134 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



immersion the plants need not be forced in complete darkness ; they 

 will do quite well in semi-obscurity. If they are left longer in the 

 bath than recommended above, or if the temperature of the water is 

 higher, the growth of leaves will be unduly forced, to the detriment 

 of the flowers, and no lesser temperature will be found sufficient. 

 With lilac this treatment with warm water has also been found 

 advantageous, and results in a better growth of leaf than is produced 

 by etherization. The plants must be plunged head downwards in a 

 bath deep enough to cover them up to the crown, and the water must 

 be kept constantly at a temperature of from 35° to 40° Cent, for 

 about ten hours. The plants must then be put in a dark place and 

 forced in a temperature of from 35° to 40° Cent. "When the flower- 

 buds have attained half their size the lilacs must be removed into a 

 light place to acquire their colour. In about fifteen days they may be 

 placed in a cool house to harden off. About November 28 will be the 

 date of soaking the plants if they are to be ready by Christmas, and 

 the temperature of the water should be neither higher nor lower than 

 that suggested. The same process may be applied to all plants in 

 which the flower is formed in the bud as in the lilac, such as Prunus 

 triloba, Pyrus Scheideckeri, Wistaria, Viburnum Oj)ulus, Cytisus 

 Laburnum, Forsythia, some Magnolias, &c. 



Eoses with this process require so much manipulation that it is not 

 a method likely to spread among commercial growers, but the amateur 

 with only a few plants to treat will find that it undoubtedly hastens 

 the flowering period. The plants should be soaked for ten hours in 

 water at a temperature of 15° Cent. ' Frau Karl Druschki ' treated in 

 this way showed well-formed buds when plants which had not been 

 soaked were not nearly so forward. Lilac and other plants of the same 

 sort may be treated by etherization. To accomplish this some 

 receptacle which can be hermetically sealed up is necessary — a cement 

 basin, a tin-lined case, &c. The plants should be laid in this in rows 

 and covered with a lid in which is a small hole, which can be closed { 

 with a cork. Just below the hole in the box or other receptacle must 

 be placed a small vessel for the ether. Cotton-wool may be placed 

 in it to accelerate evaporation. Into this the ether is to be poured 

 through the hole in the lid, which is quickly corked up again, and the 

 plants left for forty-eight hours. They may then be removed and 

 forced in the usual way. The process must not be carried on in the j 

 neighbourhood of fire ,as the ether is inflammable. A dose of 500 

 grammes to each cubic metre of air is enough for plants which are to 

 flower at Christmas. It has been found almost impossible to get bulbs 

 imported direct from Holland to flower in Switzerland by Christmas, 

 but this difficulty is got over if the bulbs are grown for a year out of | 

 doors in a warm climate, such as that of the South of France. 



M. L. H. 



Forest Conditions in Ohio, Fourth Annual Report on{U.S.A. 



Exp. Stn., Ohio, Bull. 223, Nov. 1910).— The forest conditions in 



