476 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



January 3, 1007. 



Among cheaper plants, those that any 

 one with glass can provide for himself, 

 are cyclamens, solanums, primroses and 

 the like. These all sold well. Mention 

 must not be forgotten of boxwood. 

 This pyramidal, dark green plant is im- 

 ported at small cost and has become a 

 formidable competitor of the more ex- 



MR. CODDINGTON'S VIEWS. 



A Chat on Greenhouse Q>nstruction. 



How is a man to know things in this 

 world — absolutely know before he invests 

 several thousands of dollars in an idea 

 that may be still in its experimental 



Section of House 55x400 of L. B. Coddin£ton, Murray Hill* N. J. 



pensive and better known araucaria. 

 Plants above fifteen or eighteen inches 

 high were not so readily salable as the 

 smaller specimens, although the price was 

 lower considering the ratio at which 

 prices of other plants increase with size. 

 The boxwood is unsalable unless deco- 

 rated. With a dull, unglazed Pompeian 

 pot nothing more is needed than a bow 

 of holly-red ribbon. Others used the or- 

 dinary flower pot and covered it with a 

 red Porto Rican mat tied with ribbon. 



In general the embellishment of plants 

 this season was after a saner fashion 

 than in earlier years of the plant vogue. 

 No pot was permitted to be seen on any 

 plant ready for delivery, but the beauty 

 of the specimen was not obscured by fold 

 upon fold of wrapping as was once the 

 misguided idea of good work. The 

 cheaper plants were sent out with a sim- 

 ple pot-cover of crepe paper. As the 

 price of the plant advanced more ex- 

 pensive pot-covers were used and red 

 ribbon was added. In the leading stores 

 the best things were baskets and hamp- 

 ers filled with flowering plants, with 

 enough of the things grown for their 

 foliage, as adiantum, to aiford green or 

 colored foliage where needed. These rep- 

 resented a selling price of from $8 to 

 $25, but where a dozen Beauties cost as 

 much afforded good value in the pur- 

 chaser's eyes. 



The illustrations of Christmas plant ar- 

 rangements in this issue of the Review 

 are from photographs taken last week at 

 the store of Sam Murray, Kansas City, 

 but do not by any means show how far 

 west from New York the vogue for plant 

 arrangements has made its way. 



stages? The grower must be sort of a 

 gambler — willing to take a long chance 

 and put a theory into practice to uphold 

 his personal views. 



Being determined to get at the bot- 

 tom of the wide house question, I visited 

 L. B. Coddington 's range, at Murray 

 Hill, N. J., where, along with five three- 

 quarter-span cypress houses, each IS^^x 

 350 feet, he has two 400-footers, iron- 

 frame, one thirty-seven and a half feet 

 wide, and his last one fifty-five feet 

 wide. He looked like the right man to 

 talk wide house to, because he had tried 

 the narrow, the wider and the widest and 

 stood in a position to make comparisons. 



Mr. Coddington has always been in the 

 fose business and in addition to this 

 range at Murray Hill, owns another at 

 New Providence, N. J., of 62,000 square 

 feet of glass area. He is one of those 

 wiry, hustling sort of men who dig right 

 into things — believes in spending money 

 to save money — is familiar with the vari- 

 ous constructions and houses of any im- 

 portance all over the country; has tried 



erecting his own houses and having it 

 done by the builder — he stands in a posi- 

 tion to know things, and he does — knows 

 them in a quiet, unassuming way that 

 carries its own convincement. What Mr. 

 Coddington and his wide-awake foreman 

 told me about this last house, erected 

 by Hitchings & Co., I want you to know. 

 I want you to know the thoroughness 

 with which this house was thought out 

 and built, the superiority of the iron- 

 frame construction and the advantages 

 of the wide house. 



"In general terms, how do you like 

 your big house?" I asked Mr. Codding- 

 ton. * * Like it in every way, ' ' he re- 

 plied, "and it's a satisfaction to know 

 that such a construction gives us all pos- 

 sible light, that the eave Une, with its 

 metal plate and glazing bar bracket, 

 make an indestructible joint of great 

 strength and give a freedom from ice; 

 that because of the framing's absolute 

 rigidity and the care with which expan- 

 sion and contraction have been taken 

 care of, the glass breakage is practically 

 nothing. This last house of ours has 

 thoroughly convinced me that 400 feet 

 is about the right length for economy in 

 working and freedom from the compli- 

 cated heating problems of the extremely 

 long ones, which need expensive anchor- 

 ing of heating pipes and all that sort 

 of thing." 



"What is the height of the ridge ?"^ 



"Let me see, the sides are six feet, 

 with ridge twenty-two feet. You see 

 that gives us a big volume of air up 

 there that, when once heated, is a pro- 

 tection against sudden changes and pre- 

 serves a more uniform temperature and 

 humidity. ' ' 



"What is all this talk about better 

 ventilation ? ' ' 



"It's absolutely true, the fresh air is 

 more evenly distributed because there 's 

 more air for its distribution, and when 

 it does reach the plants, it's thoroughly 

 warmed up and acts like an insulation 

 against chills." 



"Yes, there are 50-foot runs of sash 

 operated by one of these easy-running 

 gears, and right here is where one of 

 the economies in working a large house 



Rochester, N. Y. — F. H. Walrath has 

 sold his greenhouse business and has 

 moved his family to Springfield, Mo. 



Wheeling, W. Va. — W. L. Miller has 

 left this place to take charge of a store 

 in Moundsville. He leaves many friends, 

 and all wish him success. 



Calais, Me. — J. R. Sederquest has a 

 new and enterprising establishment here, 

 consisting of a main house 18x60, an- 

 other devoted to mums, lilies, narcissi, 

 etc., 20x50, a fern house 12x25, a pot- 

 ting-shed 10x25, coldframes 10x30, and 

 a Ijoiler-house 12x22. The plant is in 

 charge of Neils Frederickson, a native of 

 Copenhagen and a graduate of a botan- 

 ical college. 



Interior of Wide House of L. B. Coddington, Murray Hill, N. J. 



