a bench materially different from 

 the Chicago bench and, I think, differ- 

 ent from the one described in the issue 

 of January 7. I have seen Poehlmann's 

 benches, and, while they are much 

 heavier and, of course, stronger than 

 the ones we have, I do not see how 

 they can give any longer or better 

 service. The first cost must be, as he 

 states, fully double. 



We have just three members in our 

 bench — ^legs, bed, or cross-piece, and 



cents per bag?" iron for reinforcement, 

 $25 per ton. The ashes, we figure, cost 

 only the expense of screening. Our 

 forms have not cost us -over $5 and we 

 still have them. The cost of erecting 

 is not more than, if as much as, that 

 of erecting a wooden one. 



If M. B. S. would like any further 

 information, I shall be glad to give any 

 he may want. Edw. J. Taylor. 



ANOTHER KIND OF BENCH. 



Pennanency the Object. 



The old adage, "Wha* is worth "do- 

 ing, is worth doing well," certainly ap- 

 plies to greenhouse construction. Where 

 other things are equal, permanency 

 should be a desirable feature, for, 

 added to the expense of repairs, there 

 are many unpleasant and costly ex- 

 periences leading up to the time of 

 necessary repairs. The life of a wooden 

 greenhouse bench is perhaps seven 

 years. If a bench can be built as 

 cheaply to last for thirty years with- 

 out repairs, then what excuse for the 

 former! 



In building two houses last year, each 



35x140, the one thing always in mind 

 was permanency. As a result several 

 florists have told me that they are 

 the best constructed houses, in every 

 detail, they ever saw. 



The posts are 4-inch boiler tubes set 

 in concrete three feet and built in an 

 8-inch concrete wall two feet high and 

 filled within fifteen inches of the top 

 with concrete. In the top of each post, 

 set in concrete, are two %xl%-inch 

 steel bars, sixteen inches long, bent 

 like an inverted L, with their backs to- 

 gether and the outer ends bent up one 

 and one-half inches. These were set to 

 a form, fitted to the pipe, so that they 

 formed a bracket just the width of the 

 gutter-plate. A hole was drilled through 

 the short angle, through which a short, 

 heavy spike was driven into the edge 

 of the gutter-plate. This holds the gut- 

 ter-plate absolutely solid in every way 

 without affording a lodging place for 

 water to cause decay. The part ex- 

 tending into the top of the post- and 

 held by the concrete would be perhaps 

 nine inches long, depending upon the 

 width of the plate. Fifteen inches of 

 the lower ends of all sashbars were 

 boiled twenty minutes in oil and were 

 nailed to the gutter-plate with tenpenny 

 ,^!?<>PPcr nails. All supports and purlins 

 ,^^iX^ of pipe. The lower ends of supports 

 are protected by a cone of concrete 

 brought Well above the ground line. 

 Framoworic for Benches. 



The posts of all benches are 1-inch 

 pipe set in twelve inches of concrete 

 and filled with the same. The posts are 

 four feet apart. The crosspieces form- 

 ing the bottom of the bench, also 1- 

 inch pipe, are attached to the post by 

 means of split tees. In order to re- 

 lieve the strain on the tees, a quarter- 

 inch hole was drilled in the posts, by 

 means of a chain drill, into which was 

 driven a heavy wrought nail, the head 

 of which affords a rest for the tees. 

 The posts extend above the crossbars 

 the depth of the bench. Inside of them 

 the side-beards are fastened by means 

 of purlin clips. Thus the sideboards 

 can be easily removed, when they give 

 out. 



Taking a 5-foot bench as a basis, 

 eight cypress stringers, 1x2^4 inches, 

 were laid on the crossbars, lengthwise 

 of the bed, the ends tacked together so 

 they would remain on edge, and evenly 

 spaced. On these stringers was spread 

 wood veneer one-tenth inch in thick- 

 ness. The veneer is the same as is 

 used for handles on common market 

 baskets. On this temporary bottom 

 was spread one inch of concrete com- 

 posed of two parts of soft coal ashes, 

 such as rattled throtigh a %-inch 

 grate, two parts of sand and one part 

 of cement, mixed to the consistency 

 of paste and leveled. This was then 

 reinforced with No. 9 galvanized wire 

 every four inches, dropped into grooves 



