■J." ■.' V, 



August 22, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



33 



tion if the purchaser were willing to pay 

 for the necessary trouble, and to take 

 and plant the bulbs at the proper time. 



Lilium Philadelphicuni has almost dis- 

 appeared from our lists. It can be grown 

 and flowered, but the bulb is so small 

 and the scales so open, that not one in 

 a thousand will bloom. 



Lilium catesbsei and L. Grayi, also na- 

 tive lilies, are seldom seen except in 

 botanical collections. 



Fallacies ia Cultivation. 



There are some fallacies iu cultivation. 

 Many directions for growing different 

 varieties of plants were put in type a 

 number of years ago, when things were 

 thought to require very careful and 

 necessary cultivation. There is a lot of 

 this type that seems to be set up at the 

 present time. I will take as an illus- 

 tration Iris Kwnipferi. . In 1878, we 

 bought Professor Pringle's entire stock 

 of this plant. There were many very 

 fine varieties, and many of the kinds 

 are sold today. We noticed that the 

 clumps, when being subdivided for plant- 

 ing, had a large center that was entirely 

 dead or dried up; in many you could 

 put your hand right through the center. 

 This came from leaving the clumps too 

 long before subdividing. We were told 

 that this plant required damp, low 

 ground and if it could be covered by 

 water occasionally it would be better. 

 We planted them on common Long Is- 

 land plains soil, two feet of soil above 

 clear sand, fifty feet above water. Wil- 

 liam Falconer, in describing our planta- 

 tion of iris, said he walked "waist 

 deep" through the plants. When trans- 

 planting a field of these, we used a cart 

 and wheelbarrows, and subdivided them 

 with an axe. One year we left several 

 hundred plants along a driveway on top 

 of the ground, when transplanting in the 

 spring. In the fall these plants were 

 alive. Personally, I don't think it is 

 necessary that Iris Ksmpferi should be 

 flooded with water to produce a good 

 growth. 



As this subject seems to be large, and 

 it is necessary and i)roper that this 

 paper should be short, it is pretty diffi- 

 cult to give anything of real value. But 

 the subject may excite an interest in 

 more people than have ever given it a 

 thought before, and I assure you that 

 it will furnish you a new interest so 

 far as you desire to go. 



Bulbs Nature's Storehouse. 



Bulbs represent one of the most won- 



Removing the Molds from a Wittbold Cement Bench. 



derful provisions of nature in the vege- 

 table kingdom. Those grown in arid or 

 desert countries conserve their vitality 

 intact longer than bulbs grown anywhere 

 else. The Mexican bulbs, grown mostly 

 in arid wastes, will remain in perfect 

 condition Avhen kept out of the ground 

 a year. I believe that bulbs of Amaryl- 

 lis formosissima will remain two years 

 out of the ground in good condition. 



It seems to be a provision of nature 

 to preserve the life of a plant by build- 

 ing around the germ a bulb, and this is 

 one of the most convenient and compact 

 of protective forms. 



The most striking fact about all bulbs 

 is their endless variety and great beauty, 

 often extending to magnificence. It is 

 this which gives fascination to the sub- 

 ject and makes the raising of bulbs a 

 labor of love. 



WITTBOLD'S CEMENT BENCH. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 in detail the character of bench invented 

 by Louis Wittbold and which has been 

 adopted for use throughout the establish- 

 ment of the George Wittbold Co., Chi- 

 cago. As fast as the old benches^ wear 

 out they are being replaced with the ce- 

 ment kind. 



In the first illustration the framework 

 for the bench is shown. This consists 

 merely of boards clamped into position 

 to form a mold into which cement is run. 



The Completed Cement Bench Built by Louis Wittbold. 



casting the cement all in one piece. The 

 legs are cement, as well as the rest of 

 the bench. The molds for the legs are of 

 tin. On these a temporary Avood flooring 

 is placed. Upon this is stretched chicken 

 wire netting to be molded into the floor- 

 ing of the bench. Around this two boards 

 are set, one inch apart, to form molds 

 for the sides. The inner board does not 

 come to within one inch of the tempor- 

 ary flooring, so that it makes bottom and 

 sides one piece when the mold is filled 

 with cement mixed in the usual propor- 

 tions. 



The second illustration shows the bench 

 with the farther part filled in with ce- 

 ment. The nearer section is ready for 

 the cement. It shows a large number of 

 corks, which are laid on the temporary 

 flooring and protrude tlwough the 

 chicken wire to as high as the cement 

 will come when it is filled in. 



The third illustration shows the bench 

 with the mold removed and a man at 

 work knocking out these corks. They are 

 placed with the small end up, so that 

 they knock through easily from the top 

 and fill the floor of the bench with drain- 

 age holes. 



In the fourtn illustration the complet- 

 ed bench is shown, but the light is such 

 that the drainage holes are not apparent. 



The legs may be as close together as is 

 necessary, considering the width of bench 

 and the weight of the stock it is to carry. 

 Nothing can break, for the chicken wire 

 binds the bottom together most effect- 

 ually. A man's strength does not suffice 

 to break out a piece of the inch thick 

 side and, should a chip be knocked out, a 

 little cement may be mixed up and the 

 break quickly repaired. In the illustra- 

 tions the bench is being built while an 

 old house is being removed. The new 

 house was built over the benches. 



The principal item of cost in the bench 

 is that of time required to set the mold, 

 although this is no great task. After the 

 boards for the mold are once prepared 

 they may be put in place in only a few 

 hfturs, and used for years. ^Ir. Wittbold 

 has applied for a patent on the clamps 

 which hold the mold together. His latest 

 ones, instead of clamping through the 

 boards, as in the one shown in the pic- 

 tures, clamp over them and are some- 

 thing of an improvement. It is his inten- 

 tion to manufacture these clamps and the 

 leg molds so that any grower can build 

 his own benches. 



