254 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



J UNO 30, 1004. 



these dendrobiums require an abundance 

 of heat and atmospheric moisture, and 

 should be put in a part of the house 

 which is but slightly shaded. — W. H. 

 White, orchid grower to Sir Trevor Law- 

 lence, in the Gardeners' Chronicle. 



COST OF FUEL. 



My greenhouse? is 18x40, ten feet to 

 ridge, four feet side walls. Use natural 

 gas at 27 cents for fuel and steam as a 

 heating medium. The cost of gas last 

 winter was about $80. Is this as cheap 

 as a good grade of soft coal at $3 a ton? 

 Was the above cost reasonable for main- 

 taining 50 degrees in a house of this 

 «ize? C. L. W. 



With a small greenhouse, sxich as you 

 luive, it is a question if jt is not cheaper 

 for you to use the gas at the high pricC 

 ^oted than to attempt to fire with coal 

 at $3 per ton. \\ii^h gas there is little 

 or no kttetition demanded in the way -of 

 firing, but to maintain a constant steam 

 pressure* Jjpih 9|l!Mm-coal would reguire 

 that tbfe ^)Ier bie tired wt lejisb'^onpe 

 in two hourt throughout the whole twen- 

 ty-four hours. It is not so much a ques- 

 tion of cost of fuel as of cost of running 

 the! plant. I judge that, everything con- 

 ndered, the gas, while more expensive, is 

 more satisfactory, and if it is neces- 

 sary to hire the firing done, gas will 

 prove cheaper. At 27 cents per 1,000 feet 

 gas is equal to coal at $8.10 per ton. 

 Hard coal might be substituted for the 

 gas by using a self regulating boiler 

 with a slight saving in cost. 



L. C. C. 



CfHATHAM, N. Y.— The Chatham Floral 

 Co. is installing a new heating plant. 



Bat AVI A, III. — The ground occupied 

 by the Batavia Greenhouse Co. is being 

 cleared preparatory to the erection of a 

 larger and more up-to-date plant. 



VIOLETS. 



Seasonable Work. 



Those who have their houses planted 

 and now nicely under way cannot sit 

 down in the shed, thinking that the work 

 is all done and that they might as well 

 cool off, for if one tries this method 

 he will soon find that the weeds, aphis, 

 etc., are making the most of his ab- 

 sence and getting in their ' ' best lieka. ' ' 

 There is nothing that tends to make 

 good crops more surely, either indoors 

 or out, than good, constant cultivating, 

 and while you cannot use the small hand 

 cultivators in the house, you can use 

 the little five pronged seratchers to good 

 effect in their place, and if done often 

 enough it saves work, as it not only 

 does the cultivating but keeps the weeds 

 down, for they dry out at once as soon 

 as they germinate. 



Do not let any aphides, either green 

 or black, get a foothold. If any are 

 seen take the first bright, dry morning 

 you have, and dust them with tajfeceo 

 powder, syringing this Q^from,iy^ to 

 three hours later. Do not trust to one 

 or two applications being permanently ef- 

 fective but keep a constant lookout for 

 J'^hese as well as all enemies. Go over 

 the plants often, gathering and burning 

 the yellow leaves and trimming the run- 

 ners off so as to have nice stocky 

 crowns by the time you are ready to pick 

 flowers. B. E. Shuphelt. 



VIOLETS UNDER SASH. 



I have two sash houses 150 feet long 

 on which one-half the sash can be opened 

 as ventilators. Can I plant one house 

 with Marie Louise and the other with 

 California violets in July without re- 

 moving the sash? Should I keep the 

 runnels cut off the Californias, the same 

 as with Marie Louise, or let them grow. 



Rose Pink Peony, Nuoam Geissler. 



as if they were planted in the field to 

 be housed in the fall? A. N. 



From the description I should suppose 

 that the houses would do very v/ell for 

 violets and, as I take it they are old 

 houses, I would emphasize what I said 

 a few weeks ago about cleaning out, fu- 

 migating, painting, liming, etc., so as to 

 have the houses in good shape. They can 

 be planted without removing the sash, 

 but of course you will have to do some 

 shading and give all the ventilation 

 possible. However, as I understand that 

 part of the sash open at the ridge, care 

 will have to be exercised that they be 

 closed during heavy showers to pre- 

 vent packing down the borders and get- 

 ting them heavy and in poor condition. 

 We would keep both houses thoroughly 

 cultivated, runners cut off, old leaves 

 picked off, etc. R. E. S. 



INDOOR GRAPERIES. 



The undersigned, for one, was much 

 interested in the article on "Indoor 

 Graperies " by W. S. Croydon. Like him, 

 I have often wondered that grape grow- 

 ing was not taken up here as a commer- 

 cial industry. Not in the remotest de- 

 gree would I attempt to criticize any- 

 thing that was said in that brief but able 

 review of the subject, but rather to cor- 

 roborate and encourage some enterprise 

 in a field in which 1 feel sure there is 

 every promise for a handsome return for 

 the outlay of capital, skill and labor. 



The grapes grown under glass in Eu- 

 rope and this country are varieties of 

 Vitis vinifera, native of temperate re- 

 gions, and yet when the wood is properly 

 ripened it will endure zero weather. Our 

 American grapes are the offspring of 

 Vitis Labrusca and in skin, flesh, texture, 

 flavor and foliage they are widely dis- 

 tinct from what are generally known as 

 exotic grapes. I have heard full grown 

 Americans say they preferred a bunch of 

 Concords to a bunch of Black Hamburg. 

 There is no accounting for taste I We 

 knew a worthy Scotchman who consid- 

 ered a solo by Duncan McLeod, ' ' The 

 Campbells Are Coming," on the bag 

 pipes far superior to Remenyi 's rendition 

 of Beethoven's sonata on the violin. 



The taste and demand for these exotic 

 grapes is no longer a question. A few 

 years ago we had in our employ the son 

 of a wealthy landowner of Belgium whose 

 father sent to New York during the win- 

 ter months tons of grapes and, as a box 

 arrived at our house and we helped to 

 eat them, we can vouch for the quality. 

 We were informed that they netted the 

 Belgian grower something like $2 per 

 pound. As there was freight and com- 

 mission and retailer's profit to be addi«l 

 to this, by the time they were devoured 

 by Reginald Astorbilt they were indeed 

 a luxury. Yet not the slightest bit more 

 an extravagance than American Beauty 

 roses at $24 a dozen. 



Twenty-eight years ago we sent to 

 New York City a good many hundred 

 pounds of indoor-grown grapes at the 

 end of July. We received $1.50 per 

 pound for them and in August $1 per 

 pound. In New York, Boston, Chicago 

 or Philadelphia, as well as many 

 smaller cities, where one pound of these 

 delicious grapes could be sold thirty years 



