8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Maiicu 20, 1908. 



BEST SIZE OF ROSE HOUSE. 



|A pajiiM' I'v w, II. ):ilioii. I'.iijjhton, Mass.. 

 rr.iil lii'lni'i. ihi- Aiuciii :iii Kose Society at tlie 

 I'lii.auci ■■■■ii\i II I !■ II, .March -'' to liT. ) 



''W'lial is the jiriiiMT si/.t' nt' a jii'ecii- 

 Imiix' ttp '^luw iiiscs t'df i-oiniiit'i'L-ial piii- 

 [Mivcs.''" This is till' qiifstidii assii;iii'(l 

 Id im'. Wliat i tliiiiiv is I'cally Avtiiilcd 

 ill lliis casr is to know how larj^e one 

 iiallv tliiuks a giooiihouso slu)iild Lie 

 liiiiit. I\Iy aiiswrr will ln' iiioii' oii litis 

 li nr. 



First, I wish to apoloyi/e fur ooniing 

 as an eastern man to tlie city of Chi- 

 lago to answer a qiiostion of this kind, 

 fur, if tlicro is anyone who knows how 

 Jargc <irecuhoiises should be. it is the Chi- 

 <;i>ro man. I ctm, howe\ er, give you an 

 aiiswir in few words. 



One Big House. 



.\ greenhouse, for eoinnn'rcitil purposes, 

 shiuild lie as large as a man has money to 

 [luild. Tliat is, whatever money he is 

 gning to invest in (•Dniuii'iciai houses 

 might ln'st l>t> ]iut in one house. 1 wotild 

 Udt hesitate to put l.lO.dUM f(>et under 

 (■lie runt'. In ftiet, om' eotild httihl a 

 greenhouse to good advantage as long as 

 II can 111' heated front oite central sta- 

 tion. One can heat l.UOO feet each way 

 wiili a gravity system. ]iro\id(^d yon 

 lia\c' a fall of ten feet from the radiating 

 |ii|ies to the wtiter line of the boiler. 

 With a vacuum system I jirestime they 



admit that the well const rueteil ridge 

 and furrow ranges around Chicago are 

 as line houses as 1 Mould expect to see 

 anywhere and 1 expt>ct a strong argument 

 ill fa\or of thai style from those using 

 IIk^iii. 



The Wide Single Roof. 



What inllueiices me most in favor of 

 the single roof is the snow. A roof that 

 will clear itself oi snow in midwinter, at 

 a time when the days are short, and 

 juices high, is certainly to be desired. 

 Another advantage to the single house 

 is that it is easier to till and empty; also, 

 that high houses are less expensive to 

 heat. The variation of heat in the day- 

 time is not so great. They should bo 

 easier to ventilate and handle. Larger 

 amount of air space inside the green- 

 house has proved to be an advantage 

 rather than the disadvantage most grow- 

 ers supposed it would be. IMr. Holmes, 

 in his address on rose culture before the 

 (iardeners' and Florists' Club of Boston, 

 stated, as liis opinion, that forty per 

 cent of the improvement in rose growing 

 in the last twenty years was due to 

 the up-to-date greenhouse, and I think he 

 was right. It is mie of the facts that 

 we must accept, that better stock can be 

 growit in a large greenhouse than in a 

 small one. 



The Width. 



In regard to the M'idth : It is hard 



A Glimpse of the National Rose Show, Chicago, March 25-27. 



cess, but it is really not the width. It 

 is the question of construction. If a 

 house were thoroughly and properly con- 

 structed, could a house of this size be 

 handled to advantage? I have not seen 

 this wide house during the winter sea- 

 son. 1 have no idea how the stock is 

 growing. I looked this house over thor- 

 oughly at tlie time of the convention 

 last summer. It seemed to be considered 

 an impracticable house, but the only rea- 

 son given was the construction of the 

 house. The question really is, if the house 

 were strong and securely built, would a 

 house of that kind grow good stock.' I 

 would say that in that house at the 

 time I saw it, was growing as luce a 

 lot of American Beauties as [ could 

 liud anywhere. If the house will grow 

 the stock, then that is really the vital 

 question. 



Economical Operation. 



The next question is, can a house of 

 that size be constructed and run as cheap- 

 ly as a narrower house .' There are a 

 good nmny questions there that would 

 need more knowledge anil experience than 

 I have to answer. 



I cannot recommend the construction of 

 houses of any such remarkable width. 

 Sixty feet wide, with a pitch of six 

 inches to the foot, I find to be thor- 

 oughly satisfactory. I would not hesitate 

 to increase that width considcrabl.v, but, 

 as soon as I increase that width, I must 

 splice my bars, which I have not done 

 (ui any of my large houses. Ventila- 

 tion seems to be good. The air in these 

 large, high houses always seems better 

 than in the small ones. I do not quite 

 understand why we need to ventilate 

 greenhouses, except to reduce the heat. 



Should tlu> air in a greenhouse keep 

 pure and good without being renewed? 

 If not, wliat is it that spoils it, and 

 should it not be much more serious in 

 houses with much less air space? 



Some Disadvantages. 



I think it is only fair that I should 

 state what seem to bo the most serious 

 drawbacks in the construction of these 

 large houses. In the first place, the 

 iine<jual exjtansion of ridge, purlins, 

 jilates and sills. It is also a long dis- 

 tance to drive around them with a cart- 

 load of soil; leakage is increased if roofs 

 are not kept in the best of repair. There 

 is also grt'at danger from the wind, in 

 houses of this size. The movement of 

 so large a bwly of air as is contained 

 in these houses strains the glass much 

 iiKuc from the inside than in the smaller 

 Imnses. They need to be built strong and 

 gl.i/.ed thoroughly. I have made up my 

 mind to double-nail the glass at the end 

 lit' thi^sc houses. 



Cost of Construction. 



llnitii ulttiral builders charge more to 

 ciiver the same ground with houses of 

 this kind thtin they do with a number 

 of smaller ones. They ;ire right in this, 

 lor they need stronger and more thorough 

 construction. I do not like the iron- 

 frame Mith heavy rafters for this con- 

 struction. 



We must guard carefully against the 

 enlarging of our houses without properly 

 strengthening all parts. My first large 

 houses were weak in the otilside walls. 

 Thorough and permanent c<inslrnction is 

 what is needed, fnr m.-iny reasons. Not 

 ahme on ai'duint of wind and weather, 

 bill bei-aiisc this business has grown to 

 \io jierniancnt and im|iortaut enough to 

 ha\e a plac(^ of its own and not built 

 lip with the ii'lea that it will some dav 



