THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
795 
coils as the cooling medium. It has been demonstrated 
that if stock can be maintained at a temperature of 34 
degrees F. in the^storage room throughout the storage 
period, that it can be kept fully twelve months without 
severe injury or great loss. It is a very easy matter to hold 
stock six to eight months under this temperature without 
marked deterioration. Some extensive operators who do 
not possess cold storage facilities of their own have devised 
a system by which they utilize commercial cold storage to a 
large extent, to facilitate the handling of their business. 
The plan of procedure is to harvest the stock during the 
months of November and December, immediately pack the 
trees and shrubbery in paper-lined packing cases, providing 
proper packing material in the shape of sphagnum, rather 
than straw, and immediately place the cases so packed in 
cold storage, allowing them to remain until required for 
immediate planting. This practice is chiefly confined to 
nurseries operating in the extreme southern portions of the 
United States, who have a large patronage at the north. 
The early germination of the stock at the south would pro¬ 
hibit the delivery of the trees in satisfactory condition at the 
north at the proper planting season. To overcome this 
difficulty the above practice has been inaugurated with very 
excellent results. Under this system the packed stock is 
held in cold storage for a period of three or four months, but 
practices at the north require that the stock remain in the 
retarding house from six to seven months. 
HOLDING NURSERY STOCK FROM ONE SEASON TO 
ANOTHER. 
Attempts have been made to hold nursery stock over a 
season in cold storage. The experiment was only moder¬ 
ately successful; in fact, not considered sufficiently success¬ 
ful to warrant the plan as a commercial practice. The prac¬ 
ticability of such a procedure, when necessary in moving 
plants from one quarter of the world to another is demon¬ 
strated, but the commercial value of such a procedure on an 
extensive scale is quite out of reason, from the fact that cold 
storage space is expensive; nursery stock is bulky and the 
value of the stock will seldom justify the outlay necessary 
for holding it through a long period in cold storage. Short 
storage periods, however, can be justified for the reasons 
above stated. 
CLASSES OF NURSERY STOCK WHICH WILL PERMIT 
OF NURSERY STORAGE IN RETARDING HOUSES 
All classes of nursery stock are handled in retarding 
houses, but the whole practice is based on Empirical rules. 
No carefully planned tests have been carried out to deter¬ 
mine the conditions best suited to any particular class of 
stock, or for the general purpose house. Modem practices 
have developed to meet the requirements of the trade and 
have been quite as much influenced by economic conditions 
as bv the actual requirements of the stock. The whole field 
of storage, as applied to the nursery business is a virgin one 
for the investigator. The necessity for retarding houses 
requires no argument. Their economic value is demon¬ 
strated, but the details of handling various kinds of stock, 
the benefit or injury to the stock, as well as the effect of 
fluctuating temperatures and humidities on the vitality of 
the plants held in storage, are questions which our present 
knowledge fails to answer. 
COLD STORAGE IN FLORICULTURE 
Low temperatures have long been an important factor in 
various departments of Floriculture. In fact, a number of 
the most important commercial industries connected with 
floriculture are based upon the use of cold storage as a factor 
in their development. The forcing of many plants, both 
woody and herbaceous, is made more certain and more 
remunerative through the use of cold storage. The forcing 
of polyantha roses, of hydrangeas, lilacs, spireas and the like 
for the Christmas trade are all more certain if the plants 
have been placed in cold storage for a short period. True it 
is, that the etherization treatment now promises to provide 
another means of accomplishing like results, but the field is 
yet a new one and full of uncertainty. The forcing of 
several of the herbaceous plants, such as the lily-of-the- 
valley, Lilium longiflorum and Lilium Harrisii, are expedited 
by cold storage, although it is not an absolute necessity to 
success. The modern handling of lily-of-the-valley is 
almost entirely based on the successful treatment of the 
pips in cold storage. In fact, many plants and seeds which 
require low temperatures in order that they may make satis¬ 
factory growths, can be handled in cold storage to advan¬ 
tage. 
The success of the modern cut flower trade is due largely 
to the fact that the standard flowers of the trade, such as 
roses and carnations, lend themselves to storage. While we 
have no accurate information, based on careful tests, except 
that provided by Mr. J. Vercier, Professor of Horticulture 
in the Cote-d’Or, on The Utilization of Artificial Cold in 
Floriculture, which is published in the L’lndustrie Frigorifi- 
que, florists all well know that the value of both carnations 
and roses is greatly enhanced by subjecting them as soon as 
cut to a chill, which is just sufficient to check the normal 
vegetative functions without destroying them. The check 
should be severe enough to cause the flowers to rest for a 
period, but the rest should not be a permanent one, from 
which they cannot be roused. Experience has demonstra¬ 
ted that the condition obtaining in the ice-box or refrigerator 
where the atmosphere is highly charged with moisture is 
better suited to the purpose of the florist than the same 
temperature maintained artificially when the air is dry. 
Usually the chilling is not long continued, but it is generally 
believed that a few hours exposure to a low temperature 
greatly lengthens the period of beauty and usefulness of 
roses and carnations. While those practices are of great 
economic value, even at the present time, there is no reason 
to doubt that through careful investigation their value 
might be greatly enhanced. 
The wholesale flower trade of the great cities of the 
United States is now greatly promoted by the use of modern 
cold storage appliances. W T hile low temperatures are not 
desirable, a constant temperature of 40 degrees for carna¬ 
tions and roses is absolutely essential, fluctuations in 
temperature and humidity produce great injury, while a 
