LABELING. Figs. 1215-1218. The characters de- 

 manded iu a good plant label are legibility, convenienct', 

 durability aud a reasonable cheapness. Ttie purposes 

 for which labels are needed by the horticulturist may 

 be grouped as follows: (1) For pots, boxes, frames and 

 benches; (2) for slock in storage or transit; (3) for 

 rows, plots or beds in garden, nursery, orchard, etc.; 

 (4) for individual trees, shrubs and plants. 



Of the materials that may be used for labels, wood 

 holds the first place, and the soft, easily worked nature 

 of white pine makes this the favorite, though other 

 more durable woods, such as cedar, cypress, spruce aud 

 mulberry, are used to some extent. Machine-made, ready 

 painted wooden labels of convenient shapes and sizes, 

 from 4 to 12 inches in length, (see 1, Fig. 121 ) are car- 

 ried in all stocks of gardeners' supplies, and are in com- 

 mon use in all work with plants iu pots, boxes, benches, 

 etc., and to some extent in out-of-door gardening; but 

 these should not be trusted when the label is expected 

 to endure for a considerable time. In the storage of 

 grafts and cuttings in pits or cellars, two of these labels 

 should be written and slipped together under the tie, 

 the outer one for immediate reference and the under 

 and protected one for security when the other becomes 

 defaced. 



Notched or perforated labels (2,3, Fig. 1215), with or 

 without wires, are also prepared for nurserymen's use, 

 those strung with soft copper wire being the best. 

 These are used in the shipping of nearly all trees aud 

 shrubs, and here great aunoyance would be saved if all 

 names were written distinctly and with a heavy impres- 

 sion. If such labels are used on stock after planting, 

 the grower should use great care that stems and branches 

 are not choked by the wire. The printing of any de- 

 sired names may be procured on order, effect- 

 ing a great saving of time and a gain in dis- 

 tinctness. 



For marking rows, plots, etc., stakes should 

 be used large enough to readily attract atten- 

 tion and not be broken over or moved in cul- 

 tivation. A very serviceable stake for nur- 

 series, trial grounds and gardens is made by 

 cutting 2 inch pine or cyress plank 2% inches 

 wide and 2 feet long, pointing and giving two 

 good coats of paint. Inscriptions may be sten- 

 ciled on these as suggested in 4, Fig. 1215, 

 written with a heavy pencil, or better, when 

 names, dates and list or plot numbers are 

 wanted, written on a square of sheet zinc and 

 fastened to the face of the stake with small 

 nails. (No. 5.) An annual coat of paint 

 obliterates old lettering and preserves the 

 wood. 



A common wooden label for borders, groups 

 or specimen plants is shown by No. 6 and a 

 variation by No. 7. The stakes should be of 

 some durable wood. and the whole well painted. 

 A paint of pure lampblack and oil is the most 

 indestructible that we have, and letters of this 

 will stand out like type after the lead paint 

 and the very wood surface have weathered 

 away from them. An effective contrast is ob- 

 tained by painting the face of the label black 

 and doing the lettering in white. 



For more permanent labels in a variety of 

 forms, sheet zinc has proved superior lo all 

 other materials. It may be stamped with steel 

 letter dies or written upon with a common 

 lead pencil, but more commonly a chemical 

 ink is used. The common formula for this in 

 horticultural books is substantially that pre- 

 pared by the French chemist. Brainnot, in 

 1837, and is as follows: Take two parts by U'/' 

 weight of verdigris (acetate of copper) , two of \^ 

 sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), one part 

 of lampblack and thirty parts of soft water. 



The chemicals should be incorporated with a little of the 

 water, and the balance added. Keep in a glass bottle 

 tightly corked and shake frequently while using, as the 

 lampblack tends to separate. The zinc, cut in the desired 

 forms, should be prepared by scouring slightly with em- 

 ery dust or tiue sand paper. The ink may be applied witn 

 a quill or coarse steel pen, but a fresh one will be needed 

 with each batch of labels. Inks of an aqueous solution 

 of chloride of copper or of chloride of mercury are also 

 recommended for writing on zinc, which should first be 

 cleaned with a weak solution of muriatic acid. Bichlor- 

 ide of platinum is one of the blackest inks for ziuc. A 

 slightly oxidized zinc surface may be written upon with 

 a soft lead pencil, and while the inscription will not be 

 very distinct at first will grow more so with age, aud 

 will endure for 5'ears. 



A wired zinc label, as shown in 8, Fig. 1215, if exposed 

 to the wind will sometimes cut out the eye completely, 

 unless care is taken to twist the wire up tightly. Strips 

 of zinc five-eighths of an inch wide and 7 inches long (9 

 Fig. 1215), coiled loosely around a branch, as in No. 10, 

 are the most serviceable form of tree label, but even 

 these should be noticed every year, that they do not be 

 come fastened into the fork of a rapidly-growing tree, 



For borders or beds of herbaceous perennials, bullis. 

 and the like, the label shown in No. 11 is excellent and 

 inexpensive. A piece of galvanized wire Nos. 6-8 in size, 

 is cut 1^^ to 2 feet long, bent to shape and the written 

 zinc tablet closed in. For a more conspicuous label, the 

 zinc may be given a coat of white lead, then one of black 

 enamel paint, and the letters be traced iu white. In some 

 European botanical gardens a zinc tablet stamped with 

 sunken letters brought into relief by paint are used for 

 similar purposes. A zinc label, with two wire legs to 



1215, Various types of labels. 



55 



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