cut, leaving no ragged edges, gather a goodly handful of the budded 
stalks. These are for the window at home where twigs and branches 
of many a shrub and tree may be forced into bloom long belore they 
would naturally bloom out of doors. There is no better way to 
become famiUar with trees and shrubs than to gather the twigs, 
place them in water and watch them change from the frozen condi- 
tion of winter life in the open to a state of awakened beauty of flower 
and leaf. Tapering golden beech-buds, starry-flowered catkins of 
the poplar and garden currants (particularly the black), are full of 
magical charm; the gray-green velvety calyx of a magnoha bud 
rewards one's fondest expectations. 
When first cut, all twigs should be soaked in tepid water, each 
kind by itself, and no matter whether you have few or many, do not 
crowd them in the vases. Keep them free from dust by repeated 
spraying, or baths of cool water. Use large jars for the more sizeable 
branches, and keep them clean by changing the water every few 
days, or less often if there is a piece of charcoal in each jar. Forsythia 
will bloom in two or three weeks; Pussy Willow {salix caprea is the 
variety known generally, although salix medernii is especially 
vigorous) may be placed in a warm cellar for a week or two, by 
which time the buds will be swelling, and then brought up to heat 
and light for quick expansion and bloom. From fruit trees select 
twigs with full round buds, as they are the flowers; the attenuated 
ones are the leaves. The earliest to open are the plum, cherry and 
peach buds; apples and pears are more leisurely. Do not hesitate to 
try forcing the buds of anything you are anxious to see in bloom; 
your efforts may not be attended with success but you will have 
your reward in unexpected ways. Try all the fruit trees and shrubs, 
also maples, alders, willows and elms, yellow jasemine, rhododendron, 
horse-chestnut, beech, poplars and oaks. 
It is a great advantage if you can cut limbs several feet in length 
instead of twigs; the flowers bloom with more strength and ast 
longer. To insure an even and steady growth, put the branches in 
pails of water in a half-dark place where the air is cool but not cold, 
for about a fortnight. If you have an unused room which may be 
given over to the branches and the temperature kept at about 50*^ 
Fahrenheit place in it the branches by varieties, in pails of water 
containing large pieces of charcoal; re-fill the pails once a week, it is 
unnecessary to change the water entirely oftener than once a month. 
Do not remove the branches from the pails lest you break off the buds. 
One cannot be sure of the exact time it will take for any sort of flower 
to develop, but boughs brought from a freezing atmosphere to a 
normally heated room would undoubtedly be in full bloom in a few 
weeks. Magnolia is sullenly unresponsive, many of the shrubs 
bloom but sparsely owing perhaps to the short stems, but all the 
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