19 



SENDING FLOVvERS BY POST, 



I OFTEJf wonder flowers are not more 

 frequently sent as gifts to friends ; 

 when travelling, I invariably enclose 

 a flower or two in every letter to my 

 wife or friends, and though it may be 

 of no value in itself, it is most accept- 

 able to the readers as a visible memento 

 of the absent. A sprig of wild heath 

 or broom, or a few grasses, or mosses, 

 or ferns, will travel any distance in a 

 letter, and keep their colour as fresh 

 as when gathered. A very dear friend, 

 who writes to me frequently from the 

 Highlands, invariably encloses a few 

 sprigs of heather or other wild stviflf, 

 which I prize immensely, and the 

 hint may be regarded by many readers 

 as by no mean a frivolous one. But 

 there is no reason why a good bouquet 

 should not go by post as well as a 

 bridal cake, or a pair of shoes for 

 little 'I'rotty. One thing must be 

 borne in mind, the Post-office will not 

 take charge of any packet which 

 shows moisture, on account of the 

 damage it might cause to the letters, 

 &c., and, thei'efore, the bouquet must 

 go in a water-tight receptacle, but 

 moist moss, not water, must be used 

 to preserve the plants. The best 

 method is to have a tin cylinder made 

 open at both ends, and with caps to 

 fit each end, and so convert it into a 

 sealed tube. One of the caps must 

 have a small cylinder fixed on the 

 inside in the centre. In this small 

 cylinder the bouquet must be fixed 

 firmly, and a layer of damp moss placed 

 round it, and the large cylinder or 

 case must be put over it, and the two 

 caps fixed in their places to shut up 

 the ends. All that is further required 

 is to wrap it in paper, and seal and 

 direct it, and it will go to its journey's 

 end as safely as a canister of cofiee. 

 Friends living at a distance from each 

 other might exchange bouquets by 

 this means, and so increase the 

 pleasures of friendly correspondence. 

 Measurement must, of course, be a 

 matter of individual judgment, but 

 for a small bouquet, a canister measur- 

 ing four inches diameter, and six 

 inches deep will do. To send a large 

 bouquet by the carrier, fit up a box 

 for the purpose by making the bottom 

 and the lid to remove entirely. Nail 



to the bottom fuur pieces of wood to 

 hold the foot of the bouquet, and pui 

 a pile of damp moss all round it to 

 give additional support, and afford 

 moisture. Little tin boxes fitted with 

 a cork in the centre, into which the 

 flower must be inserted, by making a 

 hole with a nail, do well for single 

 flowers, but a simpler method will 

 generally suffice, and that is, to place 

 the flower between two large healthy 

 ivy leaves. Having frequent occasion 

 to send flowers in letters, I find tinfoil 

 an admirable preservative. I lately 

 sent some lycopodiums — which are not 

 the best things to travel — to an artist 

 to be sketched. They were placed 

 siiigl}' between folds of tinfoil, and 

 remained so a week before they were 

 looked at, and were then quite fresh, 

 and by the fidelity of the drawings 

 sent back, I know that not a vestige 

 of their delicate structure had under- 

 gone injury. To send flowers to 

 judges for opinion, a number may be 

 placed one above the other in a tin 

 box in the following manner : — The 

 box must be round, for the post-oflice 

 will reject packages with sharp corners. 

 At the bottom of the box lay a piece 

 of stout brown paper, and then damp 

 it well. On this lay a i)iece of silver 

 paper, and then tlie flowers one upon 

 the other, with silver paper between 

 each. Put a piece of silver paper on 

 the top flower, and then fill up the 

 space to the lid of the box with dry 

 cotton wool. One feature of faulty 

 packing is making the flowers too 

 damp, and another packing them too 

 dry. Never pack flowers in dry cotton 

 wool ; it soon spoils them by absorbing 

 their moisture ; never pack them in 

 chip boxes, Avhich are apt to get 

 smashed ; and never cut the flowers 

 after the sun has shone upon them. 

 To send flowers for opinion, let them 

 be fully expanded, for though they 

 will expand in travelling, if cut when 

 just opening, thej' do not then show 

 their true colour, and if there is any 

 fear of their going past their prime 

 in the transit, cut them in the cool of 

 the morning and at once remove the 

 pistil from the centre, and they will 

 last twice as long as thcv would with 

 it. S. H. 



