Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-02

and the temperature in which 1t Is kept Is
no other than that IN which 1t blosSomcd:
Whether or not YOU have thought on
these matters, it is inevitable that now and
again YOU should have given serious con
sidcration to the problem of delaying the
willing process as long as possible. In this
YOU have been aided by your favorlte
"Houschold Hints" column, At one time
YOU have followed its advice to use charcoal
in the water in which cut flowers are placed;
at another YOU have been urged to CHIP the
stems daily or to scar their ends, or 20
change the water frequently, or not to
change it, or-crOWning banalty,-to keep
your flowers in the refrigerator, regardless
OF the fact that flowers are made to be en-
loved, and nobody likes to sit III an lcebox.
1t has been left to two talented French
scientists to conduct the most exhaustive IN
vestigation ever held of ways of preserving
cut flowers For three Years these learned
men tried experiment after experiment, to
total OF more than ten thousand, their sole
aim being the discovery of some agency
whereby a fraction, even though 1t were
small might be added to the life of flowers.
They tried organic and inorganic compounds,
separately and together weighing the ma
terials employed with Ill the delicacy known
to the best chemists scales; they dabbled
in endless combinations and proportions;
they did not neglect even the prosaic methods
recommended in the "Houschold Hints.
After the three years the Frenchmen they
were l.. Fourton, consulting professor Of
chemistry. and Y. Ducomet, professor of
botany. at the National Agricultural Col
lege at Rennesl learned that the best ma
terial for preserving cut flowers was one of
the comInoncst OF substances, nothing more
or less than sugar sugar graduated, pow
dered, or Cubed, in any form whatsoever so
long as it be soluble in water.
IF the thought occurs that the labor OF
two men for three wears is high price TO
pay for the addition of twenty-five per cent.
to the usefulness OF a rose after It has been
cut from its stem, glance tor moment at
the magnitude OF the cut flower business.
In the United States alone it aggregates not
far from twenty million dollars year. One
hall of this great sum IS spent for roses, one
third for carnations and the remainder is
apportioncd among other flowers according
To the dictates of fashion
The merchandise for which tins money is
, exchanged lasts anywhere from one evening
to twenty days, according to It's nature and
the treatment it receives. Let us assume
that rose kept in pure water IN favorable
temperature will retain its freshness for four
daES. 1t has cost its purchaser ten cents.
Now, II some treatment Is discovered that
prplongs its freshness to five days, the
suit is obviously a twenty five per cent. in
crease OF usefulness, or total saving IN the
United States of FIVE million dollars year.
The reason flowers wilt is that the cells
constituting the petals and scpals collapse.
The longer the state Of collapse can be
warle1 of, the longer will The flower retain
its freshness The distcnSion OF the flower
cells is due to what is called osmotic pres
sure. This is best explained by comparing
a flower cell with 4 toy balloon. The latter
is filed with gas, which keeps the membrane
| stretched, The flower cell is filed with a
fluid in which some other substance is in
solution Whether tn" other substance is a
sugar or salt does not matter 50 far as the
principle governing the situation is CON
| ocrncd. The important fact IS that the
molecules Of this dissolved substance beat
against the cell walls, porous to the bath in
which they float, but not to the molecules
themselves, lust as the molecules Of gas in
the toy balloon beat against their rubber
cnvclop. The pressure thus cXerted on the
mcmbranCuS coating OF the cells is known as
OSmOtic pressure.
When the osmotic equilibrium the bal
anced proportions Of fluids within and with
out the flower cells is disturbed the flower
begins to wilt From state OF what bot
t,,ruilit,- IN. s.1lc -,pcc