Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-03-12
Cutting and Keeping Flowers.
A great deal has been written on 1

A great deal has been written on the
preservation OF cut flowers, but the
matter is still imperfectly understood
by most people. 1t is important to
know not only how to take care of them
after being cut, hut how to cut them.
On this latter point practical hint
may be of service to our readers. 1t
might not occur to them that it could
make any serious difference whether
the stems were broken off or cut with
knife or scissors. A sharp knife is the
right tool for the purpose, as it leaves
the sap-vessels of the stems open for
the absorption of water, while scissors
crush and compress these vessels, so
that their absorptive power is more or
less destroyed. Like injury may be
done in breaking of the stems especial
ly if they are tough.
Ii the flowers are not put into wa
ter Immediately. the ends of the stems
should be cut off with sharp knife as
the sap-vessels will probably have be-
come clogged up with the coagulated
matter.
1t should be remembered that evapo-
ration As going on from every pore of
flower or leaf, and that unless fresh
tall can be taken up by the stems to
make good. this. loss, the blooms will
soon wither and die. We can readily
see why the flowers of plants with
hard, close stems fade sooner than
those soft, large-tubed stems. The
they such up moisture, will expand in
water almost as well as if left on the
parent plant.
Cut flowers often suffer from too dry
an atmosphere. 1t is difficult to avoid
this in our artifcially-heated rooms,
but We may at least put the blossoms in
the coolest part of the room. Near a
window, and especially in bay win
dow, the temperature is generally sew
eral degrees lower than in other parts
OF the room, as you can see if you will
test it with thermometer. The best
authorities say, moreover, that the
flowers should have the benefit of
light, and even of sunshine in most
cases, though there is popular
prejudice against exposing them to
the latter. Ga the other hand, they
suffer, as plants, do from draughts and
from sudden alterations of tempera-
ture.
Botany also furnishes us a useful
hint for prolonging the life Of many
single flowers. This may he done by
removing the anthers, for when the
pollen on these become ripe the stigma
gets impregnated, and the flower, hav
ing fulfilled its natural destiny, drops
its petals and withers. In the case of
blossoms that fall to pieces very easily,
it is good idea to let fall a drop of
gum or mucilsge into the center, which
will glue the petals together at the
base. To prevent this from running
out before it hardens, the flowers
should be kept upright by putting
their stems through the bottom of a
sieve or sticking them in sand. With
the aid of camels hair brush or
pointed stick, a large number of flow
ers may be gummed in short time.
When flowers have been carried
long distance in close boxes or cases,
they often appear withered and worth
less, but with proper treatment they
may be revived and restored to their
original beauty. Instead of being at
OuCo pun 4utO SdSos auu cApOscu W tuo
hot aud dry air of the parlor, they
should either be spread out on wet
flannel or moss and covered with
dish-cover or an inverted box, or else
put in pans containing moss and water
or wet sand, in which they can be set
upright, and then shut up in the dark
for a few hours. If they do not regain
their freshness under this nursing,
there is no hope for them; but in all
ordinary cases their recovery is certain.
Journal of Chemistry.