130 HOME AND GARDEN 



chiefly at the cut end of the stalk, it is most important 

 to keep that cut end in the clearest touch with the 

 water. If it is left lying about for some time the cut 

 dries up, and the water, if it reaches the flower at all 

 by this end, reaches it only in such a way as liquid 

 matter passes through a drain that is much clogged 

 and nearly stopped. The surface of the stalk of most 

 plants has a certain degree of feeble drinking power, 

 but if the flower is to be given the best chance of 

 enduring, the cut end must be a free inlet. 



Therefore, on receiving flowers after a journey, 

 every stalk should be cut afresh, and cut only the 

 instant before being placed in the water. When 

 flowers arrive from the South of France or from any 

 far distance, the stalks should be prepared with a long 

 slanting cut, or be slit up in order to expose a larger 

 surface to the water, and they should be plunged 

 deep in the water, right up to the flower itself, and 

 left all night. If the water is warm, so much the 

 better. Even for an ordinary journey, many things 

 must have such a deep bath, or even total immersion. 

 Leaves of Artichoke, so grand in large decorations 

 with long-stalked Oriental Poppy, or the taller of the 

 Flag-leaved Irises, such as Pallida dalmatica, are 

 plunged over-night in the garden tank. 



Flowers that have milky juice, such as Oriental 

 and other Poppies, Stephanotis, and Physianthus, want 

 special care. I have often been told that you cannot 

 make these live in water, and unless treated with 



