The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-02-26
YOUR NAME on A ROSE LEAF.

A Fine Electric Needle Does the Work.
Florist Tells How Flowers Are Colored.
New York Mail and Express.
shall write your this roseT
How will You do it2' asked reporter of this
dealer who was handling beautiful jacqusmi-
not rose.
LAS easily as writing on paper with a pencil
and without injuring the rose in any way"
Tell me about the process"
sit is done by an electric needle. The needle
consists of very fine piece of platinum wire
and is connected with very powerful battery.
The rose must of course be- handled very care
fully the entire flower will be destroyed.
Take one of the leaves of the fower-ons of the
most prominent ones and perfect one, and
place under u piece OF glass. Then with the
needle quickly write your name over the leaf,
The needle must be held very lightly, but it
must touch the flower The electricity conveyed
through the needle kills the parts that it touches
and drives all the color out leaving the name dis
flowers. ike this red rose. or on a yellow flower.
1t can be done white leaf. but does not
show well the color"
"Can you make white carnations greenW
Very easily. Some florists claim that color
ing flowers is q trade secret, but it is nothing of
the sort When the Emerald ball was given in
very prominent in the decorations Every
present at the ball wore some of these
odd looking flowers in their coats
great many persons thought that they had
really grown they appeared that evening
and / believe some amateur gardeners
have been trying to buy some of the plants to
who wants TO can easily have some of these
flowers The are only the ordinary
white carnations colored, and, instead of being
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 weak solution of carbolic
acid. The acid must not be strong enough to
injure the plant. and just enough should be put
into the stem for it to soak into the bud and
flower. This will give the flower q greerish
tint when it has opened, and to make the color
deeper the flower should be washed in a soiuti IN
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 handful at the time.
The color does not take hold of the
flower In an artistic manner, but appears
in blotches on the leaves. If time ia object.
a very pretty colorng be given to the
flowers After they have been picked the leaves
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
dropped into green eye. The dye will color
tho flower just where the sui phur fumes have
touched. BY this means and by exercising a
little care the flowers can be made to look very
pretty. The edges of the leaves can be colored
green and light green streak be made to
run down the veins of the leaves. The white
carnations can be 'made blue green. yellow,
purple, black any color that may wish"
Ills il possible to color other fowers2"
"Just as easily as to color the carnations.
Lily of the valley can be made blue red
any color. have taken a spray of lily of the
valley and made one of the little bells green an
other red, another blue and yellow. and on.
The large lilies can be made to look very pc
culiar. They easily be coiored 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
would dream of examining
the leaves of lilies to find
messages of affection. If any one
liked to. he could arrange quite a pretty
code of signals with the oddly-coored flowers.
A blue rose might mean word, green
carnation another, and so on, using yellow lilies
of the valley, purple pnks, violet chrysanthe-
NUNS, and SO Different colors on the same
flowers could be made mean anything In
fact. u 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 New York boy, who had
spent great many months experimenting
Since tho Emerald ball they have been named
the En- erald pink -