THE ETHERIZATION OF PLANTS FOR FORCING 



PURPOSES. 



By Prof. William Stuart, Burlixgtox, Vermont. 



Read before the Society, Februarj' 6, 1909. 



The employment of ether and other substances possessing 

 anesthetic properties as an aid to forcing flowering shrubs and 

 herbaceous perennials into bloom during their period of dormancy, 

 or of intense rest, is a comparatively new development in plant 

 forcing. Notwithstanding the fact that ether, chloroform, and 

 other anesthetics are now known to impart, when properly used, 

 a decided growth impulse to plants in the earlier stages of dormancy, 

 its employment commercially, so far as the writer is informed, is 

 exclusively confined to European establishments. A possible 

 explanation for this lack of interest on the part of American gar- 

 deners is that flowering shrubs such as lilacs, deutzias, spireas, 

 viburnums, etc., are not used so extensively for forcing purposes as 

 in Europe, certainly not in the early winter months, when it is most 

 difficult to force them successfully. 



Early Investigations. 



Investigations regarding the nature of the effect of ether, chloro- 

 form, and other substances upon plants may be very properly 

 considered under two heads, viz: A. The physiological effect 

 upon the tissues of a plant in an active growing condition. B. 

 The growth acceleration effect upon plants in a state of rest. 



Naturally the first phenomenon to be studied was that of the 

 physiological effect. Such experiments were the results of inquiries 

 on the part of investigators as to the comparative effect of anesthe- 

 tics upon animals and plants. 



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