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JULV 13, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



405 



THE RCXXING GRATE. 



Visitors are always numerous at the 

 big cut flower establishments north of 

 Chicago and many of those who have 

 gone through the Peter Eeinberg, J. A, 

 Budlong, Wietor Bros., Emil Buettner 

 and other well known ranges the past 

 season have ndted, among other interest- 

 ing features, a new grate either being 

 installed or in operation under the boil- 

 ers. It is called a "rocking" grate, a 

 device for shaking out the ashes with- 

 out opening the fire doors, and is made 

 by a Chicago concern, the Martin Grate 

 Co., 283 Dearborn street. These grow- 

 ers were led to adopt this grate because 



and one-half inches in depth. The 

 spaces between the bars are not enlarged 

 in the act of shaking, nor is it possible 

 for clinker or other substances to drop 

 down between and clog the grate, and 

 as there are no long fingers it is not 

 possible for a fireman to leave any part 

 of the grate projecting up into the fire 

 to be burned off. 



This grate bar is very heavy, though 

 the heavy part is a considerable distance 

 below the fire line, with a free circula- 

 tion of air through the bars horizontally. 

 This circulation of air prevents the 

 heavy part of. the bar from overheating 

 and warping. The top of the bar is 



Grate Bar of the Rocking; Grate. 



it is in successful operation in many of 

 the largest steam making plants in Chi- 

 cago and the middle west, where elabo- 

 rate systems of cost keeping are em- 

 ployed, and in every case has demon- 

 strated its ability to reduce fuel bills 

 and increase the efficiency of the boiler. 

 If there is any place where the coal bill 

 is an important factor, it is in a green- 

 house. The rocking grate is of reason- 

 able first cost, but any way it would be 

 entitled to a trial on the showing of 

 economy in operation. 



While the grate seems to be satisfac- 

 tory with any kind of fuel, it is es- 

 pecially so where there is a large per- 

 centage of fine coal, as in Pocahontas, 

 which is the favorite fuel of most of the 

 large growers in the vicinity of Chicago. 

 It also saves coal where the cheaper 

 grades are burned, such as slack or 

 screenings. The construction is such that 

 none of the fine coal drops through into 

 the ash pit, as so much of it does with 

 even the most careful firing on the ordi- 

 nary grate. Those growers who have 

 tried it at once noticed the difference in 

 the ash. Another saving is in the large 

 amount of heat lost in frequently open- 

 ing the fire doors to stir up the fire 

 with the slice bar. This not only breaks 

 up the cake and sends fine c<Jal into the 

 pit, but has a very appreciable effect in 

 cooling off the boiler. The rocking 

 grate operates by a lever on the outside 

 and frees the grate of ashes without 

 opening the doors. The movement is not 

 sufficient to break the cake and send the 

 live coals into the ash pit, but keeps 

 an unrestricted flow of air passing 

 through the fire and produces complete 

 combustion. 



One of the accompanying illustrations 

 J^hows the setting commonly used for a 

 horizontal return tubular boiler with this 

 grate in place. The other illustration 

 shows one of the bars in detail. 



It will be noted that the bars extend 

 lengthwise of the fire box, an arrange- 

 ment which, in connection with the de- 

 sign of the bar itself, is intended to fa- 

 cilitate the occasional use of the slice 

 bar and hoe, and does away with the 

 objection urged where the surface is 

 irregular. The bar is one and one-half 

 inches in width, including teeth, and five 



slotted near each end to allow for ex- 

 pansion and contraction, and this slot 

 and the free circulation of air are said 

 to result in long life for the bar. 



The bars rest with a wedge-shaped 

 bearing on the supporting bars, making 

 the operation of the grate extremely 

 easy. It is said that very little effort is 

 required to shake a grate sixty square 

 feet in area. Ordinarily the air space 

 for draft is about fifty per cent of thf 

 grate area, but it can be increased in» a 

 few minutes by changing the position 

 of the bars. 



The grate is adapted to use under any 

 boiler. The Chicago growers who are us- 

 ing it put it under their old return 

 tubular boilers and it can be installed 

 under almost any kind of a heater with 

 little trouble. No change in the fire hoii 

 is required and the only cutting neces- 

 sary is a 2-inch hole through the boiler 

 front for the shaker rod. 



DALLAS, TEX. 



The local papers report that E. H. R. 

 Green, son of Mrs. Hetty Green, is to be- 

 come a florist. The announcement was 

 made today of an important purchase 

 of Dallas county real estate made by Mr. 

 Green for the purpose. The price paid 

 for the land was $250 per acre. Mr. 

 Green has informed Dallas that it is his 

 intention to make the place his perma- 



nent home. The flower farm enterprise 

 will be chartered with a capital stock of 

 $250,000, practically all to be owned bj 

 Mr. Green. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market 



For several days the most intense 

 heat has prevailed here. At times the 

 temperature has reached 100 degrees in 

 the shads. The enervating effects are 

 seen in every department of the cuj 

 flower market. The mar-fcet was flooded 

 with stock of nearly every kind, tor 

 which there was no demand whatever. 

 Prominent retail stores report almost 

 total stagnation. The boys in the small 

 towns, who do not have to pay $5,000 to 

 $15,000 a year rent, may gather some 

 consolation from this when they think 

 business is dull. Some of the whole- 

 salers declared that no such conditions 

 have ever been experienced in the his- 

 tory of the commission flower business. 

 For hours at a time not a single cus- 

 tomer could be seen in the wholesale 

 market. Growers of the common grades 

 of stock have been written not to ship 

 their stuff, for .not enough can be got 

 out of it to pay the freight. 



The next flood in sight will be the 

 aster torrent. Preliminary warnings 

 have already been sent out. Some of 

 the growers have declared their inten- 

 tion of shipping 50,000 a day. It appalls 

 one to figure on how little this stock 

 can hope to realize, unless it be of the 

 very finest quality. There is always a 

 market, every day in the year, for the 

 best of anything, but the day is rapidly 

 approaching when a separate market 

 will have to be maintained for the or- 

 dinary and poor shipments and when 

 the wholesaler who caters to the bon- 

 ton retail trade will accept and sell only 

 that which is of superior quality. 



There is another flood in sight. The 

 local shipments of gladioli have com- 

 menced. It will be but a few days be- 

 fore enormous quantities of them will 

 be in every wholesale house. Prepara- 

 tions have been made for the handling 

 of greater quantities than ever before, 

 from Childs and Cowee and dozens of the 

 smaller growers in this vicinity. 



The death rate has advanced consider- 

 ably since the period of extreme heat 

 has begun. Some notable funerals dur- 

 ing the past week have kept some of 

 the leading retailers busy. The Hay 

 funeral, especially, at Cleveland, called 

 for a great abundance of the best flow- 

 ers and Messrs. Small and Thorley sent 



Rockins; Grate and Setting for Horizontal Return Tube Boiler. 



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