THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



\i\ 



System of Upright Packing, Ready for &quot;Closing In.&quot; 



while the imported plants have their 



roots wrapped around with moss and 



their tops entirely open and free, the 



palms should have their leaves well 



wrapped in paper, and paper will do 



for the roots, no need of any moss. The 



first plant is laid against the end of the 



box and when the row of plants is laid 



across the end, another row is laid at 



the other end with the tops overlapping. 



Then a stout strip of wood an inch 



square is nailed across the inside of the 



box and firmly against the ball of earth 



near the stem. Then some more packing 



material, paper, excelsior or dry moss, 



and another layer of plants, and another 



cross strip, till the box is full. No 



plant can move from its position if this 



is properly carried out and there is 



not the slightest crowding of the leaves. 



The azaleas, which sometimes are 



twenty days from time of packing till 



they are potted with us, usually reach 



us in fine order, and so do palms, 



rhododendrons and other plants from 



Belgium. They wrap well in moss, 



which is tied on securely on the ball, 



but the heads of the hard-wooded plants 



are left uncovered, and doubtless for the 



long journey it is right. Air they want, 



and for that reason in a large box of 



plants crossing the Atlantic several 



holes a few inches square are cut in 



the sides and top of the box to let in 



a circulation of air; without it the 



plants would lose their leaves. It is 



very important that these holes be 

 covered with a piece of wire netting to 

 keep out the ship rats. On one occasion 

 this was not done with a box of azaleas 

 we received and a ship rodent had made 

 a stateroom of our box, and from the 

 twigs and mincemeat he had made 

 of many of the plants he doubtless con 

 sidered himself a first-class saloon pas 



senger. With our boxes of plants going 

 by express a thousand miles there is 110 

 need of any air holes, in fact weather 

 would not permit. 



Whenever plants are going away, sum 

 mer or winter, they should be watered, 

 not a few minutes, but an hour or two 

 before they are packed, and when 

 wrapped in either paper or moss they 

 will remain several days quite moist. 

 The material used for wrapping or pack 

 ing should always be dry; the ball of 

 the plant only should be wet. 



Firms like Veitch, and Low, of Lon 

 don, take great pains in packing orchids. 

 With cattleyas they put several small 

 stakes around the edge of the pot and 

 a stout one in the center, and every 

 leaf and bulb is securely tied with cot 

 ton-batting and raffia; a plant from J. 

 Veitcb & Son of Vanda Lowii ten feet 

 high arriving in New York with scarcely 

 the moss on the basket disturbed is 

 pretty good evidence of the great care 

 and pains that are used in packing 

 these valuable plants. 



Although our firms do not charge for 

 boxes or packing, in some cases it 

 would be quite proper were they to do 

 so. The representative of a north of 

 England orchid firm was assailed with 

 the charge that the English firms 

 charged too much for packing and we 

 charged nothing. This was in Toronto 

 in the Queens Hotel in 1891. He very 

 naturally replied, not in coarse, horse- 

 trading Yorkshire, but in genteel Eng 

 lish: &quot;Yes, I know, but your folks put 

 the charge on to the plants, don t you 

 know?&quot; Now this is the natural and 

 reasonable supposition, but yet largely 

 it is erroneous, and in the great ma 

 jority of cases nothing is tacked on for 

 compensation. Packing cases and boxes 

 that answer the purpose cost us very 

 little, far less than the same box -would 

 in England or on the Continent, but our 

 labor, even if it is most expeditiously 

 done, is higher than on the other side. 

 If you buy a good bill of palms or 

 large ferns or any of those decorative 

 plants that are easily packed, there is 



&quot;Closed In.&quot; 



