Evening star., 1937-12-19
Chemist Groavs Giant Poinsettias
Charles Madsen Carries Experiments Obscure Washing
ton Greenhouse Delng Into Secret Art Of Plant Culture
I N AN obscure Washington green.

~ AN OBSCURE washington green.
house Charles p. Madsen, chemi-
cal engineer and inventor, upon
some Of whose basic patents de-
pendS to a considerable degree the
great nickel-plating industry in Amer
ica, is solving the mysteries of secret |
art.
BY long experimentation and by
bringing his specialized chemical
knowledge to bear on the problem,
Mr.. Madsen claims he has found how
to raise poinsettias with the largest
blooms ever recorded in the United
States and how to keep them in healthy
condition almost indefinitely in the
home
To prove his point he has distributed
In Washington about 20 plants, with
instructions to care for them accord
ing to the method he has worked out
Twelve washington families are CO.
operating with him in the experiment. |
Culture Carefully Guarded.
The poinsettia was introduced into
the United States from Mexico about |
60 years ago. Since then this exotic
plant has become one Of the most pop
ular Christmas flowers. More than
100000 are sold each December in
Washington alone, Mr.. Madsen says.
and often vither and die before the
holidays.
So carefully has the art of poin-
settia raising been guarded, he saws.
that only three men in Washington
know anything about 1t. The problem
intrigued him as a practical chemist
when fate placed him in the position
OF gardener Of the local greenhouse.
He tried to find the secret In Mexican
and Spanish horticultural literature,
but got little help. Then he went at
the problem from the standpoint of
pure reasoning and experimentation.
The result has been, he saws. that
400 healthy plants were obtained in
spite OF the fact that the Department
OF Agriculture advises that 200 plants
Is the extreme limit that can be OBJ
tanned from is parents in a season.
ms result was in part due to using
all OF the known plant chemistry as
well as precision instruments of con-
troll. Temperature, humidity and |
amount Of sunlight were kept under
r1gld control. The last hundred cut
tngs represent a very unorthodox de-
parture from standard practice. When
they showed the first signs of having
formed roots they were fed small |
amounts OF one Of the well-knoWn
complete chemical plant foods. They
were treated with indol-buteric acid
10 stimulate roofing and were set in
q mixture OF sterile sand and peat
moss. Many were cut long after the
orthodox limit Of September l, 70 of
tnem on October /. 1t is believed in
the old art that September l is the
extreme limit for taking cuttings that
Will crown for Christmas Our cut
tlngs OF October l crowned within a
lew days Of the same time as the
Oldest cuttings of June 15-on No.
vember 6.
Checks Preconceived Theory.
This checks preconceived theory
as TO the causation Of crowning from
which both the time of formation and
the ending Of the crown can be pre-
olcted. The theory is that the crown
starts and ends by the ratio OF the
length OF the day to the night. The
crown starts its form on the pre-duo
solstice, which is November l. and
should continue until the ante-duo
solstice, which is March l."
Mr.. Madsen gives the following list
OF Washingtonians cooperating in the
second half Of his experiment-that
OF keeping the plants in good. condi-
ton:
w. w. Powers. 1884 R street Sc.
w. j. Tucker, 1860 Talbot street sE.
DR.. Marchalk, Mills Building: DR.. Paul
Dickens, Columbia Medical Building:
DR.. Charles Stanley White, Medical
Building; R, A. Humphries, Berwyn
Md; Walter Moling, United States
Court OF Claims; Mrs Edith Slade.
ooo0 Connecticut avenue; DR.. F.. G.
Cottrell. 1904 Ingomar street NV:
Miss Alice Lyons, 1899 Calvert street
NV; Mrs. Ritchie, American Univer-
sity; Mrs. w. L. Bell, "a Sargent road
The great trouble with pionsettias
IN the home, he says, is premature
dormancy." Its natural dormant
period in Mexico is from March to
April is. This is brought on bv
changes in the season. II the same
changes occur in the home the same
result Is brought about.
Excessive Water Starts Dormancy.
One such change is a drop in tenn
below so degrees. One-tenth
of degree will do it, Mr.. Madsen
says, If it continues all night. The
lower the temperature the faster the
change. Exposure of 10 seconds to a
wind OF 80 degrees will put it to sleep.
Excessive water in the soil will start
The dormancy in one day and excessive
dryness in about three days. And once
The plant starts going to sleep nothing
can wake it until it has
aad its nap.
1t can't be too hot, he says. In
Mexico poinsettias thrive up to 140
1egrees. In steam-heated apartments,