December, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



455 



Results of Ten Days of Forcing and Pruning 



This strangely forced white lilac, then, blossoms only to 

 die. Each cubicle in the forcing house furnishes nearly a 

 thousand superb sprays of white lilac, only four or five 

 buds being permitted on each rod. The blossoms are cut 

 with the greatest care late in the evening, and then placed 

 without a moment's delay in a very cool cellar, in specially 

 made troughs filled with water. Here they are left until the 

 very last moment, when deft-fingered girls collect the sprays 

 into dozens and stick them in big cushions of straw, which 

 with the base of the stems are covered with wall-flower 

 foliage. 



And then, with the swiftness so necessary in this trade, the 

 "miraculous" blooms are put on board express trains and 

 steamers for Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, and even far- 

 oft St. Petersburg and Moscow. Little Vitry alone will 

 bring to perfection 125,000 plants during the season, and 

 hundreds of acres are required for the industry and also for 

 the growing of the wall-flower foliage that goes with the 

 sprays. Of these latter three or four thousand may be 

 gathered in a single day, and at Christmas time as much as 

 five dollars will be paid for a single drooping snow-white 

 spear. 



Nor does the demand slacken with the spring. True, the 

 natural lilac, with its more robust coloring, then begins to 

 flaunt its charms; but both florists and public know that the 

 forced variety can be counted upon to the hour, and fears 

 neither storm nor frost. A limited quantity of both mauve 

 and purple lilac is also produced from these "margic rods"; 

 but the fastidious in the great European capitals prefer the 

 snow-white blossom, especially for wedding decorations. 



Chrysanthemum 

 Umbrellas 



IHORTICULTURIST 

 of the Pyrenees has 

 invented a curiously 

 formed thatched pro- 

 tection or umbrella 

 which is supposed to protect 

 chrysanthemums from frost. 

 Chantrier, the horticulturist in 

 question, claims that he obtains 

 particularly large and handsome 

 flowers by reason of these covers. 

 It may be that similar devices may 

 prove of service to the chrysanthe- 

 mum growers of this country. At 

 all events, his scheme is so cheap 

 that it seems well worth trying. 



Growing Chrysanthemums Under Umbrellas in the Pyrenees 



