678 



The Weekly Rorists* Review* 



NOVEMBER 8, 1900. 



is open to the same general objection 

 that attaches to great width with the 

 added drawbaclv that for all stock, save 

 that particularly long stemmed, there is 

 increased difficulty in properly securing 

 it from shifting. Safe proportions for a 

 shipping box, in my estimation, would 

 be one ranging from six to ten inches in 

 depth, never exceeding eighteen inches in 

 width and three times the length of the 

 stems of the stock packed in it. This 

 proportion is for average general stock, 

 roses, carnations, etc., and would not 

 liold good for extra short or long, the 

 exception proving the rule. 



The box should have a fastening rea- 

 sonably secure, but one that can be un- 

 fastened on arrival easily, quickly and 

 without damage to the box or contents. 

 Js'ails or screws should never be used, 

 save possibly on special shipments, 

 where, for good reasons, the regular box 

 is not used. There is no necessity of 

 altenipting to make a burglar proof box. 

 Tlie smallest loss a grower has is that of 

 jiilfering in transit, and a fastening that 

 provides for a reasonable amount of 

 delay in opening will safeguard that 

 contingency. A tight fitting lid with one 

 of the several good hasp devices or metal 

 catches is excellent. Nothing excels a 

 heavy sash cord or light rope of good 

 quality. Straps are a nuisance, as the 

 strain soon puts the hole in the wrong 

 ]ilace for the tongue of the buckle and 

 cither the strap is soon ruined and 

 worthless from efforts to remedy it or 

 the cover is never tight enough to pre- 

 vent the air from having too easy en- 

 trance. 



The shipping box should always be 

 lined with paper. Several thicknesses 

 should be used. It not only acts as a 

 cushion, equalizing the jar, but the dead 

 air spaces so formed are the best non- 

 conductors that could possibly be pro- 

 vided. Many growers use a lining dur- 

 ing severe weather to keep out the cold. 

 Is°it not just as essential to prevent the 

 ])enetration of heat? One is as destructive 

 iu its effects as the other; the remedy 

 is the same. Nothing is better for this 

 purpose than the ordinary newspaper. 



In placing several layers of stock in the 

 same box, always be careful to have them 

 carefully separated and so separated that 

 they can be removed at destination with- 

 out destroying the layer as originally 

 packed. Many use tissue or wax paper 

 for this purpose. They are both unfit. 

 Wax paper draws the tissue and ruins 

 color, fragrance and texture of many 

 kinds of flowers, and wax and tissue 

 alike are so soaked by the moisture and 

 drainage from foliage and stems above 

 and below that they almost invariably 

 o-ive way with the weight of the layer. 

 The result is one jumbled mass. Manila 

 or newspaper in several thicknesses is 

 the best, as they have strength enough to 

 stand considerable strain and, being 

 porous, they quickly absorb any surplus 

 moisture, retaining same for a long 

 period, providing a tempering of the 

 inclosed air very beneficial on a long or 

 hot trip. 



In placing flowers in the box, care 

 should be taken to place the deepest 

 colored stock, where substance of flower is 

 equal, in the bottom of the box, grading 

 upward, the lightest colored or white on 

 top, as colored stock will show the effects 

 of weight and crushing less freely. 



I will not go into the question of 

 proper cutting and bunching. That is a 

 local question and depends on the outlet. 

 Some markets want carnations fifty to 

 the bunch, some twenty-five, some bulbous 

 stock in dozens, others again in quarter 

 hundreds, some heads even, some stems, 

 and so on. These are all important 

 points, but I presume them to be known 

 to the shipper. 



All flowers after cutting and before 

 packing should be placed in water long 

 enough to insure the stem having 

 absorbed sufficient water to keep the 

 flower fresh until arrival at destination 

 and some hours after. Pots and jars 

 that are used for that purpose must be 

 kept clean and, if practicable, should 

 never be used for any other purpose. 

 Many flowers have been ruined from 

 having absorbed oil and various chem- 

 icals through the water in which they 

 were placed. 



Particularly during hot weather do not 

 freshly recut stems before packing, except 

 where necessary to facilitate packing. 

 The pores at the cut have partly closed, 

 retaining the water. If recut the stem 

 will drain and the flower be deprived of 

 moisture and will wilt. 



Lilies, chrysanthemums and other 

 large petaled flowers are better underdone 

 than overdone on the hardening off side. 

 The petals of such flowers, if full of water 

 and chilled, at each jar and move are apt 

 to crack or bruise; if soft and even in- 

 clined to wilt they will yield to move- 

 ment and pressure, will show no trace of 

 bruise or crack afterward and will 

 straighten up under proper treatment in 

 a short time. Many more can be packed 

 in the same space, saving time, trouble 

 and expressage. 



Stems of most annuals and perennials 

 and other soft-wooded blooms should be 

 cleaned of bottom foliage before being 

 sent to market. Many become ofl'ensive 

 within a few hours after being placed in 

 water and the chance of sale is thereby 

 lessened and the price lowered. Many, 

 after reaching that stage, are so per- 

 meated with the odor that even if the 

 stem be cleaned the flower or upper 

 foliage retains so great a part of it that, 

 notwithstanding the bloom to be perfect, 

 it has gone past the selling stage. This 

 should not be done, however, excepting 

 for above stated reason, unless it is to 

 remove unsightly foliage, as many flowers 

 absorb water nearly, if not quite, as 

 readily through the leaf as through the 

 stem. 



The use of highly colored twine in 

 tying bunched stock should be avoided. 

 The dye nearly always runs when the 

 bunch is in water, and the dye strikes in. 

 The customer then insists that the flowers 

 are old, when the contrary is the ease. 

 Take lily of the valley as an example. I 



have seen many dollars worth of value 

 taken off of a shipment from this alone. 

 The stems at the bottom, being bleached 

 nearly white from forcing, are also soft 

 and the dye from a blue, green or yellow 

 string will run in the stem like ink in a 

 blotter. On the contrary, some flowers 

 should always be tied with string to 

 match the stem in color; that is, of 

 course, where the bunch goes to the cus- 

 tomer as originally tied. 



Violets, lily of the valley, most bulbous 

 stock and any easily wilted flower should 

 have a quantity of moist tissue paper 

 wrapped aroimd and over the end of the 

 stems. Smilax is better sprinkled and 

 should always be rolled singly. Aspara- 

 gus plumosus and A. Sprengeri will ship 

 best and keep better afterward if kept 

 perfectly dry. 



A safe rule is to never sprinkle any 

 flower for shipment. The foliage only 

 should be freshened and that, in the ma- 

 jority of cases, but sparingly. The only 

 exception to this that comes to- mind 

 at present is the poinsettia, and that 

 which we call a flower is really not the 

 flower at all, simply highly colored 

 foliage surrounding the flower proper 

 and which retains all its leaf character- 

 istics. 



In the discussion that followed jNIr. 

 Amling said he thought it was a mistake 

 to sprinkle smilax. Mr. Benthey also 

 thought smilax should not be sprinkled. 

 A better way he thought was to tie the 

 strings in bunches at the lower ends and 

 place these ends in water, changing the 

 water frequently. He believed it should 

 always be shipped dry. Mr. W-interson 

 said his experience was that while it did 

 not hurt the smilax to sprinkle it in 

 winter, in summer injury always re- 

 sulted, the foliage becoming soggy and 

 unfit "for use. 



THE EXHIBITIONS. 



Chicago. 



The annual flower show opened in the 

 Auditorium Tuesday noon, with old-fash- 

 ioned flower show weather prevailing, 

 namely, a cold, drizzling rain, the first 

 rain, by the way, that has fallen here for 

 some time. 



The exhibition differs but little from 

 that of last year, only, alas, there is not 

 so much of it. Much credit is due the 

 Geo. Wittbold Co. for their splendid dis- 

 play of palms and other decorative plants 

 as well as other plants and flowers. 



The chrysanthenunn plants were even 

 fewer in number than last year and the 

 date of the show was evidently a full 

 week too early for them, if not more. 

 They were generally well grown and 

 would have been good exhibition plants 

 if given a week or two more in which to 

 develop their flowers. 



Chrysanthemum Blooms. 



The display of chrysanthemum flowers 

 was considerably short of that of last 

 year, but some good blooms were seen. 



