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822 



^ The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



March 2, 1905. . 



double glass to do so because a much 

 more steady heat could be maintained. 

 The difference between lettuce and cu- 

 cumbers is much like that between car- 

 nations and roses, only the cucumber is 

 much more tender and more difficult to 

 grow. i I 



Construction of Houses. 



The construction of greenhouses has 

 improved very much; that is, they are 

 built much more substantially now than 

 formerly and those of recent construc- 

 tion will last much longer. They are 

 now built with cement foundation and 

 some with iron frames, where formerly 

 they were set on wooden posts and were 

 not as durable. The houses I built 

 twenty-five years ago lasted about twen- 

 ty years and have been replaced with 

 houses of modern construction. 



Most houses today are heated by steam 

 ■where twenty-five years ago they used 

 hot water. The cost of hot water heat- 

 ing is much more than steam and not so 

 easy to control, especially with a large 

 plant. It takes more pipes and larger 

 ones and a larger boiler for water than 

 for steam to produce the same amount 

 of heat. I do not think there is much 

 diflference in the cost of fuel. Soft coal 

 is mostly used for steam heat while 

 many use hard coal for hot water and 

 the cost is fully one-third more for hard 

 coal than for soft. 



The crops grown in houses today in- 

 clude many and they are constantly in- 

 creasing. They are lettuce, cucumbers, 

 radishes, parsley, beets, spinach, rhu- 

 barb, asparagus, tomatoes, beans, melons 

 and mushrooms. The time has come 

 when; all delicate crops must be grown 

 insid^. The climate has so much 

 changed the past twenty-five years that 

 delicate crops eannot be grown as well 

 now as formerly and they can be grown 

 to greater perfection under glass, where 

 every element is under the control of the 

 grower, and if he is familiar with the 

 crop and all its requirements, there is no 

 reason why a_ perfect crop cannot be pro- 

 duced. But in the field the grower has 

 not the control and at times it is en- 

 tirely out of his hands, so that it is 

 much surer to grow crops in the houses 

 than in the field. Some time ago the 

 houses were very low near the ground, 

 but at the present time they are built 

 much higher, finding that it costs no 

 more to heat a high house than a low 

 one. 



The Best House. 



I like a house four feet high in front, 

 six feet at t^e back and eighteen feet in 

 the center, fifty feet wide, and my 

 houses of these dimensions grow the best 

 crops. They get more light and better 

 circulation of air. The requirements to 

 grow a perfect crop are air, light, heat, 

 moisture and the necessary fertilizers 

 that the crop requires and if the grower 

 understands the crop he can grow a per- 

 fect one under glass with all the neces- 

 sary mat"rials. The soil acts as the ma- 

 chine and the materials to be used put 

 into the soil, or machine, properly man- 

 aged will produce a crop the same as 

 putting into any machinery the proper 

 materials to produce any mannfactured 

 product; the better the materials used 

 the better the product. 



Sterilizing Soil. 



It is well known that nearly every 



plant has some injurious insect that 



seems to delight in devouring the plants 



and therefore some means must be re- 



sorted to to destroy them. We are 

 obliged to fumigate in various ways and 

 also to spray with different materials, 

 most of which are very effective, i 

 think sterilization of the soil eradicates 

 them as thoroughly as any one thing. 

 They cannot live in a temperature of 212 

 degrees and all germs and insects are 

 completely removed from the soil and 

 they do not appear until new ones are 

 formed. This method of sterilizing the 

 soil renews it so that it is like virgin 

 soil and will produce much better crops 

 than before the process was applied. It 

 is done to a large extent and the result 

 has been wonderful in most eases. After 

 the soil has grown three or four crops 

 the process is repeated. It not only de- 

 stroys all insects but all weed seeds and 

 none will grow for some timfe after the 

 soil is sterilized. It works as well with 

 potted plants as otherwise. 



I will now say a few words about the 

 various crops grown in greenhouses. 



Parsky. 



Parsley is quite hardy and will grow 

 under almost any conditions. It does 

 not do as well in a high temperature. 

 But answers for places in the house 

 where other plants will not grow. It is 

 sown in the spring in the field and 

 grown all season, until a large root is 

 obtained, and then taken up in Septem- 

 ber and set into the houses where it is 

 to grow. A continuous crop, or picking, 

 can be kept up all winter and can be 

 taken out any time in spring to make 

 room for more desirable crops. 



Lettuce. 



Lettuce is one of the largest and best 

 crops grown in greenhouses and requires 

 a low temperature to be grown success- 

 fully, about 40 degrees by night and 

 from 60 to 70 degrees by day. It re- 

 quires much light and grows better 

 and more quickly in spring than in the 

 long nights and short days of winter. 

 It will grow to more perfection with 

 light than without. It has been proven 

 that the use of electric arc lights has- 

 tened the growth fifteen per cent and 

 when the crop grown in the months of 

 December and January would bring a 

 good price, it was a paying investment,' 

 but the past winter has been an excep- 

 tion, prices ruling very low on account 

 of the large quantities grown in the 

 south, where it can remain in the field 

 all winter and is sent to our markets in 

 heated cars, keeping the market supplied 

 at very low prices and our crop grown 

 in houses being of inferior size and not 

 well headed, will not pay for growing. 

 No one can grow lettuce in houses and 

 sell it for 25 cents per dozen and get 

 the cost of growing, but if it will bring 

 50 cents it will pay expenses. 



Cucumbers. 



The cucumber is a vegetable that is 

 very extensively grown and is one of 

 the most difficult to grow and requires 

 more care and attention than any other. 

 The temperature should be kept very 

 high, at least 60 degrees by night and 

 nearly 100 degrees by day, that is, if 

 produced by the sun. In order to keep 

 the crop to this temperature it requires 

 very much attention. The increased pro- 

 duction in the past twenty-five years is 

 very great, perhaps more so than with 

 any other vegetable grown, especially 

 under glass. There are large quantities 

 produced in the south and shipped north, 

 which helps to keep down the prices at 

 certain seasons. 



The seed is sown and in three or four 

 days the plants are up and fit to trans- 

 plant. This should be done in very 

 warm soil and after about ten days they 

 are again transplanted into pots or hills, 

 so that they can be removed, when they 

 have attained the proper size, to where 

 they are to grow. They are set about 

 three and a half feet apart in rows, al- 

 lowing eight feet for each row. After 

 they begin to run they are trained up 

 on wires running lengthwise of the house 

 on trellises arranged for the purpose. 

 After they begin to blossom we expect to 

 pick in two weeks and continue picking 

 every two days. The picking continues 

 for some months, according to the life of 

 the vine, which varies very much ; that is, 

 some will last three months and some as 

 long as five. I have known instances 

 where they continued bearing for a year. 



The blossoms should be fertilized by 

 bees or by using a brush, but bees are 

 the best and surest. The profit in grow- 

 ing cucumbers is not always when they 

 bring the largest price, because that is 

 always at a time of year when the pro- 

 duction is very small, or in the month 

 of February these vines have been grow- 

 ing all winter and therefore do not at 

 first produce but a very few, so the 

 price must necessarily be high, but when 

 the vines get stronger and bear heavily 

 the price is lower, but they produce, so 

 much more that the total is very much 

 larger. I have known vines to produce 

 in a season over 100 good cucumbers. 



Beets. 



Beets have for the past few years 

 been grown quite extensively under glass. 

 They will grow in high or low tempera- 

 ture. They are mostly transplanted and 

 set about six inches apart. They require 

 considerable water when maturing. They 

 are sold by the bunch, four beets in a 

 bunch. Ine Egyptian variety is mostly 

 used, being a quick grower and quite 

 small top. 



Rhubarb. 



Rhubarb is forced by taking up the 

 roots in the field in the fall, letting them 

 freeze for a month or two, then placing 

 them in the house where they are to grow, 

 or putting them in the house in the fall 

 and freezing the roots there. They can 

 be forced by running a high temperature 

 and pulled when they attain a proper 

 height. Large quantities can be taken 

 from a small space. The roots should 

 be at least two years old, so that they 

 will be of good size. The roots are of 

 no use after forcing. , 



Asparagus. 



Asparagus can be forced by digging 

 the roots in the fall, the same as rhu- 

 barb, and forcing the same way,, and 

 continuous cutting can be kept up. This 

 is usually done when an old bed is dug 

 up. The roots should be large to obtain 

 the best results. 



Tomatoes. 



Tomatoes are now grown quite exten- 

 sively under glass, because the climate 

 is such out-of-doors that, being of a 

 tropical nature and growing best under 

 high temperature, the season is not long 

 enough to grow some of our best varie- 

 ties and being a crop that likes an even 

 temperature, they sometimes blight bad- 

 ly out-of-doors and some of the most 

 delicate grow best and produce much 

 more in houses. 



Radishes. 

 Badishes can be grown at all seasons 



