The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-12-21

hose days they used boracic acid in
stead. There are ingredients un-
known to America-mogusa, for one.
drug that looks like cotton and Is ap-
piled to the skin when II is used medi-
cally and not for flowers. Or sansho,
which is not drug but spice, bit
IKE pepper but sweetish and not 80
not. And often. the ingredients include
money and sugar. Travellers have writ
ten that the Japanese place some flow
ers In strong solution Of tea and pep
per; perhaps their pepper is the san
sho. Pepper is used, nevertheless; not
ground, but whole. 1t Is prescribed In
one formula among those explained by
another New York Japanese who has
studied the art of flowers, Miss M.
Tanaka, an American citizen who
taught school in Hawaii for ten years
and Is now a student at Teachers col
lege.
Every Flower Treated Separately.
1T Is the formula for the chrysan-
themums of late fall: each kind of
chrysanthemum Is treated In q differ
ent way" she says. For these, you
must dissolve saltpetre In hot water.
Let II cool before you put the flowers
in Then you make the arrangement,
and after that Is all done. put a pep
percorn In the vase. Every flower Is
given Its special treatment, according
to different schools. Take Just the
flowers that you know in America. The
peony withers easily; you must boil
the end of the stalk after you have
crushed II for an inch or so; then let
II stand for a day In cold water be-
fore making the design. The snow
ball should be put first In hot and
then In cold water and let stand three
or four hours In the shade. The azalea
needs lukewarm water. Some Of them
need salt water, such as the narcissus
and the camelia. And others are par
tial to sugar, like the lily; you should
burn the end Of its stalk and put 1t In
sugared water. There are chrysanthe-
NUNS which require the same treat
ment; burn the stalk and then put In
cold, sweet water for three hours be-
fore you handle them. Measure the
sugar by bulk; one-tenth the bulk of
the water.
Buds Treated With Honey.
"The lotus must be cut in the early
morning. 1t Is put in pint of water
to which sake has been added-one-
tenth sake. Let this boil, then put the
flower In cold water. When honey Is
called for, II must be mixed with warm
water. The morning-glory has TO be
dipped first in boiling water and then
in cold. The begonla Is handled in
very different way; the ends of the
stems must be wrapped In peppermint
leaves. They are taken off when the
flowers are arranged. There are ways
to keep buds from opening. The plum,
for instance. Is treated with honey.
white honey, which Is boiled and al
lowed to cool. Then the buds are
painted with 1t and they stay just as
they were when .-i~ked."
Such question as this is important
when the skill. and even genius, of
one of the most polite of arts Is de-
voted to producing composition
which will be thing Of beauty In IT.
self and still accord with a thousand
formal rules. II this bit of color or
that is given greater emphasis by the
bursting of bud, the arrangement is
no longer what the artist created. The
point Is as essential as that other--if
the flowers fade, the skill Of the ar
ranger is lost.
The summer is the time when pre-
servatives are most commonly used.
Indeed, the lover of flowers has his di.
visions of time-giyo. is autumn and
spring, winter Is so and shin Is summer,
and by them he is ruled Once the
japanese burned the ends of stems In
charcoal; now they may use gas. but
the effect Is the same.
In hot weather the ends Of stems
are not infrequently wrapped In mat
ting or bamboo husks or tissue paper
for Ave or six inches. II the stems
are long, two or three II short-and
the covering Is tied on, according to
Miss Mary Averlll (Kwashinsai Kiyo
kumel), a New York woman who has
written much about the art Of arrange