Evening star., 1932-06-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| attention to those things in life with
! which they have no real concern. In
| this, as in many other ways. they differ
largely from human beings, who per-
haps would be much better off If they
emulated the creatures in this respect.
We have seen cats sis and look at the
shining poppy blossoms in a most know
ing way, then run toward them and leap
into the air, clapping their two front
paws together at the flowers as If they
were sorts of playthinss.
| No one who gets into the garden late
will ever see one of the most interest
ing features of the Oriental poppy. This
| is reserved for the early riser, the gar
! dener who does not MIND the dew on
his shoes.
| If he goes out early enough he will
see the green outer covering of the
blossoms lifted high on the crinkled
silk flower, like a sort of three-way hat.
| Nature in few minutes will expand
| the petals just enough to cause the
three green shells, with their light gray
bristly hairs. to fall off on the ground.
The investigator may remove them
before Nature does, in which case he
will discover that he holds in his hand
one of Natures most curious coverings.
! or coats.
| turn water, as well as serve as bar to
insects Each third resembles a rather
fat caterpillar. if placed inner side
down: If turned up the other way, with
| the hairy side on a table or the like.
the Segrnents resemble small green ca
noes
All Of the poppies, of which there are
said to be more than one hundred spe-
cies in Europe and Asia, have some
| similar arrangement, as they all like
! dryneSs. Most of them resent being
moved after once they get to growing
The favoriteS among the cultivated i
/ varieties are the Oriental. the Iceland,
the California and the Shirley. The
common scarlet poppy, now SO familiar.
is known botanically as PapaYer rho as.
/ The California poppy rejOices in the
/ scientific name CT eschScholtzi1, a COM
/ bination OF consonants perhaps un-
/ equaled in the entire nomenclature of
/ f1oWerdom. Besides the yellow form.
/ there are now available to gardeners
various pink red and scarlet types. The
Shirley poppies, which are cultivated
forms OF the common poppy. are espe-
cially pleasing to many gardeners. Lou
/ ise Bush-BroWn, in her Flowers for
Every Garden" says: If 1 had to
/ choose but one flower out Of the long.
/ long list Of annuals, 1 think it would be
the single Shirley poppy" The blooms
are too fragile to endure much han
/ ding, She continues. but If half opened
buds are picked early in the morning
/ and the stems plunged imm adiately
into very hot water the flowers will re-
main fresh for several days.
! Some may wonder about this hot wa
/ ter treatment to keep flowers fresh. Yet
/ hot water is used in Europe to force Ii :.
iacs. the flower stems being placed in
/ heated water for a certain length of
time. The principle of shock is used
in the lilac rannicles to stimulate them
! to open; in the cut blossoms of the
Shirley poppy to suddenly suffuse them
with water
/ The same principle Is used in the ap-
pllcation of very hot water to insect
bites. Few people know that this is the
! best way to stop the intolerable itching
which such wounds set up in certain
/ persons. cloth should be wrung out
IN boiling hot water, and dabbed on the
bite lntermittently. touched lightly to
the spot. removed immedia tely so as to
avoid burning. but applied again and
again. The analgesic quality of this ap-
pllcation endureS for several hours
| The worlds supply of opium is derived
from the so-called opium poppy. Papa
yer somniferum. whose immature fruits
contain the milky Juice from which
/ morphine. codeine and other alkaloids
| are manufactured.
| The more innocent forms Of poppies
supply mankind with poppy oil, which is
| used in oil paints. and IN some parts of
the world as salad dressing 1t is
said to be used in Europe also as an
adulterant of olive OIL
Since this poppy oil may be pressed
/ into cakes, and high percentage of nj
trogenous matter. especially phosph --ic
acid, is claimed for it. the home ar
dener may speculate on the possibility
Of utilizing it in the manufacture Of
fertilizers. For the present he perhaps
| will decide to be content with his Orien-
tai poppies. and to plant out few more
as soon as pOSsihle