1266 



FORCING 



FORCING 



and continuing until severe frost. It is possible, but 

 not desirable, to lift some things after the ground is 

 frozen hard. Plants received from abroad are potted on 

 arrival, or, if furnished with a ball like azaleas (Fig. 

 1553), they can be stored and not potted until brought 

 into heat. Dutch bulbs are boxed or potted as they are 

 received, and buried in the earth or piled in stacks 

 and covered with enough leaves and 

 litter to exclude frosts. Lily-of-the- 

 valley, astilbe and dicentra may be 

 kept in their packing-cases in a cool 

 pit until ready for use. Large plants 

 in tubs and boxes can be 

 covered with leaves and 

 kept out-of-doors, but most 

 plants should be stored in 

 a cool cellar, pit or frame 

 kept at a temperature of 

 35 F.; a temporary varia- 

 tion of 5 either way does 

 no harm. It is well to delay 

 this storage until as late in 

 the season as possible, but it 

 must be done before severe 

 weather. Plants may be 

 stowed compactly in several 

 tiers if necessary. It must 

 be remembered that no 

 growth is to be allowed while stored; it is their period 

 of rest, and this must be enforced. Good ventilation 

 must be given on bright days and every precaution 

 taken against an accumulation of moisture : if the plants 

 are well watered when put away very little will be 

 required afterwards. Dampness is most serious with 

 evergreens, like kalmia, and such things as Phlox 

 subulata. This stock should have the airiest positions; 

 sometimes it can be placed in shallow frames 2 feet 

 deep, which are drier than deep pits. In severe weather 

 the pits are often covered with snow a week or more, 

 but the plants will not suffer if this happens but once 

 or twice during the winter. At such times mice and 

 squirrels will make trouble unless trapped or poisoned. 

 Nothing except retarded plants, a few bulbs and one 

 or two kinds of prunus should be brought in before 

 November. December 15 to January 1 is as early as it is 

 safe to begin forcing most hardy plants; it will be found 

 that as the days lengthen the results will be more satis- 

 factory. At first the plants must be kept cool, 45 F., or 

 thereabout. Syringe twice a day until the buds swell: 

 after growth starts the treatment is the same as that 



1556. Dicentra roots prepared 

 for forcing. 



1557. Forcing lily-of-the-valley in pots. 



given greenhouse plants, and they can be put in a much 

 warmer house if so desired. It is at this time that care 

 in handling, particularly in the matter of heat, makes it 

 possible to time the period of blooming so accurately, 

 but it is impossible to give any general rules satisfac- 

 torily to cover these matters. 



A few plants, like lily-of-the-valley, can be placed 

 directly in a forcing-box, generally made over the 



pipes in the hottest house, where a temperature of 

 80 or more can be maintained. They are first soaked 

 in water for a day or two and then kept in this heavy 

 heat until flower-buds are well developed (Fig. 1557). 



Tulips, hyacinths and other bulbs, sometimes an 

 azalea or lilac, can also be hurried up in such a box, but 

 it is dangerous, and not good practice ; better and more 

 lasting flowers come with ordinary treatment. Trilliums 

 (Fig. 1558) and various early-flowering wild plants may 

 be forced with satisfaction. 



Although no rules can be given for the time required 

 in forcing, it is knowledge not hard to acquire with 

 even surprising exactness. Nothing is likely to require 

 more than three months in houses ranging from 45 

 to 55 F. i.e., after bringing in from the pits. A month 

 or six weeks is good time to allow in February and 

 March, but with the same plants and temperatures, 

 more time would be needed earlier; with the advance of 

 the season, the work is quicker and less uncertain. 

 There is a great difference in plants. Rhododendrons 

 (the hybrids) require eight weeks or more, but one 

 species will often bloom in March, within twenty-four 

 hours. Plants like the rose, which must make a growth 



1558. Forced trillium. 



before the buds form, take more time than Rhododen- 

 dron sinense. The difference between dull and bright 

 weather is an important factor, but with extra firing, 

 or the use of the forcing-box, these matters even up, 

 and the average time of flowering is wonderfully even. 

 In this work, a man with good plant sense is most 

 likely to succeed. 



The use of anesthetics in forcing. 



In the latter part of the last century and early in the 

 present, experiments were begun in Germany, and 

 confirmed in France, England and the United States, 

 in subjecting plants to the influence of ether and 

 chloroform for the purpose of securing better results 

 in forcing. Ether seems, for many reasons, the most 

 practical agent, but, owing to its cost and the extra 

 expense of handling the plants, this process does not 

 appear to be in common use among florists. For a 

 detailed treatment of this subject, the reader is referred 

 to an article by M. Emile Lemoine in the Journal of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society (London), Vol. XXVIII, 

 1903-4, p. 45. See, also, the article Etherization, p. 

 1146, Vol. II. 



In the main, the treatment of plants for this purpose 

 is as follows: A container, which can be hermetically 

 sealed and of the proper size is provided. In it are 

 placed the plants "as dry as possible, in equally 

 dry sand." The temperature of the box is 62 to 65 F. 

 Under the lid is a vessel into which the ether can be 

 poured and the hole sealed at once. It is important to 

 have the ether at the top as its vapor is heavier than 

 air and consequently gravitates downward. Ether, 



