IS 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



JOKB 6, 1913. 



REFRIGERATION x 

 fg FOR RETAILERS 



MAOHINE-MADE COLD. 



The Retailers' Independence in Sight. 



Already most of the retail florists are 

 independent of nature in the matter of 

 refrigeration, for in the larger cities a 

 considerable part of the ice now used 

 is artificial, and it will surely come to 

 pass that the retailer will in the end, 

 and probably at no distant day, be- 

 come independent of the ice nian as 

 well as of nature. The development of 

 artificial refrigeration will do away 

 with ice. Instead of using water fro- 

 zen at a factory, the florist will have 

 his ice machine in the basement and 

 manufacture his own cold, attaining 

 more than independence of the ice man, 

 for the saving in money will be only 

 one of the advantages of the system. 

 Of even greater importance to the 

 stores of the better class will be the 

 freedom from annoyances that accom- 

 pany the daily replenishment of the 

 ice chamber. This alone will be enough 

 to insure the adoption of artificial re- 

 frigeration by retailers the moment the 

 manufacturers of the apparatus are 

 ready to take care of the demand. Some 

 alreaidy are ready. 



Ice-malcing Not New. 



The manufacture of ice is not new. 

 For a considerable number of years 

 mechanical means have existed for the 

 lowering of temperatures. There have 

 been so many opportunities for the uti- 

 lization of the process on a large scale 

 that the manufacturers of the appa- 

 ratus have devoted their attention to 

 the big work, and the application of the 

 process to smaller needs has been slower 

 in coming than one might have ex- 

 pected. While the means existed, the 

 manufacturers were too busy to do the 

 pushing that is necessary with even an 

 article of general demand to bring it to 

 the attention of those who only need to 

 know to become users. Now, however, 

 the field of larger application of me- 

 chanical refrigeration has become pretty 

 well covered and the more far-sighted 

 of the manufacturers are turning to the 

 development of the smaller machines, 

 seeing in their perfection and general 

 adoption a field for business far broader 

 than anything the industry ever has 

 known. 



Betailers' Refrigeration. 



Quite a few florists have not been 

 content to await the action cf the ma- 

 kers of ice machines and have gone out 

 to find a suitable equipment. In some 

 of the larger establishments refrigerat- 

 ing apparatus of considerable capacity 

 has been installed, and more than a few 

 retail stores located in hotels and other 

 large buildings have obtained their sup- 

 ply of cold from the general refrigerat- 

 ing plant operated in the building. But 

 it is not in these systems, efficient 

 though they are, that the principal in- 

 terest lies; what thousands of retail 

 florists want most to know about is the 



method by which an average display 

 case can be cooled by artificial means at 

 an expense not greater than the cost of 

 ice. 



Possibly the first retail florist to put 

 in an ice-making apparatus exclusively 

 for the purpose of cooling the flower 

 case in the store was the flrm of Pen- 

 nock Bros., 1514 Chestnut street, Phila- 

 delphia. It was in 1907 that they in- 

 stalled the machine in use today. The 

 refrigerating machine and the motor 

 that drives it stand in the basement, 

 directly below the display case for 

 flowers in the store. Not a pound of 

 ice has come into the store in five years. 



The Pennock machine was made by 

 the Brunswick Refrigerating Co., New 

 Brunswick, N. J. In response to a re- 

 quest for a description of the apparatus 

 and details as to its operation, they 

 supply the following, by E. L. Lloyd: 



The Work to Be Done. 



When the proprietors of one of the 

 best of Philadelphia's flower shops de- 

 cided to adopt mechanical refrigeration 

 they had a handsome display case along 

 the east wall of their establishment, six- 

 teen and one-half feet long, nine feet 

 high and forty-two inches wide, embrac- 

 ing about 500 cubic feet. It consiated 

 of a show case with three shelves, draw- 

 ers below and an ice bunker above. 

 Formerly the four sliding doors had 

 double panes of glass, but the view of 

 the flowers was interfered with, and so 

 this was changed to a single thickness 

 of beveled plate glass. As the pro- 

 prietors remarked, they were "willing 

 to sacrifice economy for appearance." 



The shelves held vases of cut flowers in 

 water, and were usually kept full at all 

 times, forty vases holding probably 200 

 or 300 pounds of water as an average 

 quantity, and this was renewed daily. 

 Four sixteen candlepower electric lamp» 

 were kept burning in the case above 

 and in front, so as to properly illumi- 

 nate the flowers, but not seen by the 

 observer. The drawers below contained 

 the smilax and other greens and were 

 well filled. Openings in the floor of the 

 main case permitted the coldest air to 

 circulate down to and around this stock. 

 Both doors and drawers were opened 

 frequently, averaging probably four 

 times per hour each. 



Under these conditions it was found 

 necessary to use 500 to 700 pounds of 

 ice each day to maintain a temperature 

 of 44 or 45 degrees. The annoyance and 

 inconvenience of handling were great. 

 The ice bill for one year was $501. 



It was contended that the cost of 

 electric energy to operate a refrigerat- 

 ing machine to produce equal results 

 should not be much over half this 

 amount. 



A contract was made for a Brunswick 

 refrigerating machine of one ton capac- 

 ity, which was guaranteed to produce 

 the deaired results. 



Cost of Installation. 



The cost for the complete installation 

 in operating condition was a little 

 above $1,000. The installation was com- 

 pleted and the machine operating the 

 last week in May, 1907. 



In the ice bunker above the cases 

 four narrow brine tanks, fourteen feet 



"Witt Enclosed Refrigerating Plant of Pennock Bros., Philadelphia, Penn. 



