

The Weekly Florists' Review* 



39 



Concrete Benches Built by Walter S. Hall, Osaee, la. 



HALL'S CONCRETE BENCH. 



How thoroughly the trade is interested 

 in the subject of permanent bench con- 

 struction is shown in the frequency with 

 which someone conies forward with a new 

 idea for the use of concrete. Louis Witt- 

 bold, of Chicago, was one of the pioneers 

 in this line, and he favors the one-piece 

 bench. Having perfected a method for 

 the economical construction of a one-piece 

 bench, he patented the molds he employs, 

 and these are now in use all over the 

 United States. There is no system of 

 sectional construction which has come into 

 general use, most of the sectional methods 

 being the result of experiment by grow- 

 ers who simply were looking for some- 

 thing to solve their individual problems. 

 Such a one is that shown in the accom- 

 panying illustrations, which has just 

 <ome to light in Iowa. 



This bench is built by Walter S. Hall, 

 at Osage, la. One of the pictures shows 

 a new house, just completed, in which the 

 bench is just being finish^. He is put- 

 ting in two more houses of the same size, 

 using the concrete blocks as shown 

 stacked up in the other illustration. 



Mr. Hall makes the blocks at odd mo- 

 ments during the winter, each section 

 being one foot wide and as long as is 

 necessary for the width of the bench de- 

 sired. The bench in the center of the 

 house, as shown, is four feet wide. The 

 bench consists of posts, runners and cross- 

 pieces. The sides and bottom are in one 

 piece, and made in one operation. Mr. 

 Hall spent a year or more in experiment- 

 ing on this bench, and thinks his method 

 now so perfect that he has applied for a 

 patent, both on the machine and on the 

 blocks. He finds the cost of the cement 

 and gravel so small an item that he pre- 

 fers to make his bench strong enough to 

 stand without reinforcement, and no wire 

 net or iron rods are used. The bottom 

 is perforated to supply any desired 

 amount of drainage, although most grow- 

 ers who use sectional benches consider 

 the cracks between the sections supply 

 all that is needed. The bench retains its 

 position through the locking of the parts 

 and the weight of bench and stock. He 

 has found the bench excellently adapted 

 to the needs of a general line of stock, 

 one of *he benches in the picture being 



planted to lettuce and the other contain- 

 ing carnation cuttings. 



While it doubtless will be some years 

 before concrete benches come into general 

 use, still it is only a question of time 

 when concrete will supplant pecky cy- 

 press, just as pecky cypress has taken the 

 place of hemlock for this purpose. A 

 pecky cypress bench will last several 

 times as long as a hemlock bench will 

 stand under the severe conditions im- 

 posed in a greenhouse, but when cement 

 is used the bench becomes the most en- 

 during, instead of the shortest-lived fea- 

 ture of the house. 



OBITUARY. 



Edward GilL 



By the death of Edward Gill, which 

 occurred March 25 at his beautiful home, 

 Bellamount Place, Berkeley, Cal., the hor- 

 ticultural fraternity of the Pacific coast 

 loses one of its brightest members. For 

 almost half a century he had been active- 



ly employed in the direction of his large 

 nursery interests, and at the time of 

 his death he had over 100 acres devoted 

 to hardy ornamental stock. He had long 

 made a specialty of roses, and over 

 forty acres were devoted exclusively to 

 this portion of his business. His grounds 

 at Berkeley for years have been the 

 Mecca for all visiting nurserymen from 

 various parts of the country. 



Edward Gill emigrated to California 

 from New Jersey in 1863 and commenced 

 at that early time to build up a busi- 

 ness, which at the time of his death 

 was one of the largest on the coast. His 

 fame, however, chiefly rests on his knowl- 

 edge of roses, and various trips to east- 

 ern states and to Europe kept him in 

 touch with all the leading firms in that 

 line and made his own collection by far 

 the most complete on the Pacific coast. 



He held many medals and certificates 

 from various exhibitions and societies, 

 and his knowledge of horticultural sub- 

 jects, extending over almost half a cen 

 tury, made him a mine of information 

 from the earliest times on the growth 

 and development of his chosen profession. 



After being happily wedded for al- 

 most forty years, Mr. Gill lost his wife 

 in November, 1907, and ever since that 

 time he had been in failing health. Es- 

 sentially a home-loving man, he erected 

 a beautiful residence and surrounded it 

 with a wealth of magnificent growths, so 

 that it soon became one of the show 

 places of Berkeley, Cal. He leaves a 

 family consisting of two sons and two 

 daughters, all of whom wore at the bed- 

 side when the end came. Mr. Gill leaves 

 a host of friends to mourn his loss. He 

 was a gentleman of the old school, kind, 

 courteous and honorable. 



Cambridge, Mass. — The creditors of 

 W. L. Lewis, in bankruptcy, will hold the 

 meeting required by law April 9. 



CoRRY, Pa. — Mrs. Caldwell has moved 

 her stock from the flower store on North 

 Center street to her greenhouse. 



Clarion, Pa. — Fred W. Zeitfuss started 

 in the business here a year ago and has 

 made fair progress, although he says the 

 people require a good deal of education 

 and it is slow work where there is only 

 one florist in a town. 



Concrete Bench Blocks Used by Walter S. Hall, Osage, la. 



