USE OF ETHER AND CHLOROFORM EOR FORCING SHRUBS. 49 



pellier, were described in Le Jardin by Mons. Albert Maumene : "We 

 placed two Lilacs under a bell-glass for thirty-six hours in the vapour of 

 ether, then we forced them, and effectively, since the untreated ones budded 

 as usual and flowered on about the seventeenth day, whilst we found the 

 etherised ones flowered about the thirteenth. There was also this remark- 

 able fact to be noticed, that the ordinary untreated plants only produced 

 flowers, whereas the etherised Lilacs were also covered with abundant 

 leaves, and could thus have been sold as flowering and decorative plants. 

 These experiments were repeated five times with the same successful 

 results. 



" I submitted Lilacs and Lilies of the Valley to the action of chloroform, 

 and have established the following results : — When the Lilacs were taken 

 out of the bell-glass in which they were treated they looked very miserable. 

 Chloroform, it is known, absorbs a great deal of water, and it had to a 

 certain extent dried up the plants. They were nevertheless put in the 

 forcing-house ; in course of time they recovered, and in the end were as 

 fine as those not chloroformed. As to the Lilies of the Valley, they were 

 astonishing : they were not only better than the untreated ones, but also 

 finer than those treated with ether." * 



Mons. Aymard also experimented with other anaesthetics and stimu- 

 lants. The results which he obtained, although very interesting, do not 

 suggest any new practical method of forcing. 



Experiments have also been made in England, as we learn from the 

 Times of January 16 last, and from the Horticultural Trade Journal, 

 in an article of which the following is the conclusion : — " So far as 

 England is concerned, at least one grower has tested, on an extensive 

 scale, the value of the etherisation of plants. Mr. T. Jannoch, of Dersing- 

 ham, near Sandringham, immediately on hearing the discovery, had a 

 special ether chamber or tank made, and the results of his experiments, 

 which I have been permitted to examine carefully, are far beyond any 

 reasonable anticipations. Next season Mr. Jannoch, doubtless in common 

 with other cultivators who have tested the system, has determined to enter 

 into yet more extensive experiments." t 



What conclusions can be drawn from all these experiments ? It appears 

 quite legitimate to assume that the vapour of ether has a great influence 

 on the rapidity and ease of forcing shrubs ; but this influence is only of 

 real importance for early forcing, that is to say, before Christmas, because 

 after that date the shrubs cultivated for this purpose can generally be 

 forced very easily without the use of anaesthetics. On the other hand, for 

 the forcer to obtain the full advantage of etherisation he ought to have a 

 large chamber constructed and make it absolutely air-tight, because not 

 only would the least leakage tend to counteract the influence of the ether, 

 but might give rise to fires or explosions. Moreover, as I have said 

 already, the manipulations must all be made in the daytime, because to 

 go near the ether chamber with a lamp or a cigar is sufficient to cause a 

 frightful explosion. This danger is a very real one, and I am certain it 

 will dissuade not a few from using this new method of forcing. 



Chloroform does not present the same dangers, but its success has not 



* Le Jardin, 1902, p. 251. 



f The Horticultural Trade Journal. Jan. 21, 1903. 



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