PACKING PLANTS. 187 



for want of moisture. Boxes of medium size are best ; 

 we never like to use a box of greater capacity than the 

 ordinary flour barrel, usually prefering such as are one- 

 third smaller than that. If the box is too large, the plants 

 may be injured by mutual pressure. 



This is our method of packing as long as there is danger 

 from frost, or until the middle of March. From the mid- 

 dle of March to the middle of April, we use a box of a 

 different character, open on all sides to admit air, for now 

 the danger to be avoided is from heat and not from cold. 

 The manner of packing is in all other respects the same, 

 except that no more hay is used around the inside of the 

 box than necessary to make a soft bed for the plants. If 

 the closely packed plants have any tendency to generate 

 heat, it will be counteracted by the admission of air 

 through the openings in the box. Again, we gradually 

 make a change in our style of packing to suit the 'advanc- 

 ing .season. For small orders, a light kind of chip basket 

 is used, in which the plants are packed in the man- 

 ner above described, and strapped over the top with hay. 

 We find a basket a most convenient and satisfactory arti- 

 cle to pack in, as its open-work sides freely admit the air. 

 In baskets weighing less than two pounds, we pack from 

 100 to 150 plants. Being annoyed at having frequently 

 to pay for clumsy, heavy packages in which our new im- 

 portations were received from England, I took occasion to 

 send over to a London nurseryman some fifty plants packed 

 in one of these baskets, the whole basket and contents weigh- 

 ing only 15 Ibs., and with two exceptions every plant was re- 

 ceived alive. I implored the gentleman to pack the plants 

 he was to send me in return in similar light baskets, as it 

 would not only save freight but, what was of far more 

 importance, save me the plants alive. He sent them in 

 baskets, sure enough, each one weighing of itself 40 Ibs., 

 a shapeless, ponderous affair, that with its contents re- 

 quired two men to lift it into a wagon. This was not the 



