JANVAUY 4, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



15 



Advertisement in Plants Designed by George T. Duey. 



ELEOTEIC AD IN PLANTS. 



George T. Duey is manager of the 

 Electric Park Greenhouses, at Fort 

 Smith, Ark., and he it was who made 

 the "electric" sign in plants at Elec- 

 tric park. The accompanying illustra- 

 tion shows the bed, which was fifty- 

 two feet long and sixteen feet wide, 

 raised five and one-half feet at the 

 back. The bed contained ninety-two 

 yards of soil and fifteen loads of rock. 

 The border is planted with ageratuni 

 and Vinca variegata. The lettering is 

 of alternanthera and Santolina inca- 

 na, white churt being scattered be- 

 tween the letters to the thickness of a 

 half inch to afford a background. 

 Since the sign was inclined to make 

 it more easily read from the front, the 

 bank at the back had to be taken care 

 of and this was done, as shown in one 

 of the illustrations, by planting it with 

 Asparagus Sprengeri, Vinca variegata, 

 wandering jew, with Boston ferns at 

 conspicuous points. Mr, Duey says the 

 sign has been read by many thousands 

 of people every week and that several 

 business men have so approved this 

 method of advertising that next season 

 there will be a number of floral signs 

 in conspicuous places, advertising the 

 various enterprises of the city. 



PURPOSE OF VENTILATION. 



"Will you kindly answer the follow- 

 ing: As I understand the subject, the 

 air in a house should always be in mo- 

 tion during the day, but so quietly that 

 you cannot feel it. This is one of the 

 most important things to consider in 

 growing plants in a greenhouse, as the 

 stoma of the plant has no other way of 

 receiving fresh air. This, as well as 

 keeping the soil cultivated and well 

 drained, is an important aid in pre- 

 venting the soil from becoming sour. I 

 have seen soil in a violet house become 

 sour after the house had been up only 

 three weeks and the soil was on a level 

 with that on the outside. During the 

 day the sun shines on the south side and 

 makes this glass warmer than on the 

 north side; therefore the air which is 



nearest to the glass absorbs most of 

 the heat from the sun's rays and, be- 

 coming warmer and lighter, must rise 

 and gov out at the ventilator; then the 

 cold air that comes in must go down 

 the north side. When there is a sash 

 on the south that opens at the bottom 

 and the sash on the north side is opened 

 at the top and at intervals, this pro- 

 duces a more free motion of the air 

 and it travels down the glass instead of 

 going straight down. 



However, the warm bench air comes 

 up between the benches and goes up 

 until it strikes the glass; here it is 

 made cold and comes down. The only 

 place for it to come is on the benches; 

 therefore it has a tendency to cause 

 mildew, or this makes the bottom of 

 the soil warm and the top cooler, which 

 I should think would not be good for 

 plants. This may be one of the rea- 

 sons why the plants have most of their 



roots at the bottom of the bench, in- 

 stead of near the surface, where they 

 would receive more nitrogen from the 

 air. Could this be improved if there 

 were a flow pipe over each bench and 

 two returns? I have found out the 

 way the air travels by hanging black 

 cobwebs in different parts of the house 

 night and day, with the wind in all 

 directions, and they all seem to hang 

 to one side from the moving air. This 

 ought to be a sure sign that the air is 

 constantly moving. H, K. 



The principal object in ventilating 

 greenhouses is to allow the hot air to 

 pass out and thus keep the houses at 

 the proper temperature. In midwinter 

 weather there is little occasion for ven- 

 tilating on cold, cloudy days, as much 

 of the surplus heat passes off through 

 the glass, between the panes, etc. A 

 considerable portion of the air which 

 finds its way into the houses does so 

 through cracks and openings other than 

 those intended for ventilating pur- 

 poses. While, of course, it is necessary 

 that fresh air enter the houses, bring- 

 ing with it a supply of carbon dioxide 

 for the plants, as a rule little or no at- 

 tention need be paid to it. 



So far as the ventilators and their ar- 

 rangement are concerned, about all that 

 need be thought of is to have them 

 large enough and so arranged as to 

 make it possible to regulate the tem- 

 perature without exposing the plants to 

 strong drafts. Of course ventilation 

 is helpful, also, by allowing the mois- 

 ture-laden air to pass out, thus drying 

 out the houses. 



The movement of the air in a green- 

 house, when the ventilators are open, 

 will depend upon several factors, such 

 as the difference in the temperature of 

 the air inside and outside the house, 

 and the force and direction of the wind, 

 as well as the size and arrangement of 

 the ventilators. As a rule, there is an 

 upward movement of the warm air 

 toward the ventilators and a consid- 

 erably smaller movement of the cold 

 air from outside downward from the 

 ventilators, but neither should be so. 

 great as to create a draft. 



The admission of too much cold air 

 into a rose house, thus dropping the- 

 temperature below 55 degrees, often 

 causes mildew, and if there is a strong 



Showing Back of George T. Duey's Advertisement in Plants. 



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