CONFERENCE ON GLASSHOUSES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28980, 22 August 1959, Page 4

CONFERENCE ON GLASSHOUSES

Horticulturists’ Talks At Christchurch

A conference on glasshouse heating and construction is being organised by the Canterbury District Council of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture. The meeting, which will be held on September 3 at Trinity Church Hall, at the corner of Manchester and Worcester streets, Christchurch, will be open to all who wish to attend, but will be of special interest to commercial and private growers who are interested in glasshouses. The provisional programme provides for papers and discussion during the morning on glasshouse construction and in the afternoon on glasshouse heating. At the morning session. Mr J Coombe, of the Horticultural Division of the Department of Agriculture, will speak about glasshouse structure in Canterbury and its problems today, and Mr S. Challenger, lecturer in horticulture at Canterbury Agricultural College, will discuss the use of polythene.

Following a break for morning tea there will be a round-table discussion on growers’ experiences and ideas for the future with contributions on wood, metal and mobile houses and the use of glass substitutes. This session will end with a general discussion and a summary of the proceedings by the chairman. In the afternoon, when the meeting will discuss glasshouse heating, a statement on electrical heating and the present day position will be made by Mr C. B Phillips, of the Municipal Electricity Department. Practical electrical heating will be discussed by Mr Bramley, of Giles and Elliott, and a survey of glasshouse heating costs will be given by Mr J. H. Glazebrook, senior lecturer. in horticulture at Canterbury Agricultural College. These talks will again be followed by a round-table discussion, in which growers will give their experiences with different types of heating systems, and a closing general discussion and summary by the chairman.

“House Plants and Growing Them” will be the subject of a talk in the evening given by Mr J. O. Taylor. Persons attending the conference will receive later a copy of the conference papers and proceedings.