The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1923-12-13
USED MEDICINE
TO SAVE PLANTS
Discovery That Aspirin REEVES
Po~ere Draws Attention to
Old Jap ~res."


ers modern science took another steI
forward and found itself at the begin.
ming of a path which wise men in
Japan have trodden smooth through
centuries. The use of medicines for
flowers, in a land where flowers are
(perhaps were) as necessary as food
IS almost as old as the art of flower
arrangement-an art and philosophy
In one, with its roots in religion and its
blossoms in the world Of such formal
ism as found expression in the tea
ceremony
The Japanese have their prescrip-
lions for chrysanthemums at this sea-
son and that; they have other recipes
for the lotus, for cherry blossoms, for
the iris and for no end of flowers un-
known to the West. One cannot ap-
proach the first Japanese one meets
and receive them; indeed, for the most
part they are unknown to the jap
anese Of today who sell flowers in
America. These formulas are recon
dfte; they are secrets passed from
master to pupil, bit at time, and in
this wise they have come down from
period in which men ran savage in
America and Europe. Not unlikely
among them are formulas which first
came INTO use in the Seventh century.
when the Ono family brought forth
the first doctrine Of flower arrange
ment and preservation. The latter
aim, indeed, comes first, for arrange
ment Is but means; the end, in the
Or}n n mos hr1d on
petals, according them the sanctity
which Buddhism bestowed on animal
life.
Took Years to Get Recipes.
On which flower, and at which sea-
son, should one use peppermint? Salt
petre? Honey? Sake? And how?
Should the substance be sprinkled on
the petal or injected in the stem?
Should the stalk be burned or mashed,
broken or cut, and what shape the
slicing or incision, made with what
knife or pair of scissors?
In other days men spent years learn
ing the answers. There are schools
of arrangement without end, each with
its traditions and recipes the student
who has been with the master four
years is told so much; another year,
and further secrets are revealed. Thus
year by year till the disciple in turn
becomes a master and the last with
held lore is given to him.
True enough, Japan has come to a
stage when 1t Is thought Of in terms
Of spindles and shipways, but the ira
dition persists, though 1t is weak, and
bits OF knowledge are now open to all
which once would have been guarded
to the death by a master. Much has
been written for Caucasians about the
art Of flower arrangement-no West
ern pOsies as solid as cabbages but a
pattern from a spray or two. There
is little to be read, however, upon the
preservative prescriptions. Yet they
are not unknown even in New York.
Here, for instance, is Mrs. q. Okla
jima, who has lectured on her subject
before Columbia university students
'This way" she says, and in her |
Lexington avenue studio she tmprO- |
vises an arrangement Of the simplest; |
one of the three points only-Heaven,
earth and man. Sometimes there are |
five or seven, but always the elemental |
three are the basis of all the designs
Of stems and leaves and petals, |
they stand as they grow or |
are bent after being warmed or are
held with wire. Long stalk or short,
he picture must fall within a TRAN
gle.
"The flowers with strong stems last
onger than the others, she explains
'Chrysanthemums keep three weeks In
Japan, in winter
Three times as long as here is the
general rule. There is little steam
leat in Japan.
One W. FOR japan WiHS.
Bamboo and the pine are the hard
live it must breathe You must make
little hole for air at each joint.
sometimes you blow water into these
oles and sometimes you put sake in
he water Then there are flowers on
,hich you must put salt. The wistaria !
difficult. 1t will not grow in plain
,ater. 1t takes much care First you
ut the bottom of the STEM (She in
icates a double incisi0h like an K or
on the cross-section.)
''Then you put cotton in the cut and
on burn the end of the stem. 1t is {
len put in water for three and half
ours You take it out and put it in
ike you boil the sake with the flower c
it, and when that is done, quick
Ito cold water" A gesture initiates :
le celebrity of a blacksmith with a hot 8
)rseshoe. Then you make the ar {
lngement and when it Is finished you !
1t little sake in the water. 1t is b
ore beautiful if you do this at night" '
he purpose is to hold in the plants O
tai juices and to help it to suck up
alter.
Sake, rice wine, is called for in
any of the recipes. 1t is with no d
ought of jest, however, that Riusa- v
TSuDOda saws "The JananaSp Iii x