1056 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Septkmbkr 13, 1906. 



' ~.'f- 



and |>ole beans later, and the cucumbers 

 and other forms practically unchanged. 



(3) That there is, as a rule, an in- 

 creabo in the amount of fruit, also in 

 size of individual fruits, the cucumber 

 being the chief exception. 



(4) That the chief beneficial effects 

 of the light are to make up for de- 

 ficiency of sunlight, give with few excep- 

 tions stronger, more vigorous top growth, 

 and help overcome unfavorable condi- 

 tions in certain other lines. 



(u) That there seems to be a limit in 

 rapiiiity of growth, beyond Mhich plants 

 cannot be forced at all proportional to 

 the attendant expense. Just what con- 

 ditions govern this limit or where the 

 limit is in our forcing-house plants, is 

 as yet unknown. 



Photosynthetic processes are complet- 

 ed to the j)oint of starch making; root 

 systems increased in the main propor- 

 tionately with top development. 



Influence on Time of Blooming. 



Mr. lorns notes that with three excep- 

 tions all forms bloomed earlier under 

 acetylene than under sun alone. Most 

 notable differences are in the case of 

 geraniums. In some cases plants under 

 acetylene bloomed twenty days before 

 those under sunlight. In the case of 

 carnations the blooming time was hast- 

 ened, but the stems were elongated to 

 an injurious extent. Therefore, from 

 the standpoint of hastening the bloom- 

 ing, it is beneficial. 



Lilium lougiflorum also was greatly 

 benefited. The per cent of gain of plants 

 under acetylene varied from six to fif- 

 teen, li. speciosum under acetylene 

 bloomed two to three weeks ahead of 

 those unlighted. In conjunction with 

 eitlier the eflFect was very marked. 



(Quantity of bloom: The influence on 

 quantity of bloom is pronounced. In 

 every case the amount of bloom was in- 

 creased. In some plants two or three 

 times as many blossoms were produced 

 as in the sun. 



Duration of bloom: Here we have an 

 apparent contradiction. The addition of 

 acetylene shortened the number of days 

 which cucumber flowers remained on the 

 vines, but in the case of lily and nar- 

 cissus the flowers lasted a greater num- 

 ber of days than where only sun was 

 used. This may be due in measure to 

 the innate character of the flower itself. 



General Summary. 



Between ninety and ninety-five per 

 cent of the plants experimented with re- 

 sponded favorably to the stimulus given 

 by the acetylene light. The remainder 

 were usually negative. There was no 

 uniformity of results within a group of 

 related plants. Lilies, for instance, gave 

 markedly positive results, while some tu- 

 lips failed to respond entirely. 



No markedly injurious results were 

 noted except where plants were grow- 

 ing under optimum conditions. 



The general influence of acetylene 

 seems to be that of weak or highly di- 

 luted sunlight. 



Under unfavorable conditions of tem- 

 perature and sunlight, acetylene can be 

 used to considerable advantage in stimu- 

 lating p^nt growth. It must not be re- 

 garded as a magic agent, with which 

 miraculous plant growth may be 

 wrought, but as a supplement or co- 

 operative force to aid the gardener under 

 unfavorable conditions, or at times when 

 tiatural stimuli must be augmented it 

 ffromises to be useful. 



Under such conditions, M'ith certain 

 forcing-house crops, I believe it can be 

 profitably applied. 



In conclusion I would have it under- 

 stood that I regard these experiments as 

 merely preliminary. There are many 

 questions yet to be answered. For in- 

 stance, should acetylene be used only in 

 the daytime, during the natural period 

 of plant growth, or on dark days, when 

 the sunlight is deficient? What degree 

 of illumination should be employed? If 

 .at night, is it best to run a weak light 

 all night or a strong light in order to 

 give a period of rest part of the time? 



Why do some plants respond, and 

 others not? What is the fundamental 

 reason? Will the discovery of this rea- 

 son give us further light in {lursuing our 

 investigations? 



[The publication of this paper and the 



Golden Bell Under Acetylene a Week Ahead. 



accompanying illustrations is made pos- 

 sible by the courtesy of Elias Long, 

 editor of the Acetylene Journal, Chi- 

 cago, who is a brother of the well- 

 known Daniel B. Long, of Buffalo. — 

 Ed.] 



Vegetable Forciog. 



HOUSE FOR CUCUMBERS. 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 254 of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, prepared by 

 Prof. L. C. Corbett, gives the following 

 plans for a forcing house for cucum- 

 bers: 



The chief desideratum in a house for 

 forcing cucumbers is a maximum amount 

 of light, sufficient headroom, and ade- 

 quate radiation to maintain a tempera- 

 ture varying from 65 degrees to 85 de- 

 grees. The amount of radiation will of 

 course depend upon the style of heating 

 employed, whether steam or hot water, 

 and upon the location of the green- 

 house, whether at the north or the south, 

 the outside temperature determining to 

 a considerable extent the amount of radi- 

 ation required in the house, to maintain 

 a given degree of heat. 



The forcing house for cucumbers may 



be a broad, even-span house, with a ridge 

 running north and south, or it may be 

 a flat, lean-to type of house, with a short 

 slope to the north, the north wall high 

 and constructed of brick or timber, and 

 the south wall made solid for only a few 

 inches above the surface of the ground 

 and constructed mainly of glass to give 

 sufficient headroom. The even-span house 

 should have foundations extending eigh- 

 teen to twenty inches above the surface 

 of the ground and glass from the foun- 

 dations to the angle formed by the 

 eaves, which should be of sufficient height 

 to give headroom in the house. Five 

 feet from the floor level of the house 

 to the angle of the eaves is not too 

 great a distance, and six feet is more 

 desirable. The angle of the roof should 

 be about 30 degrees in the latitude of 

 Philadelphia and northward. 



For a lean-to house the angle of the 

 roof is usually made very flat, the height 

 of the south side being about five or 

 five and one-half feet, while the height 

 of the north side is about twelve feet 

 for a house sixty feet in width. In 

 these large houses it is the common prac- 

 tice to use solid benches. 



Benches of suitable width, varying 

 from twelve to sixteen feet, with narrow 

 walks between, are provided, the surface 

 of the beds being left about twelve 

 inches above the normal ground level. 

 Where it is possible it is better to pro- 

 vide shallow beds carrying about eight 

 inches of earth slightly elevated above 

 the normal level of the soil, so that the 

 heating pipes, or a number of them at 

 least, can be carried beneath the benches. 

 A type of construction which has proved 

 satisfactory for this purpose is a bed 

 eight feet wide, with side boards eight 

 inches high, carried upon 2x4 oak or 

 hardwood joists raised about six inches 

 from the ground level of the greenhouse. 

 The heating pipes for water under pres- 

 sure or for steam can be carried beneath 

 this bench and just above vhe surface of 

 the ground, thus producing bottom heat, 

 which is most desirable for cucumbers. 

 For the broad house above suggested, 

 this type of bench construction, while it 

 is somewhat expensive, will prove satis- 

 factory. The width of the bench is not 

 too great for training cucumbers, four 

 rows of plants being trained in each bed 

 of this width, the plants being set about 

 twelve inches from the border of the 

 bed and parallel with either side, with a 

 double row of plants eighteen inches 

 apart through the center. The training 

 is then accomplished by constructing an 

 A-shaped trellis. This extends over the 

 pathway, from one bed to the next, and 

 is high enough and broad enough to 

 allow the gardener to pass beneath it 

 for the purpose of spraying and harvest- 

 ing the fruit. 



NEV RED AZALEA. 



Ch. Vuylsteke, the orchid specialist, 

 of Loochristi, near Ghent, Belgium, is 

 introducing a new azalea, said to be 

 quite different from any other azalea 

 because the flower is composed of two 

 perfectly formed corollas, one within the 

 other. It is known as Azalea Indica 

 Vuylstekeana and the originator thinks 

 it of much promise. The color is a hand- 

 some shade of red and makes a charming 

 effect under artificial light. 



■ «jr 'X'. 



Ilion, N. Y. — Harry Hakes recently 

 was involved in a runaway in which he 

 was bruised by jumping while the horse 

 was running. 



