184 BRITISH FLORAL DECORATION 



a tendency, unless they are very sharp ones, to 

 pinch them off and thus do more harm than good, 

 as instead of opening the pores they close them. 



It is this first cutting of the stems which is most 

 important, as if it is carefully done and the flowers 

 are immediately put into water the pores will not 

 readily close again, and it is therefore not necessary 

 afterwards to cut the stems daily, as every two or 

 three days will be quite sufficient. 



If flowers are badly withered after a long journey 

 and are required for use soon after their arrival 

 they will recover in a remarkably short time if the 

 stems are cut and they are put into very hot, indeed 

 nearly boiling, water ; this practice should only be 

 resorted to if necessity demands, as the process, 

 although it pulls them together temporarily, 

 shortens their ultimate period of existence. 



In the course of my experience I have had dozens 

 of so-called invaluable recipes for prolonging the 

 life of flowers, such as adding salt, soda, Condy's 

 fluid, &c., to the water, and they have all been given 

 careful trial, but I can assure my readers that none 

 of these artificial concoctions are of the slightest 

 use and many of them are actually injurious. Pure 

 cold water (rain-water if possible), changed every 

 day in the summer, when vegetation soon clouds 



