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

 mauded in a good plant label are legibility, convenience, 

 durability and a reasonable cheapness. The 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 piue makes this the favorite, though other 

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

 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. 121J) are car- 

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

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

 etc., .ind 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 uuder 

 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 and 

 shrubs, and here great annoyance would be saved if all 

 names were written distinctly and with a heavy impres- 

 sion. If such labels are used on stock after plantmg 

 the grower should use great care that stems and branches 



choked by the wire. The printing of 

 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^o 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. ILlo 

 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 tor borders, groups 

 or specimen plants is shown by No. G 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 tl is 

 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 to 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 jn 

 1837, and is as follows: Take two parts by 

 weight of verdigris ( acetate of copper) , two of ' 

 sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), one part 

 of lampblack and thirty parts of soft water 



55 



ay de 



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 usiug, as the 

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

 forms, should be prepared by scouring slightly with em- 

 ery dust or fine sand paper. The ink may be applied with 

 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 ziuc 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, and 

 will endure for years. 



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, bulbs, 

 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 IH 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 in white In some 

 E iropean botanical gar lens a zmc tablet stamped with 

 s inken letters brought into relief by paint are use 1 for 

 similar purposes A zinc label with two wire legs to 



