March 11, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



J7 



Establishment of the Newburys, at Mitchell, South Dakota. 



house, set in place, and the wire at the 

 ends hooked together. Then thin con- 

 crete was run in between the joints by 

 putting up boards to hold it, and the 

 whole braced on the inside by an occa- 

 sional cement beam to prevent spreading. 

 Should anyone wish additional informa- 

 tion on their construction, I should be 

 glad to supply it. 



We have not been long enough at the 

 work to give any information on the rela- 

 tive merit of these benches, but hope to 

 do so in time. 



Experiments With the Soil. 



The problem of greenhouse soil will 

 receive our attention. An experiment that 

 we propose to take up is the growing 

 of a crop on the benches, principally 

 in the summer, for the purpose of in- 

 corporating fibrous roots, and bringing 

 about a rotation, saving the work of 

 renewing bench soil so often. This, of 

 course, is impracticable with some crops, 

 but it seems possible that some quick- 

 growing, heat-loving crop will prove use- 

 ful in this connection. 



The physical condition of the soil for 

 various crops has not received enough 

 attention, and in this connection we have 

 experiments under way in which the soil 

 has been incorporated with chopped 

 alfalfa in different proportions. Experi- 

 ments aiming to get more definite in- 

 formation as to the physical property of 

 soils best suited to greenhouse crops will 

 be taken up as rapidly as possible. 



Other Proposed Experiments. 



The best time for benching up dif- 

 ferent crops to get the best results has 

 not been well worked out in our northern 

 districts, and along this line we aim to 

 devote some time. Selection of cuttings 

 from the most productive plants, to in- 

 crease the yield, is a problem not worked 

 out on a commercial basis. I fancy that 

 if the florists could see by concrete ex- 

 periments an increase in cut of bloom 

 equal to 25 cents a plant, through such 

 a system, some attention would be paid 

 to this important question. Then we 

 have the problem of getting pure, fresh 

 air into our houses during the cold winter 

 months, when no ventilators can be 

 opened. The question also of per cent 

 of moisture in the air during the winter 

 months is one worthy of attention in 

 this section. 



Experiments to determine the tempera- 

 ture at which we can develop different 

 crops most economically during our win- 

 ter months is one on which several thou- 

 sand dollars could profitably be expended. 



There are countless experiments that 

 could be carried on, giving light on the 

 various sides of this occupation. Limited 

 space, continuation of the experiments 

 over a number of years, and the fact that 

 several different experiments cannot be 

 conducted at once in the same house, 

 make the working out of these problems 

 necessarily slow. 



THE NKWBURYS' PLACE. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph made at the establishment 

 of the Newburys, at Mitchell, S. D. The 

 plant at present contains 38,000 feet of 

 glass and is already the largest cut flower 

 establishment in the Dakotas, but a fur- 

 ther extension of glass area is planned 

 for the approaching summer, which will 

 bring the glass up to over 50,000 feet. 



Ninety acres surrounding the green- 



W. S. Blair. 



(Professor of Horticulture at Macdonald 

 College, Quebec.) 



houses are in nursery stock. A general 

 horticultural business is done; the New- 

 burys will fill any order, from a corsage 

 bouquet to landscaping a public park. 

 Business has been excellent with them 

 right along through the last couple of 

 years and is increasing now faster than 

 it ever did. 



OBITUARY. 



J. S. Haskins. 



J. S. Haskins, a pioneer florist of 

 Chicago, died at his home, 337 East 

 Forty-second street, on Sunday, February 

 28. Mr. Haskins was born in Vermont 

 in 1820. He came west in 1854 and 

 settled in Montello, Wis., on a farm. 

 Just after the Civil war he moved to 

 Chicago and opened a retail flower store 

 at the corner of Lake and State streets. 

 Later he moved to Twenty-second street 

 and Wabash avenue, where he was lo- 

 cated for a number of years, retiring 

 from active business about 1890, on ac- 

 count of poor health. Since that time 

 he had lived in retirement, with his 

 wife. Most of the old florists of his 

 time are gone, but no doubt the few 

 that are left will remember him. 



The burial took place at the West Side 

 cemetery, at Rockford, 111. John W. In- 

 galls, of Eockford, is a nephew. 



J. J. Nussbaumer. 



J. J. Nussbaumer died at his resi- 

 dence on Koberlin street, San Angelo, 

 Tex., at 12:30 Sunday, February 28. 

 Funeral services were held at the resi- 

 dence Tuesday morning, March 2, inter- 

 ment following at Fairmount cemetery, 



Mr. Nussbaumer was born Jun? 3, 

 1860, and was therefore nearing the 

 forty-ninth milestone on life's road. He 

 moved to San Angelo from Okawville, 

 III., in 1895, to regain his health. He 

 "nsas a druggist by trade, but after mov- 

 ing to San Angelo he decided that out- 

 door work was what he needed and start- 

 ed greenhouses in East Angelo. 



•The mother, Mrs. Annie M. Nuss- 

 baumer; the wife, Mrs. Ella N. Nuss- 

 baumer, and son, Morgan, survive him, 



Mr. Nussbaumer had been identified 

 with the growth of San Angelo for thir- 

 teen years, and was one of its most 

 highly esteemed citizens. 



J. B. O^Neil. 



J. B. O'Noil, son of B. O'Neil, the well 

 known florist at Elgin, 111., died at Elgin 

 Friday, March 5, after a prolonged ill- 

 ness with tuberculosis. He was a bright 

 and popular young man and was known 

 to a large number of the trade through 

 having traveled for some years, until his 

 health failed, in the interest of Vaugh- 

 an's Seed Store. He was 29 years of 

 age. The funeral was held March 8 and 

 was largely attended, among those pres- 

 ent being many florists from Elgin and 

 the surrounding town^ and a numbed' 

 from Chicago. 



