460 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JULT 12, 1906. 



RIBBONS. 



The fashion writer for a Sunday paper 

 has discovered that "florists are no 

 longer content to decorate flowers with 

 several dollars' worth of ribbon. That 

 cannot bo niade to cost enough, what- 

 ever the quality of the ribbon may be. 

 So it has become the fashion to tie up 

 the boxes in ribbons. From the most 

 expensive shops there are sent out now 

 boxes bound at one end with broad 

 ribbons which add at least several dol- 

 lars to the price of each box. Some- 

 times small bunches of the flowers in- 

 side are tied under the ribbon as an in- 

 dex to the contents of the box." 



CALIFORNIA PALM HOUSE. 



Would you kindly advise me how to 

 build a house about 20x80 or 22x80 for 

 palms, ferns, etc.! I would like to add 

 a row of 6-inch sashef on each side of 

 the house, which is to run north and 

 south, the west side being the property 

 line. How close to the Une would you 

 build? What ventilator would you advise 

 me to buy and what price; boiler; size 

 of pipes; how many runs; expansion 

 tank; size and thickness of glass, pitch, 

 etc.? I have enough sashbars for one 

 side made of 2x3 Oregon pine fourteen 

 feet long, and would like to make th^, 

 frame and all of wood if advisable, as 

 our redwood lasts very long in the 

 ground and above. Would it be neces- 

 sary to put posts in the ground, or would 

 a mottsill screwed on the concrete answer 

 the purpose? Would you have one row 

 of posts through the center or two Tovfil^ 

 one each side, and how far from the 

 center to have them convenient for the 



with this inquiry and as the writer has 

 never been in California some errors 

 may be made. First then, if you are 

 anxious to use the 14-foot sashbars which 

 you already have, make your house 

 twenty-one feet wide from the out- 

 side to outside of posts and make 

 each side of the roof fourteen 

 feet. This will be a steep roof, 

 but so much the better for your climate, 

 because it will not be so hot a house 

 in summer. Supposing your east wall is 

 five feet to where the roof springs. Then 

 I know of no objection to running a 

 row of 6-foot sashes along it, but con- 

 nect it to the larger house in such a 

 way that there is little tendency to cause 

 rot. 



As to the west line, that is a ques- 

 tion of local conditions. If you are 

 sure your neighbor will always admit 

 you to his lot with ladders to paint or 

 repair the roof of the greenhouse, then 

 you might put your west wall on your 

 property line. We think, however, you 

 should keep back three feet from your 

 line so that you would not have to ask 

 favors of any one. 



In the east all commercial florists 

 use for greenhouse building that splen- 

 did wood known as southern cypress, 

 and now we are using cypress for 

 benches. We would hardly think the 

 freight charge from Louisiana to Los 

 Angeles would be as high as it would 

 be from the gulf states to New York 

 s^ate; still, we hear such wonderful 

 praise of the Oregon and Washington 

 redwood and other firs that there should 

 be no need of your using any other, ex- 

 cept that the eaaitern and Chicago horti- 

 cultural builders know just what is 



Refriseratiof Apparatus iti the'Batement of the Breitmeyer Store, Detroit. 



use of the ventilators? Would one row 

 of ventilators do? Our temperature 

 very seldom goes below the freezing 

 point. For fuel we have soft coal at 

 $9 per ton. Crude oil is cheap, but I 

 think my neighbors would not like the 

 soot. Gas is 85 cents per 1,000 cubic 

 feet. Which do vou think is the best 

 to use? J F. H. 



There are many questions connected 



wanted and if you send one of these 

 firms the width, height and size of ven- 

 tilators, they will send you material cut 

 to the minutest dimensions, with blue 

 print to guide in erection, and the 

 merest novice in carpentering can put 

 it together. 



The ventilation should be ample, es- 

 pecially in your climate. It should be 

 three feet deep, hinged at the ridge. 



and should continue along the entire 

 house on the east slope of your roof. 

 I am not supposed to recommend any 

 particular ventilating apparatus any 

 more than I am pots, pipes or boilers. 

 Any of them will serve your purpose. 

 Write to the advertisers in the Keview 

 for prices. 



You must need but very little artificial 

 heat in a house in Los Angeles, and 

 that little more to avoid dampness in 

 the rainy season than to resist cold. 

 Therefore, the use of steam would be 

 absurd for several reasons. A hot-water 

 heater is much the best for your size 

 of house. Eight runs of 2-inch pipe 

 will be more than sufficient for your 

 house, viz., four fiows and four returns. 



As for the expansion tank and ar- 

 rangement of pipes, it would be im- 

 possible to go into that in these columns, 

 as we do not know whether your heater 

 will be on the level of the greenhouse 

 floor or six feet below it. There is 

 really no work in this country that is a 

 guide to any one doing his own heating. 

 I know of none I can recommend. The 

 greatest errors prevail on the subject, 

 and no two places being just alike, it 

 is impossible to make a plan for heating 

 unless you are perfectly familiar with 

 the place. If you will draw a perfect 

 plan of your house, showing position of 

 boiler, depth of stokehole, all doors, 

 paths, benches, etc, and send it to a 

 New York or Chicago specialist on heat- 

 ing, he will draw you a plan showing 

 how to arrange the pipes and will charge 

 you for it as he should; or you can wait 

 until September, and buy the Florists' 

 Manual, wherein the writer has set 

 down the principles of hot-water heat- 

 ing and its practical application to the 

 extent of several pages, 



Ab for the walls and frame of you^ 

 house, I would put red cedar or red- 

 wood posts three feet in the ground 

 and set them in cement four feet apart, 

 with two thiciiuesses of boards and an 

 air space of half an inch between the 

 boards. You will have a wall that will 

 last many years and is easily renewed 

 when it does give out. 



The plate goes on top of the posts and 

 the bars go from plate to ridgepole. By 

 all means you need an upright support 

 under the ridge. A 1 14 -inch gaspipe 

 is large and strong enough, but there 

 is where the principal support is needed. 

 One for every sixteen feet of ridge is 

 enough. In addition to this center and 

 principal support of the roof you will 

 need two other lines of uprights (1-inch 

 pipe is heavy enough for these), and 

 they carry a 1-inch pipe running the 

 entire length of the house on each aide 

 of the ridge half-way between the ridge 

 and plate. These supports are called 

 purlins, and are very necessary in the 

 east, or the snows would crush in our 

 roofs. The upright 1-ineh pipes to sup- 

 port the purlins should be eight feot 

 apart, no more, and every bar is 

 fastened to the purlin by a tin clip and 

 two small screws. 



In conclusion I must say that if you 

 feel yourself somewhat rusty on green- 

 house building and heating you will save 

 money and enjoy much comfort by send- 

 ing a sketch of your intentions to a 

 practical and responsible horticultural 

 builder, of whom there are several in 

 Chicago, and that is a thousand miles 

 nearer you than New York; he will send 

 you blue prints of building and heat- 

 ing, which are very easily understood, 

 and it will save you lots of money and 

 worry. W. S. 



