he same experiment at
the end of several months and the buds will appear.

"There are several ways of shortening this period of rest, some of
which are rather odd. The best known is the process of
etherification, which has been so much discussed recently, and which
consists in placing the plants to be forced in the vapor of ether or
chloroform for twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Afterwards when
placed in a hothouse, the branches begin to develop almost
immediately.

"A very ingenious botanist, Hans Molisch, professor in the
University of Prague, has devised a method of forcing, simpler still
and quite as effective. It consists in plunging the branches into
warm water during a time that varies with the species. The best
method is to plunge the plants in a reservoir of warm water, head
downward, without moistening the roots, which would injure them.
After a certain time, the plants are withdrawn, turned right side up
with care, and placed in a greenhouse, where they develop at once.

"The duration of the warm bath should be nine to twelve hours at
most. The best temperature is 30 degree to 35 degree [86 degree to
95 degree F] . . . That is to say, in the majority of cases, one may
simply employ the water available in hothouses, which is just at the
proper temperature. The process is thus at the disposal of all
gardeners.

"It should be said that the good effects of the hot baths are
confined to the parts actually immersed and do not extend to the
whole plant. Thus, on the same stem we may see developing only the
branches that have been treated with the bath, while the others
remain torpid. This is easy to verify with the lilac or the willow.

"If Lobner is to be believed, we may substitute for the water bath
one of steam. He has obtained good results with the lily of the
valley. The thing is possible, but the method used by Molisch is
more practical.

"How shall we explain the good effect of warm water on branches in a
resting state? We are absolutely ignorant of its mechanism, as we
are also in the case of etherification. But if we knew everything,
science would be no longer amusing!"--Condensed, from _THE LITERARY
DIGEST._

There are many new uses for water: It will not be long before every
truck and every commercial flower garden will have overhead
irrigation. This is merely gas pipes ("seconds" rejected for blow
holes or porosity are usually used) supported on posts say six feet
above the ground. They are