142 Milady's House Plants 



in water immediately, and claim that experiments 

 with Peonies proved that if the stem when cut was 

 plunged immediately into deep water, not more than 

 a second or two elapsing, the flower would remain 

 fresh many hours longer than one that was allowed 

 to remain out of water even five minutes. As long as 

 this does not conflict with our line of reasoning the 

 shock theory may well be accepted. 



The one simple and fundamental fact to remember 

 is that all wilting is caused by evaporation, that is, 

 the drying out of the natural moisture of the foliage 

 and flowers, just as a wet cloth would become dry if 

 spread out in a dry, warm atmosphere. Wilting of 

 cut flowers is not in the least a sign of age or staleness, 

 but indicates that they have not received care or 

 intelligent treatment. 



The Remedy 



Seeing that the destruction of cut flowers is 

 caused by reason of their inability to draw up from 

 the water sufficient moisture to supply the waste, it is 

 obvious that anything that will reverse the above 

 conditions, of even mitigate them, is the remedy to 

 be applied. It will be well perhaps to state these 

 somewhat categorically: 



First — Flowers, or foliage, should always be cut in 

 the early morning or late evening, never in the middle 

 of a bright day, as then the flower is already somewhat 

 wilted and is in no condition to withstand the shock. 



Second — Instead of a gathering basket, a pail of 

 ample size and half full of water should be taken into 

 the garden, and into this the flowers put, a few at a 

 time, with as little delay as possible. 



