Makcu 4, 1915. 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



NASHVILLE GROWHIt'S BENCHES. 



Lasting Construction Most Profitable. 



We have read with interest the arti- 

 cles in The Review on concrete benches. 

 Concrete benches built properly are ex- 

 pensive, but, for those who can aflPonl 

 them, they are the best investment. 

 Three years ago we believed the time 

 was at hand for much better houses, of 

 more lasting materials, and today we 

 maintain we were right. Had we in- 

 vested the money in old-style houses, 

 no doubt we should today be suffering 

 from lack of a market for our roses and 

 carnations. Better houses and fewer 

 houses is our watchword. 



We have a good old place of about 

 50,000 feet, ordinarily built. At our 

 new plant we have the most modern 

 materials and construction that money 

 would provide, and do not regret a cent 

 we put into them. Our benches are con- 

 crete, made in wood molds. 



Making the Benches. 



We have enough forms so that three 

 men can fill half of them in one day 

 and the other half the next. The third 

 day they take the concrete blocks out 

 of the first half of the molds and rack 

 them up, and from then on keep them 

 sprinkled well until they have hardened 

 correctly. 



The side-boards of the benches taper 

 from top to bottom, and so need no 

 poultry! wire, which we think is trouble- 

 some to get into correct shape and does 

 not add much strength. By means of 

 the tapered side we obtain a thickness 

 of about two and one-half inches 

 through the corner angle. 



We get a good finish on our benches 

 by mixing the concrete to a slushy con- 

 sistency instead of semi-dry, making the 

 finished work so much more solid. Thus 

 the steel reinforcing is thoroughly pro- 

 tected. Not one speck of rust has ap- 

 peared, as it does when the concrete is 

 mixed semi-dry. As the concrete formed 

 from a semi-dry mixture is porous, the 

 manure and water must eventually eat 

 out the steel rods in it. The fact that 

 the blocks are not porous does not harm 

 our plants, for we have the best carna- 

 tions in Nashville and our roses are 

 the best we have ever had. We space 

 the cross-pieces about three-eighths of 

 an inch apart and so obtain ample 

 drainage. 



The Cost. 



We have 4,900 lineal feet of concrete 

 benches, five feet wide. The bottom is 

 one and one-eighth inches thick. The 

 sides are one and one-eighth inches at 

 the top and taper, on the inside, to one 

 and two-thirds inches at the bottom. 



This bench, nearly a mile long if 

 stretched out in a straight line, is 

 worth every dollar put into it, and will 

 be at its best when the second genera- 

 tion, and perhaps the third, succeeds 

 us in the business. Such is our faith 

 in properly made concrete benches. The 

 cost was as follows: 



Screening (small stones and dust, 

 running about two-thirds chips 

 of hard stone and one-third 

 dust), at $1.10 per cubic yard.$ 400 



Portland cement, at .$1.10 per bar- 

 rel 400 



Twisted steel rods, i^-inch and 



%-inch 1,280 



•Forms, 200 in number 200 



Labor, common 800 



Total $3,080 



We did our own supervising, and so 

 the last item is only for ordinary labor. 

 The steel rods form the largest item of 

 cost, but that is the ])lace to be liberal. 



Construction. 



To sink the rods in place, we use a 

 home-made gauge, in the shape of .i 

 chisel with a groove in the blade to fit 

 the rod. It can then be no other place 

 than the center of the piece of work, 

 so that we thus insure correct spacing 

 of the reinforcing. In the cross-pieces 

 there are three %-inch twisted steel 

 bars, one in the middle and one three 

 inches to each side of it and two inches 

 from the edge of the piece. In the 

 4-inch stringer there are two ^/o-inch 

 twisted steel reinforcement rods two 

 inches apart and an inch from the edge. 

 The posts on which the stringers rest 

 are six feet apart. Other measurements 

 and details of construction may be 

 gained from the accompanying diagrnm, 

 showing a cross-section of a bench. The 

 photograph reproduced herewith shows 

 our rose plants on some of our concrete 

 benches. Mclntvre Floral Co. 



WILL NOT PRODUCE SEEDS. 



We are sending you a section of a 

 seed cone from our cycas ])lant, Cycas 

 circinalis, from the East Indies, and 

 should like to know how the seeds are 

 treated in the propagation of the plants. 



'ZX 



. /-a: 



d 



We have grown this plant from a tiny 

 specimen, bought about thirty years 

 ago. This is the first seed to appear 

 and we shall be greatly pleased if we 

 can start some new plants. 



L. W. C. & S.— Ohio. 



Among the members of the cycas 

 family the male and female flowers are 

 found on separate plants, and the fact 

 that the plant in question is bearing a 

 cone proves it to be a male. These 

 cones are composed of scales similar to 

 the specimen forwarded, and on the un- 

 der side of the scale near the base are 

 located the anthers, not yet open. The 

 female inflorescence is in the form of a 

 tuft of short, woolly growths that look 

 somewhat like imperfect leaves, and 

 on certain portions around the edges of 

 these growths the seeds are formed, the 

 latter bearing some slight resemblance 

 to a ripe horse-chestnut. 



From these facts, I regret to say that 

 the plant in question will not produce 

 any seeds. W. H. T. 



LIABILITY FOR FROZEN STOCK. 



The law concerning the liability of a 

 railway or express company for the loss 

 of a shipment by freezing during a 

 blizzard in the course of transportation 

 ih summed up by the Oklahoma Supreme 

 court in the recent case of Dreyfus vs. 

 St. Louis & San Francisco Ry. Co., 141 

 Pacific Reporter 773. In this case the 

 railway company denied liability on the 

 ground that the loss complained of by 

 jdaintiff was due to an act of God, but 

 the court decided that, although "a 

 carrier is not liable for damages result- 

 ing solely from an act of God," the act 

 must not only be the proximate cause 

 of the loss, but it must be the sole 

 cause. If, however, the injury is caused 

 by an act of God, commingled with the 

 negligence of the defendant, as an effi- 

 cient and contributing concurrent cause, 

 and the injury would not have occurred 

 except for such negligence, the company 

 will be liable. So the court finds that 

 if the loss is attributable to negligent 

 delay in making delivery, existence of a 

 blizzard will not excuse the carrier's 

 liability for a loss by freezing which 

 would have been avoided by proper de- 

 livery. The same principle has been ap- 

 plied to loss of freight in floods. S. 



so 



z - a ■ 



zH 



S=f- 



s'o" 



mL 



^^ 



z-e 



Q n o (5v>«.» /rl 



• I trn„ 



^ 



^~^ 



71^ 



— ^- 



'!♦■ 



$ ^ 



_l i )L. 



Diagram of G>ocrcle Bench as Built by the Mclntyre Flofal G>. 



