48 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



August 19, 1909. 



ports are sot l\\cl\c iiiclics in tlic ground 

 in concrete, with two lines of 2-inch 

 angle iron and two lines of L'-inch T- 

 irons resting on tiie i)ipe sup]»orts to 

 carry the tile bottom. The tile slabs 

 are twenty-thrt>i' and tliiee-fourths inches 

 long, twelve inclKs wide and one imdi 

 thick, 'i'liere is a (i-inrh iron spear point 

 attached to tlic legs to support the side 

 or facial boards, 'i'lic height of the tile 

 bench above the walk is eighteen inches, 

 corresponding ])ractically witii the soliil 

 beds next dcscribe<l. 



Tlie walls f(»r the solid beds are made 

 of concrete, four inches thick and twenty- 

 four inclies high. Six imhcs of the wall 

 is b«d<)W and eighteen inclirs above the 

 ground. The concrete amis made of one 

 jiart I'ortland cement, three parts sand 



iron frames and supports. It thus ap- 

 pears that the solid beds with concrete 

 walls cost less than the other two forms 

 of construction and are, for all ])rac- 

 tical pur])oses, ]>crmaiu'nt. 



The soil for the entir(^ house was the 

 same, being made from good, fine sod, 

 composted at the rate of threc^ ]>arts soil 

 and one j>art of well-rott<'d manure. The 

 soil and manure were niixt>d thoroughly 

 and worked over several times before 

 being bro>ight into the house. The raised 

 wooden bemdi and tile bench were tilled 

 in the usual way. Tlie solid bed was 

 filh^d to a height of twelve inches with 

 cinders, then two inches of straw was 

 )iut on to ])revent the soil from washing 

 into the cinders. On top of the straw 

 four inches of compost was added, this 



Method of Constructing Tile Bench With Iron Supports, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



and six parts broken stone or gravel, 

 without reinforcement. Such construc- 

 tion work can be done by greenhouse 

 men themselves. Where soft cosil is 

 burned the ashes after screening would 

 take the place of sand and gravel in 

 about the same proportions. The usual 

 way to construct with ashes or cinders is 

 to use one part I'ortland cement, three 

 parts fine ashes, and six parts coarse 

 cinders. We constructed our beds eight- 

 een inches high for convenience in work- 

 ing them and gathering the flowers. If 

 the beds are l«»vver than this it is neces- 

 sary to bend the back a good deal, which 

 cuts into the time of the men when they 

 are working with the plants. 



The accompanying illustrations Show 

 the methods of construction more satis- 

 factorily than mere description. 



Cost of Several Styles. 



It is interesting to note the relative 

 cost of these different tyjies of construc- 

 tion. The cost of tlie wooden benches, 

 constructe<l in the ordinary way, with 

 the wooden supports, was l-I'j cents per 

 square foot of bed space. The cost of the 

 raise*! V)eds with iron supports and tile 

 l>ottoms was 3 7 cents per square foot, 

 while the cost of the solid beds with 

 loncrete walls was 11 cents per square 

 foot. The cost per plant was 9 cents 

 fur the wood benches, S cents for the 

 -olid beds with concrete walls, and I'J 

 ■ ■•111'- liir the tile bottom benche': with 



bringing it np Hush with the top of the 

 concrete walls. 



Planting and Record-keeping. 



With a view to getting definite infor 

 mation regarding the effect of the (diar- 

 acter of the bed, if any, on vigor and 

 productiveness, the house was divided 

 into five sections, a different variety of 

 carnation being planted in each. Sec- 

 tion one, for example, was planted to 

 Winsor; that is, a portion of the wooden 

 bench, constituting about one-fourth of 

 the entire length, was planted to Winsor, 

 the same variety being used for one- 

 fourth of the tile bench and one-fourth 

 of the solid beds. There were 1,12(5 

 Winsor plants involved in this experi- 

 ment, a sufficient number to give us a 

 fair commercial test. 



The same methods were followed in tin,' 

 next section, which was planted with 

 White p;nchantress, the next section with 

 W'hite Perfection, the next with Beacon 

 and the next with Rose-pink Enchantress. 



A careful record was kept of the num- 

 ber of flowers cut from t>ach section 

 and the value of the i-ut estimated from 

 the pre\ ailing j)rices of carnations dur- 

 ing the season. 



Average Cut of Blooms. 



Without going into the iletails of this 

 work, it snllices to say that the records 

 kept as described were for five months, 

 including Vnvember, December, January, 



February and March, and show pract- 

 cally no difference in the yields from tii 

 beds of different construction, if an, 

 thing the solid beds giving slightly bett' 

 results. 



Our records show, for example, th i 

 the average yield per plant from ti. 

 Winsor ])Iants on the raised woodc 

 benches was fourteen flowers for tl; 

 period indicated. The average yield o 

 the solid beds was twelve flowers; .. 

 the tile bench eleven flowers per plant. 



The average yield of the Beacon o 

 the raised wooden bench was thirtee 

 flowers, on the solid beds 13.9 flowiT- 

 and on the tile bench 9.9 flowers. 



The average yield of Enchantress o' 

 the raised wooden bench was ten flowt»r> 

 on the tile bench ten and on the sdIj. 

 beds thirteen flowers. 



It should be l)orne in nuud that u-< 

 ords were kept for five months only. I 

 they had been kept the whole seas(j: 

 through, the average yields would li;i\' 

 been about doubled. 



Difference in Vigor. 



The plants in the solid beds, however. 

 were decidedly more vigorous; the stems 

 being stronger and the flowers larger 

 than in either the wooden or tile benches, 

 consequently were worth more money. 

 This is due to the fact that there is much 

 better drainage in the solid beds. Th. 

 soil never becomes soggy when an over 

 supply of water is put on, as has been 

 found to be the case with the wooden and 

 tile benches. The plants in the tile 

 bench were the least vigorous. It has 

 been our experience that it takes about 

 the same time to work the solid beds a.>^ 

 the raised wooden benches. We have 

 found, further, that the solid beds do not 

 require watering as frequently as the 

 other benches. It has been our practice 

 to water the solid beds once a week, while 

 it has been necessary to water the tile 

 and wooden benches at least three times 

 in two weeks. 



The cuttings for this experiment wejc 

 made al)out January 1 and potted in 

 2 inch pots when well rooted. Early in 

 March they were shifted to 3 inch pots, 

 where they were kept until the last week 

 in April, when they were transferred te 

 the benches. No field-grown stock wa'^ 

 used in the experiment. 



Experiments in Bulb Gro^^ing. 



For a number of years the Bureau ot 

 Plant Industry has been giving attention 

 to the possibilities of bulb culture in the 

 United States. Various efforts have been 

 made to encourage bulb growing in dif 

 ferent sections and four or five years ag" 

 cooperative experiments were inaugu 

 rated in the state of Washington with 

 several individuals, the work having for 

 its object experiments and demonstra 

 tions in the matter of growing bulbs, es 

 pecially Dutch bulbs, in that section of 

 the country. Reports of this work have 

 been made from time to time, but aa it 

 progressed it was seen that to secure the 

 best results the government should havi 

 control of a certain amount of land upon 

 which it could inaugurate with its owi' 

 men a line of experimentation and demon 

 stration that would necessarily have i- 

 last for several years. 



The citizens of Bellingham. Wash 

 were very much interested in this work, 

 and for the purpose of encouraging the 

 department to undertake it near this 

 town, placed at our disposal ten acres oi 

 land four miles from the city. Tht 

 ground is well adapted to bulb cultun 

 and, in addition to putting it into thor 

 ough sh.'ipe for the work in view, th' 



