10 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Mabch 3, 1910. 



A STEEL BENCH. 



Wesley Wait, proprietor of the New- 

 burgh Floral Co., Newburgh, N. Y.,' was 

 granted a patent February 8, 1910, on a 

 new bench for greenhouses, which may be 

 cither all ste^l construction, or steel 

 framework with wood bottom and sides. 



In his application for the patent Mr. 

 W^it said*: ' ' The objects of my im- 

 provement are: (1) to provide a bench 

 which may be readily and quickly placed 

 in position; (2) which shall not be cum- 

 bersome; (3) in which neither nails, 

 screws, adjusting screws, nor Jiftirew- 

 threaded parts are used; (4) whicli shall 

 be lasting, obviating frequent and costly 

 renewal because of rotting of the parts 



by moisture as in the case of wooden 

 construction; (5) which, if the metal 

 parts become rusted by the moisture in- 

 cident to greenhouses, may be readily dis- 

 connected; (6) which shall be cheap to 

 manufacture. I accomplish these objects 

 by the device illustrated in the accom- 

 panying drawing." 



The illustration shows the general 

 character of the bench, which is of steel 

 and interlocking in all its parts. Dr. 

 Wait was in the Eeview office a few days 

 ago with a model of the bench, which he 

 set up in a few moments without the use 

 of even so much as a screw driver. He 

 stated that he is preparing to manufac- 

 ture the bench and put it on the market. 



I SEASONABLE ^^^^^j 



SUGGESTIONS | 



Eaiter Lilies. 



This all-important Easter crop will re- 

 quire close attention during the next few 

 weeks, in order to have all possible plants 

 in flower for March 27. It is an early 

 Easter, and it is always better to have the 

 plants a little early than the reverse. 

 Those which have buds of considerable 

 size, some of which will show color with- 

 in eight or ten days, should be moved to 

 a cooler house. Do not let the change be 

 too abrupt. We once saw a batch of lilies 

 taken from a temperature of 65 degrees 

 at night and placed in a cool, airy north 

 house, held as near 45 degrees as possible. 

 These lilies had the buds about ready to 

 burst. As a matter of fact, few of them 

 ever opened at all; the shock was too 

 great. A drop of 5 degrees at a time is 

 sufficient; then no injury will result. 

 When opening, a colder house can be used 

 to retard them. 



Plants which are backward should have 

 a night temperature of 65 to 70 degrees 

 and frequent sprayings overhead. Air 

 rather sparingly and bottle up all possi- 

 ble sun -heat. Such plants will be some- 

 what leggy and may lack substance when 

 eoinpared with cooler grown and gradu- 

 aUy hardened stock, but if you can get 

 even one flower open on a stem it may 

 mean a sale. People will rarely buy 

 those which have buds only. Water 

 abundantly and use a pinch of nitrate of 

 Roda in the water, to help hurry along, as 

 well as color up, the laggards. 



Lilium candidum should now have its 

 buds well separated. It takes a little 

 ■horter time to open than longiflonim and 

 is better grown cooler. A minimum tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees is better than 60 

 degrees, but let the plants have the 

 higher temperature if they are late, for 

 at Easter the flowers will bring double 

 what they would a week later. 



Spiraeas. 



Spirseas are thirsty subjects and can 

 hardly be overwatered. They also relish 

 manure water twice a week when in act- 

 ive growth. Elevate some of the plants 

 on pots. Use saucers under them. This 

 will give you nicely furnished specimens. 

 While the plants will stand almost any 

 amount of. forcing, -as the flowers start to 



open they should be grown cooler. Do 

 not fumigate with tobacco stems or any 

 powerful nicotine extracts where spirseas 

 are growing, as they are easily scorched. 

 If stood on the floor and covered with 

 papers they will be all right. Allow 

 varieties like Gladstone and astilboides 

 ten days longer than the old Japonica 

 for full development. 



Dutch Bulbs. 



The first week in March is a good time 

 to house hyacinths, tulips and narcissi 

 for Easter. As a rule, they are, or 

 should be, sufficiently well sprouted now 

 to require no drawing up in the shade. 

 Given full light from the start, much 

 sturdier stalks are had. A few warm, 

 clear days will send any of these bulbs on 

 uncommonly fast, and it may be neces- 

 sary to move them into a cool, shady" 

 house. With tulips, especially, use 

 paper over the flowers on bright days 

 to prevent their expansion. 



If you get any of these bulbs in bloom 

 some days earlier than you wished, stand 

 them in a cold cellar, or dig out one or 

 two empty coldframe sashes and stand 



them in these. Shade from sun and pro- 

 tect from frost and they will be all right. 

 You will find that the double tulips, like 

 Murillo and Couronne d'Or, take a little 

 longer time to flower than La Reine, Yel- 

 low Prince and Keizerkroon; also that 

 the large Yellow Trumpet narcissus 

 comes in more quickly than the incom- 

 parabiUs and Leedsii varieties. 



Rambler Roses. 



We like to have our rambler flowers 

 opening about two weeks before Easter. 

 Then they will be in fine condition if al- 

 lowed a night temperature of 52 to 55 

 degrees. Keep the plants well spread 

 out and water freely, especially where 

 your plants have been pot-grown all sum- 

 mer. You will readily see the benefits 

 of pot-grown over fall-lifted stock by 

 this time. The trusses on the former are 

 double the size of those on the latter, and 

 the flowers seem to come of a better color 

 and with more substance. Carefully 

 avoid cold drafts. Mildew will speedily 

 spoil a batch of plants if not carefully 

 guarded against. Use sulphur on the 

 steam pipes as a preventive. 



Schizaothus. 



Though not much seen as an Easter 

 plant, there is a charm about the beau- 

 tiful, airy-like schizanthus which appeals 

 to about everyone. For Easter the 

 plants should now be opening their flow- 

 ers and be in a cool house — certainly not 

 over 50 degrees at night and 45 degrees 

 is better. The cooler they are grown the 

 stockier they will be, and such plants re- 

 quire few supports, particularly if the 

 dwarf forms of Wisetonensis are grown. 

 No other annual is more "easily grown 

 and more quickly flowered than schizan- 

 thus, and anyone having nicely flowered 

 pots will find them move at a lively rate 

 at Easter, especially as they still are 

 much of a novelty in store windows. 



Bedding Geraniums. 



It is difficult at this time to give the 

 bedding stock adequate bench space; the 

 increasing demands of many rapidly 

 growing Easter plants cause them too 

 often to be crowded until the Easter rush 

 is over. This is unfortunate, as too 

 often it means a serious permanent in- 

 jury to them. Look the little plants over 

 every few days and give them a fresh 

 stand whenever possible. Remove moldy 



[Continued on page 33.] 



Steel-frame or all Steel Greenhouse Bench Patented by Wesley Wait 



