

.t't 



10 



The Florists' Review 



Sepxkhbek 19, 1912. 



opportunity of picturing for its readers 

 in the course of the next few months. 



AN UP-TO-DATE PLANT. 



Basmussen of New Albany Has It. 



rt was fifteen years ago that An- 

 ders Basniussen started in the green- 

 hoHS^.' bueiness jjt New Albany, Ind. 

 His original rahge eonsisted of about 

 5,O0O feet of glass, built after the most 

 approved style of that day, and as the 

 years have come and gone he has added 



conveniences are features. A basement 

 30x30, as well as the first story, has 

 concrete floors, except the office and 

 vestibule. The office is 20x20, equipped 

 with all labor saving devices. The 

 building contains a garage 30x30 feet 

 and packing room with 900 square feet 

 floor space. The building is steam 

 heated and electric lighted throughout. 



The Befrlgeratlng Plant. 

 Possibly the feature that will inter- 

 est the greatest number of growei;8 is, 

 the refrigeration. Ice has been '^on^ 



New Service Building of Anders Basmussen, New Albany, Ind. 



steadily to his plant, until now it em- 

 braces 175,000 square feet of up-to-the- 

 minute glass. He has kept in the front 

 of the procession, always employing the 

 latest ideas in his construction and 

 providing every facility for the pro- 

 duction of high-grade stock. 



His principal crops are roses and 

 carnjations, but a * few thousand lilies 

 are forced and chrysanthemums and 

 bulbous stock are employed as catch 

 crops or side lines. Practically all the 

 stock is sold at wholesale in Louisville, 

 Ky., but a retail business is done lo- 

 cally, in New Albany and surrounding 

 tojwns. 



■ The New Service Building. 



;Mr. Sasmussen employs about thirty 

 people, six of whom are women. He 

 believes that, as plants are well known- 

 to do their best only under certain' 

 working conditions, so men and women 

 are sure to do more and better work 

 if their surroundings are in keeping 

 with up-to-date ideas. For this reason, 

 the comfort of the employees has had 

 careful consideration in the planning 

 of the new service building put up this 

 season, and shown in the accompany- 

 ing illustrations. It will stand as a fine 

 example of the modern tendency 

 toward irreproachable working condi- 

 tions. 



The new building is 31x100 feet, 

 built of concrete blocks on a concrete 

 foundation. On the first floor are lava- 

 tories, etc., as well as a dressing room 

 for the girls employed. On the second 

 floor are reading and billiard rooms 

 and bowling alley, for the use of the 

 employees. Several sleeping apart- 

 ments, bathrooms and other modern 



away with. On the first floor are three 

 cold rooms, two 7x13x8 feet and one 

 10x13x8, operated by a refrigerating 

 machine that stands in the basement 

 directly below the rooms. One of the 

 smaller rooms can be cooled to 26 de- 

 grees, one to 30 degrees and the large 

 one to 40 degrees. The direct expan- 

 sion system, with holdover brine tanks, 

 is used, an eight horse-power gasoline 



engine and a three and one-half to» 

 compressor doing the work. The below- 

 freezing temperatures in two of the- 

 rooms permit the storage of lily bwlbs, 

 valley pips, etc., in the place, and ale©- 

 the storage of the season's supply oC 

 ferns and other greens. The room car- 

 ried above 40 degrees is used for eut 

 flowers. 



In speaking of the cost of'^|litana- 

 tion and operation, Mr. Karalusie* 

 said: "We run the machinery about 

 six hours a day in the hottest weather, 

 at a co«t for oil, etc., of about 10 eeBt» 

 per hour. The water for cooling is r\m 

 to the liquid fertilizer tank, sarlng 

 considerable expense. The man who 

 looks after the machinery when rnn- 

 ning receives $2.35 per day. Figuring 

 the cost of installation at about $2,20* 

 and interest on same, as well as depre- 

 ciation on machinery, I should say it 

 costs us about $2.50 per day for ©ur 

 cooling and 225 pounds of ice whieh we 

 make every day, to be used for driak- 

 ing water, packing, etc. That is in 

 June, July, August and September, the 

 cooler months of course costing less, 

 while in midwinter, by opening the 

 windows over night, there will be ne- 

 expense whatever. Each room has 

 valves, and can be run independently, 

 as needed. The rooms have a 4-ineh 

 cork board insulation, with l^-inch ce- 

 ment plaster, and can be washed out 

 with a hose at any time. We have 

 enough cooling apace to take care of 

 the output of 300,000 feet of glass. 

 The stock keeps better than in the eld- 

 fashioned ice-box, and we would not go 

 back to that method if it cost twice 

 the price to install. The machinery 

 has not given the least trouble since 

 its installation. ' ' 



The refrigeration was installed by 

 the Triumph Ice Machine Co., Cincin- 

 nati. 



The manufacturer supplies the fol- 

 lowing additional details of the refrig- 

 erating apparatus: 



"The plant is of three and one-hafif 

 tons' nominal capacity. The ammonia 

 compressor is horizontal, double actiBg, 

 having a cylinder of 5-inch bore and 8- 

 inch stroke. The power is obtained 

 from a gas engine connected with the 



G>rner of Mr. Rasmussen's Private Office. 



