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Jf XE 23. 1004. 



ThcWcckly Florists* Review. 



205 



^ ' Establishment of the Heller Bros., South Park Floral Co^ New Gistle^ Ind. 

 The two houws in the for grround are those of Wm. Dittmaa, formerly foreman for Heller Bros. 



it. The crowns can be set as close to- 

 gether as the roots will allow but of 

 course must not be crowded on top of 

 one another. 



If yoa are going into the asparagus 

 forcing business it will pay you to grow 

 your own roots for one season, at least, 

 before forcing. They can then be placed 

 in the forcing quarters in a much freshor 

 condition th^n if they have to be shipped 

 from a distance. In lifting the crowns 

 from the home grounds part of the soil 

 will naturally adhere and there is no 

 danger of drying up of the roots. Un- 

 der these conditions it would not be nec- 

 essary to put any material under them 

 providing the floor is of soil or sand, 

 but the clumps can be set on the floor 

 just as close as they will stand. A cov- 

 ering over the crowns of about thr'>c 

 inches of some loose, free material, such 

 as leaf-mold, will be all that is neces 

 aary. If leaf-mold is not convenient, 

 sand can be used but a stiff retentive soil 

 should be avoided. 



Forcing will be considerably facili- 

 tated by exposing to slight frost before 

 taking inside. In the month of Decem- 

 ber, when lifting our first batch, we 

 usually throw the clumps on the surface 

 of the ground and leave them there un- 

 til they get about 10 degrees of frost; a 

 little more won't hurt them, but this is 

 sufficient to make them easier started. 

 All the roots necessary for keeping np 

 the winter's supply should be lifted be- 

 fore the ground freezes too hard and 

 stored in a cool cellar till wanted. 



When the roots have been procured 

 from a distance and have been 

 shaken bare of soil it will be necessary 

 to make a bed of about three inches of 

 some material, such as recommended for 

 covering, to lay the roots on, covering as 

 before recommended. A temperature of 

 65 degrees at night will bring them along 

 to be fit to cut in about three weeks from 

 the time they are put in. They can be 

 forced in a lower temperature but growth 

 will, of course, be slower. It is not 

 profitable to keep the roots over after 

 forcing, it being better to throw them 

 away and procure others for another sea- 

 son. W. S. Ceoydon. 



PiQUA, O. — A miniature cyclone passed 

 over H. P. Smith's greenhouses June 13, 

 breaking some glass. 



INDCX)R GRAPERIES. 



At first sight it seems somewhat 

 strange that grapes are not more ex- 

 tensively grown indoors in this country, 

 seeing that they can be done equally as 

 well here as in Europe and that tons 

 of grapea are annually imported to sup- 

 ply the demand in our larger cities, 

 good fruit always commanding a good 

 price and ready sale. 



I think that the principal reason why 

 grapes are not more extensively grown 

 here is the expense incurred in building 

 the houses and establishing the vines 

 and having to wait so long for returns. 

 When a florist starts he usually does 

 so with small capital and, as it is a 

 case of trying to make ends meet as 

 soon as possible, he chooses a crop that 

 will bring quick returns. With grap- 

 eries one year must elapse before any 

 returns can be had and even then but 

 two or three bunches can be had from 

 each vine, even where two-year-old canes 

 have been planted. It is at least four 

 years before a full crop can be had, so 

 it stands to reason that it would not pay 

 the beginner to build graperies. Some 

 may say, "but why not the established 

 grower?" The reason here is that the 

 established grower has a business al- 

 ready made and no doubt his idea is 

 to leave well enough alone in place of 

 risking the trying of experiments. And 

 when he builds more houses it is sim- 

 ply to keep ■ step with his increasing 

 trade along the lines already established. 



But the question arises, would it pay 

 in the end? I am rather inclined to 

 think that it would. The fact of their 

 having to be imported shows that there 

 is a demand for the product. And hav- 

 ing the advantage of a warmer climate 

 here, less fire heat being necessary, al- 

 lowing for more expensive labor, they 

 can be grown as cheaply here as in Eu- 

 rope, ought to reach the markiets in bet- 

 ter condition and ought to command 

 equal if not better prices. 



In building the houses the idea of a 

 cheap structure need not be entertained, 

 as grape vines once established, borders 

 well made and general conditions fa- 

 vorable, they ought to last and continue 

 to give good crops for from sixteen to 

 twenty years. They will continue to 

 bear much longer than this, but as the 



vine, ages the bunches get smaller and 

 small bunches don't command the top 

 market price. 



In the construction of the house it 

 must first be decided whether the bor- 

 der is to be all indoors or if an out- 

 door border is also to be allowed. In 

 the latter case the foundation must con- 

 sist of a series of arches to allow the 

 roots freedom to gain thd out side bor- 

 der. Much diversity of opinion exists 

 regarding the utility of an outside bor- 

 der, some claiming that it is an advan- 

 tage and others that it is unnecessary, 

 but I believe that both theories aro 

 right under certain conditions. For an 

 early house, one that has to be forced 

 during the winter months, it is better 

 to have the border all inside, as the dif- 

 ference in the temperature of the soil 

 outdoors from that inside is too ex- 

 treme. But with a late house, the out- 

 door and indoor temperatures being 

 about equal, I believe that the outdoor 

 border is of advantage. In an early 

 house the grapes are usually cut as soon 

 as ripe, as the earlier they can bef got 

 into the market the better the price pro- 

 cured; hence there is no necessity of 

 hanging them on any length of time 

 after they are ripe, but with the late 

 house the ease is diflTerent The idea 

 here is to keep them as late as pos- 

 sible, and as the atmosphere of the house 

 has to be kept as dry as possible after 

 ripening, where an outdoor border is pro- 

 vided the moisture procured from it pre- 

 vents the fruit from shriveling. 



In either case a brick foundation is 

 the best and cheapest in the end. This 

 must be built well down as the soil 

 must be excavated to a depth of about 

 four feet to allow space for ample drain- 

 age and sufficient depth of border. A 

 span roofed house running north and 

 south is the most suitable construction 

 for a grapery, as it allows equal light 

 to the vines on both sides of the house. 

 The house may be built of any desired 

 length, but the most suitable width is 

 about twenty- two feet. About fourteen 

 feet from the floor to ridge is a conven- 

 ient height. The brick foundation should 

 rise about one foot above the level of 

 the soil and to allow of good bottom 

 ventilation the upright sides should not 

 be less than two and one-half feet from 



