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36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dbcbmbeb 15, 1910. 



LILAC FOBCING. 



In the Vicinity of Philadelphia. 



Little is known about the forcing of 

 lilac in Philadelphia floral circles, be- 

 yond the fact that there are three 

 places where lilac is forced for cut flow- 

 ers, and that some fine stock is seen in 

 the leading retail stores in winter. The 

 three places are those of W. F. Lacroix 

 and two other forcers. A few days 

 after Thanksgiving Mr. Lacroix ex- 

 tended an invitation to Phil to 

 visit him at his home in Buena, 

 N. J., to see his lilacs. Mr. Lacroix 

 stated with manly frankness that every- 

 thing on his place was open for inspec- 

 tion, and that he would gladly give his 

 experience in lilac growing and in lilac 

 forcing. December 7 was set for the 

 day J for two days before it snowed with 

 a persistency that made it seem more 

 than likely that Mr. Lacroix would be 

 unable to keep his appointment, owing 

 to heavy drifts. Yet there he was at 

 the station at the time appointed, knee- 

 deep in snow, cheerily calling which 

 way to come to reach his horse nearby. 

 Two and a half miles' drive through 

 country covered with pure white, a 

 drive made easy by Mr. Lacroix 's en- 

 ergy in opening the road the day be- 

 fore, ended at the comfortable farm 

 house with the lilac-forcing houses in 

 the rear. 



Before entering the houses, a few 

 words about the industry itself will be 

 of interest. 



The lilac first forced in this country 

 was imported stock of a number of 

 •varieties. On this stock a duty of 

 twenty-five per cent ad valorem is 

 charged, in addition to the cost of pack- 

 ing and transportation. Owing to the 

 bulky nature of the stock, this was no 

 small item, and it soon became evident 

 luat home-grown stock would not only 

 be better, but less expensive. A nur- 

 sery, then, with good soil adjacent to 

 the forcing houses is indispensable. 



Preparatory Outdoor Culture. 



The first lilacs set out at Buena were 

 experiments; they proved successful, 

 more and more stock being planted out 

 each year and gradually replacing the 

 imported stock, until this season the 

 last of the imported is being forced, 

 with a strong probability that future 

 lilac will be entirely home-grown. The 

 difficulty about immediate change lies 

 in th^ long time required to prepare 

 the lilac for forcing. 



When a sucker is taken in the spring, 

 preferably from two and three-year-old 

 plants (suckers from older plants are 

 not satisfactory), it is grown in the 

 field for six or seven years before it is 

 ready for forcing. The first year the 

 lilac is cut down almost to the ground 

 to induce heavy bottom growth and free 



Lorraine Begonia in a Side Handled Basket. 



suckering; the second year the plants 

 are again pruned, ali^iost as hard as the 

 first year. This heavy pruning is con- 

 tinued until the fourth or fifth year, 

 when longer growths are permitted to 

 remain. No pruning is done the winter 

 the plants are to be forced. 



The field methods consist in clearing 

 a suitable piece of ground; then it is 

 often planted with corn and manured 

 before the lilacs are set out. After the 

 lilacs are set out, the cultivating is 

 regularly and thoroughly done; pruning 

 is done during the winter, removing of 

 suckers during the growing season. 

 These suckers must be as faithfully re- 

 moved when they are merely to be 

 thrown away as when required for 

 stock, as they take strength from the 

 plant. The cultivating is especially 

 aimed to give the plant a good ball of 

 roots for lifting; the plow is run close 

 to the rows, cutting off roots that wan- 

 der too far from the lilac, thus inducing 

 a compact growth of roots. The lifting 

 is done in the fall, and in the winter 

 when the ground is not frozen; the 

 plants when dug are taken from the 

 field to a storehouse, where they are 

 placed until required for forcing. 



W. F. Lacroix' 8 Methods. 



The lilac forcing houses of W. F. 

 Lacroix, ten in number, are 11x36 each. 

 The houses are built somewhat like the 

 ordinary greenhouse in shape, but, un- 

 like the ordinary greenhouse, the roofs 

 as well as the sides are covered with 

 boards; only four sashes are used in 

 each to give light. Two thicknesses of 

 boards and two of paper make the sides 

 and roofs tight. Three rows of steam 

 pipe keep the houses at a night temper- 

 ature of about 65 degrees and a day 

 temperature 10 or more degrees higher. 

 Each house accommodates 275 lilac 

 plants, set out in beds. No effort is 

 made to prepare the soil in the houses, 

 the plants remaining there for only 

 three weeks, the time required to flower 

 them. The flowers are simply forced as 

 in the case of valley, tulips or hyacinths, 

 and not formed after being brought in- 

 side. 



Heat and moisture, then, are the es- 

 sentials. The former is furnished by 

 upright boilers, a little larger than an 

 ordinary stove, each boiler heating two 

 houses. Stove coal is burned, the 

 fires requiring no attention between 10 

 p. m. and 5 a. m. Water is supplied by 

 a 35-foot well, operated by a windmill, 

 and is warmed in a horizontal tank. 

 Spraying is an important operation dur- 

 ing the earlier stages of forcing, the 

 moisture aiding the buds to break nice- 

 ly from the hard wood. 



The forcing of lilac before New 

 Year's is much more difficult than later 

 in the season, when it forces quite natu- 

 rally. Entirely different methods have 

 to be employed, and even then there is 

 far less certainty of securing fine flow- 

 ers. The average yield from a seven-year- 

 old, well grown lilac is about ten flow- 

 ers to the plant; a smaller number than 

 this is not considered profitable. 

 The plants are unprofitable in their 

 earlier stages because they will not 

 bloom, and later because they will not 

 grow enough Tood flowers. When once 

 forced, lilac plants are useless. 



Best Varieties for Forcing. 



Careful study has been given to the 

 varieties of lilac best adapted for 

 forcing. Marie Legraye, Charles X and 

 several other standard sorts have had a 

 thorough trial; the result of nine years' 



