The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-24
YOUR NAME ON A ROSE LEAF.
A Fine Electric Needle Does the
Work-How Flowers Are Colored.
From the Nelg York Mail

A Fine Electric Needle Does the
Work-How Flowers Are Colored.
From, the Ne1U York Mail
'Shall write your name on this roseF'
''How will you do itl" asked a reporter of
the dealer, who was handling a beautiful
jacqueminot rose.
''As easily as writing on paper with a
pencil, and without injuring the rose in
any way"
"Tell me about the process"
1t is done by an electric needle. The
needle consists of very fine piece of pla-
tinum wire and is connected with very
powerful battery. The rose must, of course,
be handled very carefully, or the entire
flower Will be destroyed, Take one of the
leaves Of the flower-one Of the most promi-
nent ones and a perfect one, and place I'M
der it 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 con-
veyed through the needle kills the parts
that it touches and drives all the color out,
leaving the name distinctly written. This
will show best on colored flowers, like this
red rose, or on yellow flower. 1t can be
done on white leaf, but does not show as
well as on the color"
Odn you I1bke WILLIE CdT0dUlODS RTo6De
every easily. Some florists claim that
coloring flowers IS a trade secret, but it is
nothing Of the sort When the Emerald
ball was given in Brooklyn these green
tipped carnations were very prominent i'll
the decorations. Every one present at the
ball wore some of these odd-looking flowers
in their coats. A great many persons
Thought that they had really grown as they
appeared that evening, and | believe some
amateur gardeners have been trying to buy
some of the plants to grow in their gardens
this summer. Anybody who wants to can
easily have some of these flowers They are
only the ordinary white carnations col
Ored, and, instead of being trade secret, it
is Just the result of little chemical expert
ment. One way to 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 carbolic acid. The
acid must not be strong enough to injure
the plant, and just enough should be put in
the stem for it to soak into the bud and
and flower. This will give the flower a
greenish tint when it has opened. and to
make the color deeper the flower should be
washed in solution of carbolic acid after
it has been picked This method can be
used when a number of the colored flowers
are wanted, as they can be dipped into the
solution handful at the time. The color
does NOU Jdkb ADlu VI JHS HOWeIS III Ill
artistic manner, but appears in blotcbes on
the leaves. If time is no object, very
pretty coloring can be given to the flowers.
After thew have been picked the leaves
should be carefully squeezed in the hands
until only the edges of the leaves are left
exposed These should be held in the fumes
of sulphur for a short time and the
flowers dropped into green dye The dye
will color the flowers just where the sulphur
Il o,,lI =
exercising little care the flowers can be
made to look very pretty. The edges of the
leaves can be cOlored green, and light
green streak can be made to run down the
veins of the leaves. The white carnations
can be made blue, green, yellow, purple,
black, or any color that one may wish.
SIS il possible to color other fiowersF'
Just as easily as to color the carnations
Lily of thu valley can be made blue or red
or any color. hav- taken a spray Of lily
of the valley and made one of the little
bells green, another red, another blue and
yellow, and so on. The large lilies can be
made to look very peculiar They can
easily be colored and their names aud 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 one would ever dream Of exam
lining the leaves of lilies or roses to find
messages Oh dllec1iOh' ~ any DiiO Hheu'
too. he could arrange quite a pretty
code of signals with the oddly colored
flowers. A blue rose might mean one
word. a green carnation another, and so on.
nsing yellow lilies Of the valley,
purple pinks, violet chrysanthemum'.
Different colors on toe same flowers could
be made to mean anything. In fact, new
Language of flowers will have to be arranged
to suit these new colored floral beauties.
The process Of putting carbolic acid on the
stems of carnations TO color them was
believe. discovered by a New York boy,
who had spent a great many months ex-
perimenting. Since the Emerald ball they
nave been named the Emerald pink