98 



Sons, and liis success Tvas remarkable. Hermetically sealed l/in 

 boxes and glass bottles should not be used, the seeds keeping 

 fresh longest when they are so packed as to be able to part with 

 moisture in reason. Experience has shown that all kinds of 

 seeds, even of the commonest vegetables, may be sent succes^s- 

 fully to the most distant tropical countries by enclosing them in 

 ordinary paper or canvas bags, and these in a wood packing-case. 

 It is advisable to sow the seeds as soon as possible after their 

 arrival, although where the conditions are favourable they may 

 be kept a month or more before sowing. Small packets may be 

 sent by sample post : packages sent by post are almost always 

 a success. Large quantities should be packed in a water- 

 tight box and labelled ''Seeds, perishable, to be kept cool 

 and dry." Oily seeds, such as those of the rubber-yielding 

 plants Landolphia, Manihot, Hevea, most of the Magnoliaceae 

 and many of the Palms and Leguviinosaey and those which soon 

 lose their vitality when kept dry, such as acorns,^ should be 

 packed in moist, but not wet soil, or a mixture of soil and char- 

 coal, in wooden boxes. Such seeds may often be successfully 

 transported in the soil of Wardian cases. 



4 



2. Bulbs, Rhizomes and Tubers. — Tliese should be gathered 

 at the end of the growing season and kept dry for a few days 

 until the foliage has withered. They may then be packed in a 

 wooden bos in wood shavings, paper, or any dry and light, 

 material. Straw and hay, however, are apt to J 

 and should not be used for this purpose. The rhizomes 



ecome mo 



manner 



cannot move about, as they are very liable to perisii ii bruised 

 during transit. When the rhizomes are small or thin, they travel 

 best if packed in slightly moistened light material, such as cocoa- 

 nut fibre, peat soil, sawdust, or wood shavings. 



Rhizomes or seeds of aquatic plants, filmy ferns, and ferns 

 o-enerally, other than tree ferns, travel best if packed in boxes 

 in moist moss. In sending large ferns the fronds should be 

 removed before despatch. 



Cuttings. — Cuttings of some plants (such as Pelargonium) 

 may be successfully sent for fairly long distances if tightly 

 Avrapped in oiled silk, without external moisture, and packed 

 in tin cylinders or wood boxes. 



Ripened growth of many succulent plants, such as Cacti, 

 Euphorbias, Senecios, Stapelias, &c., may be safely collected and 

 sent home in this way. The cuttings should be taken off where 

 there is a constriction or articulation of the stem, and laid out 



em 



paper 



om 



another. AVood 



naa 



3. Tree Ferns, Cycads, and Succulent Plants.— Tree ferns 



should be dug up in the resting season with a small ball of earth 

 sufficient to keep a few roots alive ; the fronds may be cut away or 



