Ether Forcing Without a Greenhouse— By Flora L. Marble 



Pennsylvania 



AN EASY WAY FOR THE AMATEUR TO BLOOM AZALEAS, LILACS, AND OTHER PLANTS AT CHRIST- 

 MAS TIME — GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE WINDOW GARDENER TO DISCOUNT THE SEASONS 



Photographs by the author 



SUCCESS crowned our attempt at forcing 

 by ether. We had flowers for Christ- 

 mas just like those of the stores which had 

 been forced by the expensive florist's green- 

 house, heated by steam or water. Our 

 apparatus was only a little bottle of ether, 

 an old washboiler for small plants, and an 

 old-fashioned chest for the shrubs. Actual 

 cash outlay? Fifteen cents a plant! After 

 the ether treatment the plants were subject 

 to all the discomforts that commonly fall 

 to the lot of house plants during winter. 



THE IMPROVISED FORCING CHAMBER 



The old-fashioned chest, with dovetailed 

 corners and double boards on the sides and 

 bottom, was lined with heavy paper and all 

 suggestions of cracks were filled with putty. 

 The lid was removed, and the chest was 

 placed upside down on the cellar floor and 

 banked around with earth. A hole was 

 drilled for the funnel through which the 

 ether was poured. Inside was a sponge and 

 a small basin under the sponge to hold the 

 ether, while the sponge continually soaked it 

 up and aided evaporation. This chest con- 

 tained about fifty-six gallons space and we 

 used four ounces of ether for the dope— that 

 is the approved ratio. The hole was tightly 

 plugged after the funnel was withdrawn. 



We chose for our experiment two azaleas, 

 Vervaeniana and Simon Mardner; two lilacs, 

 Marie le Gray and Charles X. ; two deutzias. 



November 4th the plants arrived from 

 the nursery. They were potted at once in 

 dry earth — that is important, dry earth — and 

 put under the chest packed like cordwood, 

 their branches still tied and cloth bound 

 about the pots to hold the soil. The ether 



71. The while flowering deutria will surely re- 

 spond 10 the ether treatment tor forcing. These plants 

 are not generally grown by the florist for Christmas 



was poured in and the plants remained for 

 seventy-two hours. What a sorry sight as 

 they were removed from the "forcing chest!" 

 These plants that were to be a joy at Christ- 

 mas — and it was already November 7th! 



The lilac, Marie le Gray, a bare shrub, 

 looked unaltered, but there was a smell of 

 ether about the dirt when it was watered 

 that was hopeful. 



The 6ther lilac, Charles X., is notoriously 

 hard torforce. So it was left dry and be- 

 wrapped on the cellar floor to rest a couple 

 of days before going into the chest for another 

 dose of ether. 



Look at the azaleas! Vervaeniana, that 

 had been of so shiny a green when put in 

 the chest, now had the lower leaves a rich 

 crimson, while the top of the plant remained 

 green — as our sumach does in the fall. It 

 followed the lilac upstairs. Simon Mardner 

 showed no signs of a change of heart, so we 

 put it back to rest with the Charles X. 

 lilac. One of the deutzias was watered and 

 sent to join the promising ones; the other 

 was wrapped up and treated once more. 



Then we began to quake. Finally we 

 did the thing only half way, which is very 

 foolish, always. Charles X., Simon Mard- 

 ner, and the deutzia were put back in the 

 chest bravely enough, but when we came to 

 pour in the ether we stopped at two ounces. 



On the evening of the 12th, having been 

 in the chest three days, these plants were 

 once more brought into fresh air and daylight. 

 The lilac and deutzia were in no wise altered, 

 but Simon Mardner had folded its small 

 green leaves close to the branches- 

 clover plant will at night. 



-as a 



WATCHING THE THINGS GROW 



Azalea Vervaeniana began to lose the crim- 

 son leaves, and many of the green leaves fell 



72. The normal violet plant went to rest in the window in early winter and 

 by January was standing still — last year's leaves withered and a new growth just 

 siarting. By March this plant had not grown more than an inch 



73. The violet plant that was put into the forcing chest on October 28th for 

 seventy-two hours was sorry looKing when it came out. It dropped the old 

 leaves, but soon made a new start. It flowered in March 



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