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September 24, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Model Establishment of Vern L. Schlurafft Erie, Pa. 



a future place in the garden. Grisselle 

 ia a pleasing pink, cactus type. 



Mr. Bassett has a commodious cooling 

 room, which was well filled with choice 

 blooms. Adjoining it is an office full of 

 interesting photographs of dahlias and of 

 the other branch of his business, native 

 plant collecting, which is steadily grow- 

 ing from year to year. 



Mr. Bassett, who was associated with 

 his father until two years ago, has spent 

 his life among dahlias and native plants. 

 He loves his work and brings every fac- 

 ulty of a clear and well cultivated mind 

 into its details. Phil. 



HOUSE FOR SWEET PEAS. 



Please inform me as to the best mode 

 of construction for a sweet pea forcing 

 house. Also please give best forcing va- 

 rieties and brief directions for growing 

 inside. E. C. 



The ideal house for winter flowering 

 sweet peas is even-span, quite high at the 

 sides, say from seven to nine feet, and 

 thirty to thirty-five feet wide. The neces- 

 sity for high sides is on account of head 

 room for the plants. They will grow ten 

 to fifteen feet high under good condi- 

 tions. Kaised benches are not needed; 

 in fact, they do much better, even in 

 winter, planted on the ground. Rows 

 should be five to six feet apart and can be 

 either placed in line with the supports of 

 the house, or special supports can be 

 placed for them. Pea brush and wire 

 netting are equally unsuitable for sup- 

 porting the plants. Twine is much the 

 best. 



Any good loam, well enriched with cow 

 or sheep manure, will suit sweet peas. 

 William Sim, of Cliftondale, Mass., a 

 noted specialist in this line, stated in a 

 recent lecture that he had not changed 

 his soil for five years and his plants did 

 better each succeeding year. A low tem- 

 perature, 40 to 45 degrees at night, is 

 best until the flowering stage, when 48 to 

 50 degrees is better. Seeds can be started 

 in sand and transplanted, or in small 

 pots. If sown where they are to remain, 

 they must be thinned to two or three 

 inches apart. Heavy smoking must be 

 avoided. Frequent light doses will keep 



them clean. The plants need a copious 

 water supply when growing. 



Good forcing varieties are Christmas 

 Pink, Mont Blanc and Watchung. The 

 two latter are white. There are also 

 quite a number of other shades, which 

 flower well in winter. As a rule, however, 

 the white, and pink and white colors take 

 the markets the best. Thorough trench- 

 ing of the ground each year is of course 

 necessary. 



Vegetable crops are often grown in 

 sweet pea houses in summer, tomatoes and 

 cucumbers being mostly used for this 

 purpose. C. W. 



THE SCHLURAFF PLACE. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 the new greenhouses, completed some two 

 years ago, by Vern L. Schluraflf, "West 



I am only a beginner in the florists' 

 businesst but ah-eady am getting 

 along splendidly. I find 



esTs* 



'♦the best yet" for advice and help, 

 and it already has been of such ser- 

 vice to me that it has become indis* 

 peasable to me. 



ALFRED PEARCE. 

 Rahway, N. J. 

 September 10, 1908. 



Eighth street, Erie, Pa. This place is 

 quite properly called "Floral Park," as 

 its transformation is a surprising illus- 

 tration of what can be accomplished in 

 this direction. Two years ago this place 

 was ordinary farm land devoted to rais- 

 ing the ordinary farm crops, without 



sign of attractive feature, and today it 

 is a fine illustration of the up-to-date flo- 

 rist's establishment, both in its field 

 growing and in the greenhouses. 



Floral Park consists of fifteen acres, 

 twelve of which are devoted to field grow- 

 ing of asters, carnations and a general 

 line of florists' and nursery stock. The 

 balance is occupied by the buildings and 

 display ground, lawn, etc. The soil is 

 fertile and has perfect drainage, just 

 such as is wanted for the work in hand. 

 The greenhouses are devoted to growing 

 carnations, smilax, asparagus, bedding 

 plants, etc. The buildings consist of a 

 dwelling, two barns and other outbuild- 

 ings for general purposes, making it a 

 model establishment of its class. 



The present houses consist of five sec- 

 tions 21x125 feet, heated by steam, the 

 boiler being located underneath the pack- 

 ing and shipping room. The basement is 

 walled up with concrete blocks. The 

 heating plant has a No. 410 Furman 

 boiler. 



The water supply was given as careful 

 consideration as any other feature of the 

 plant and consists of a two horse-power 

 Standard pumping engine and a pneu- 

 matic water supply tank forty inches in 

 diameter and twenty feet long. The 

 pumping engine is used for taking the 

 water from a creek 520 feet back of the 

 houses and delivers it directly into the 

 pipe line system and also into the pneu- 

 matic storage tank, which is provided for 

 a reserve supply. This water supply plant 

 is entirely independent of the heating 

 system, as the pumping engine is oper- 

 ated by gasoline and may be started any 

 time of the day or night, regardless 

 whether there is steam up or not. How 

 effective this direct pumping system is 

 may be noted in one of the illustrations, 

 in which the photographer caught two 

 men spraying at the same time, each 

 with %-inch hose; the pressure was am- 

 ple for effective work. 



One advantage Mr. Schluraff finds is 

 that it is a simple matter to keep a con- 

 siderable volume of water in reserve at a 

 pressure varying anywhere from thirty to 

 seventy-five pounds per square inch. In 

 this particular plant the reserve supply 

 is about 1,500 gallons and this, together 

 with what the pumping engine will de- 

 liver, makes practically 2,000 gallons of 



