CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 



PRESERVATIVES FOR FLOWERS AND 



TREES 



THE Japanese tell us that no matter 

 how skilful one may be in flower 

 arrangement, if one is ignorant of 

 the secret of keeping the flowers fresh, his 

 skill is of no avail. 



The masters of flower arrangement have 

 many secret formulas for preservatives re- 

 vealed only to their pupils on graduation and 

 some never revealed except on their death- 

 beds to their successors. The drugs for most 

 of these would be impossible to obtain out- 

 side of Japan, and none of them are really 

 as important as the main Japanese rule that 

 the flowers "must be so prepared before 

 arranging as to enable them to suck up 

 enough water to keep them in a fresh condi- 

 tion for a long time." All their vases are 



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