The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



677 



General View^ of the New York Show. 



of the wholesale valih' • t llu' |.l;iiit -. -u n 

 will be readily M<vn llul ihi- i- :i -uli 

 jeet of consideialilc ini.i.-i i- i h, lu.in 

 who does a large >lii|i|>niLj Itii-iiii --. 



The average freiijlii IkhhIIci dues not 

 display much r(-|Hc i t..i |i:i.kages, 

 whether they contain iiiallrMhli' iron fit- 

 tings or plants, and it therefore becomes 

 necessary to make packing cases strong 

 enough to bear rough handling, and with 

 this in view the greater number of plant 

 cases are made of either half-inch or 

 five-eighths-inch yellow pine lumber for 

 the sides, top and bottom, and either 

 three-quarter or one-inch lumber for the 

 ends, lumber of this kind being perhaps 

 the strongest for the purpose among the 

 cheaper woods. 



In some localities poplar boards may 

 be had for a very low price, and is a 

 much lighter wood for box-making, but 

 has the fault of twisting or warping 

 badly as it dries out, and does not 

 furnish as good a hold for the nails as 

 the pine. But in making the boxes one 

 should use enough judgment to have the 

 box of the right size for the lot to be 

 packed, else the receiver of the goods is 

 likely to show some righteous indigna- 

 tion on having to .pay large freight 

 fharges on a half-filled liox. 



Another matter that may be worthy of 

 consideration in nur Imx-niakinL' is the 

 fact that cxti;! Iir.ny |,;. kn-.- ;ii,. liable 

 to be more i.ni'jlilv liinil'rl ili.m tho.sc 

 of moderair wirjht. :iihl i<iii-.i| iinitlv. it 

 is better I.. u\'i,,| ,,- ,,,, ,,- |„w^ihlc 



making ca>cs that hiII u.iul u Hi. mi 



400 pounds each wlirn lillr.l wiili |iI:miU. 



The use of exr-cKi - ,i |r.i kin- iii;i 



terial has boon nlrr,nl\ liiniid ;ii m tli.^-.- 



notes, and wliik- ii- u-r i- |ii.ik;ikl\ 



general now tli:iii tliat .if ;iii\ 'itkii m.i- 

 terial for tlii- ]iiii|iii-c. vet il in;M Uv 

 well to remark .some of tlie reason-s for 

 this fact. 



In the first place, excelsior is a clean 

 material to use about our plants: in the 

 second place, it is a good non-conductor; 



iliinlly, it is not given to heating in the 

 Ih \, a^ does hay, when exposed to the 

 iii.ii-tuie from the plants, and, finally, 

 exiel-ior is readily procurable at a 

 moderate price, say, about $13 to $15 per 

 ton in single ton lots, and somewhat less 

 than this in carload lots. 



And another general remark in re- 

 gard to the packing of plants is to 

 pack them tightly in the boxes and to 

 fasten them in place securely by means 

 of cleats, so that when the box is dropped 

 down on end suddenly there may be no 

 disturbance of its contents. 



The question of injury to stock in 

 transit is one that comes up occasionally 

 in the experience of every extensive ship- 

 per, and among the possible dangers are 

 the rats that abound in many freight 

 warehouses and on various steamship 

 lines, some recent instances of injury of 

 this character having been reported 

 among some of the exhibitors at the 

 Buffalo convention of the S. A. F. 



This is rather a difficult matter to 

 deal with during warm weather, from 

 the fact that it is absolutely needful 

 to give the plants as much ventilation 

 as possible then, and in winter there is 

 much less complaint fn.ni (Iiis cause on 

 account of the ImM'- li.inu nailed up 

 tightly. But il 1- .mainly safer in 

 the ease of a lipny ili-lan. i- -liipment in 

 warm weather to fasten some screen 

 wire over the openings in the boxes, in 

 order to discourage the visits of rats 

 and mice. 



I If course, it is assumed by many peo- 

 |ilr tliat a common carrier has some 

 liakility for goods in transit, though it 



from 1 

 for pla 

 The 

 their i 

 ment 



we take into consideration the many pat- 

 terns of pots that are in use in various 

 parts of the country, and the consequent 

 difficulty of re-potting without using a 

 larger size; and, in addition to this, 

 there are many of the retail dealers who 

 have not all the facilities for re-potting, 

 or even space that nia\ lie conveniently 

 used for sucli |iui|mi-, ' I'line have been 

 in the past niaii\ -li|i-lni,l methods in 

 vogue in our Im-ini--. Ia)t improvements 

 are constantly being made in the pack- 

 ing and delivery of plants, not only in 

 regard to shipments sent to a distance, 

 but also in home deliveries, for example, 

 in sending plants from the grower to the 

 various retail dealers in his own home 

 city. 



the elaboralr a. 'lively waL^.n- aie not 

 all in the haml- ••] tlie .i.aln-. iliuuuhup 

 to the prescni nm.- the ^^llt.a .k,rs not 

 know of any li\ ri ii'il .li i\ .1 - m rliaia;e of 

 the wagons of grown-, a ikan jrair of 

 overalls being, perliaj.-, i la nraic^t ap- 



proa 



the ma 



I- to having 

 lis for ship- 

 islood when 



But, possibly, the Immklr uinwrv may 

 rise even to that hcitjln -.mi'iiiiM- in the 

 future. In the meant i in, k. i- jiaying 

 much more attention tu \aii.in- details 

 coimii Ir.l vvilli 111.' jiroper delivery of his 

 sto.k klani- iliai need tying are eare- 

 fiillv -lal .'.I. anl not with a section of 

 pine li.iai.l -pill .iir with a hatchet, but 

 with neat cane stakes, or else the painted 

 article. 



Decayed leaves are all removed, and 

 pots are scrubbed clean, and the last is 

 by no means the least improvement that 

 is noted, for though the plant may be 

 intended to be placed in a jardiniere, 

 \.l tliat i^ no siiffi. lent reason for a 

 ri!ih\ |ii|. iliai .l.'iia.'i- several points 

 In II! Il- -.■lliinj \alii.' ami makes it an 

 iiii|.ka- nil . kje.-l fin the prospective 

 buyer to. touch. 



it takes some little time and labor to 

 scrub the pots of a wagon-load of plants, 

 but still there is a good deal of satis- 

 faction in the appearance of such a lot 



