1959 Press Photo Greenhouse Plants in Perlite, New Orleans - noc12827

Greenhouse Plants in Perlite, New Orleans. City Park gardeners find many new uses for perlite, a light volcanic mineral. These greenhouse plants are set into material. Horticultural uses are being found for perlite, a form of volcanic mineral commonly used in plastering or production of lightweight concrete. A sterile, granular material, horticultural perlite is feather-light, weighing only six to nine pounds per cubic foot. The lightness is achieved through expansion; the perlite has been blown up to 13 times its original volume by exposure to 1800-degree heat. Mined in the mountains of the Colorado-Arizona region it is crushed into different grades, then shipped to New Orleans where it is "popped" or exploded. Flowers.

Photo is dated 1959.

Photo measures 10 x 8.25 inches.