The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-28
YOUR NAME on A ROSE LEAF.

A Fine Electric Needle Doea the Work -
Florist Tells How Flowers Are Coiored.
New York Mail and Express.
.sShall l write -FOUR lame OF this roseF
How will you do ita1s asked reporter OF tni
dealer who was handing beautiful jacquemi
not rose. =,
"As easily as writing paper with penc
and without ininring the rose IN any way.
saTeil me about the process
.sIt is done by an electric needle The needl
consists of very fine piece OF platinum VIE
and is connected With very powerful battery
The rose must of course be handed very cart
fully or the entire flower Will be destroyed
Take one of tile leaves of the hower-one OF To
most prominent ones and perIecs one, AN
place under it a piece of glass. Then with tn
needle quickly write your name over the leai
The needle must be held very lightly, ous
must touch the flower. The electricity conveys
through the needle kills the parts that Il Ioucne
and drives all the color out, leaving the name dif
tinctly written. This will show best on coiore
flowers. ike this req rose. or on yellow flower
1t can be done white leaf. but does no
show as well on the color"
.Can you make white carnations green"
Very easily. Some florists claim that coioe
ing flowers is trade secret. but it is nothing q
the sort When the Emerald ball was given y
Brooklyn these green tipped carnations wer
very prominent in the decorations Every ont
present at the ball some of thes
odd-looking flowers IN their coats
great many persons thought that they hal
really grown as they appeared that evening
and l believe some amateur gard eneu
grow in their gardens this summer Anybodl
who wants to can easily have some of thes1
flowers The are only the ordinary
white carnations colored. and. instead of beinI
trade secret. it is just the result of {
little chemical experiment. One way color
these flowers is to doctor them while they are
growing This is done by feeding into the
stems of each flower a weak solution OF carbolit
acid. The acid must not be strong enough t.
injure the plant. and just enough should be put
into the stem for it to soak into the bud and
This will the flower a gr0oniSk
tint when il has opened, and to make the COLO,
deeper the flower should be washed in a solution
of carholic acid after it has been picked This
method can be used when a number of the
colored flowers are wanted. as they can be dip
ped into the solution q handful at the time.
The color does not take hold of the
flower in an artistic manner, but appears
in blotches on the leaves IL time IS no object.
a very pretty coloring can be given to the
flowers After they have been picked the leaves
should be carefully squeezed in the hands until
only the edges of The leaves left exposed.
These should be held in the hand in the fumes
of sulphur for short time and then the flowers
the flower just where the sulphur fumes have
touched. By this means and by exercising .
little care the flowers can be made to look very
pretty. The edges of the leaves can be coiored
green and light green streak can be made to
run down the veins of tho leaves. The white
carnations be made blue. green. yellow.
"Is it possible to color other howerSP
'.Just easily as to color the carnations.
Lily ofsthe valley be made blue red or
any color. have taken spray of lily of the
valley and made Of the little bells green, an
other red, another blue and yellow. and SO on.
The large lilies can be made to look very Pc
GUITAR. They can easily be colored and their
names and dates can be written on their large
leaves. Any lover who might wish could send
lots of letters to some fair lady in this way. and
no would dream of examinin 6
the leaves of lilies or roses to find
messages of affection. If any one
liked to, he could arrange quite pretty
code of signals with the oddly-colored flowers
A blue rose might mean one word, green
carnation another, and so on, using yellow lilies
of the valley. purple pinks, violet chrysanthe-
NUNS and on. Different coors on the same
flowers could be made to mean anything. In
fact, a new language Of flowers will have to be
arranged to suit these new colored floral beau
ties The process of putting carbolic acid on
the stems of carnations to color them was. / be-
lieve. discovered by a New York boy, who had
spent a great many months experimenting.
Since the Emerald ball they have been named
thu Emerald pink"