C.H AFTER VI. 



PACKING PLANTS 



For Express For shipments not requiring more than five or six days 

 to reach destination, pack in wooden boxes that have been previously lined 

 with paper or other material to keep out the frost. The plants should be 

 thoroughly watered, turned out of the pots and wrapped tight in some 

 sort of pliable paper to keep the earth intact. With a light coat of ex- 

 celsior on the bottom of the box, the plants are then placed in rows close 



together on their sides, with ball 

 of earth next to end of the box. 

 This is followed by another row 

 in which the ball is placed next 

 to that in the first row, the 

 operation being repeated until 

 bottom of the box is covered. 

 In putting in the next tier, re- 

 verse them, beginning at the 

 other end and so continue until 

 finished. The main object is to 

 pack securely, preventing them 

 from shifting, even though 

 roughly handled. Any inter- 

 vening spaces between the 

 plants and side or top of the 

 box should be filled with ex- 

 celsior, sawdust, or some other 

 material, so that if the pack- 

 age is turned upside down they 

 cannot move about. (See Fig. 6.) 



Inexperienced packers invariably fail in this respect and often when 

 the plants reach destination they have so shifted in the box as to be en- 

 tirely destitute of soil, as well as badly broken. See to it that they can- 

 not move. 



Each variety must be labeled and some means provided so that the 

 recipient can unpack without danger of getting them mixed. A system 

 many have adopted is to wrap one, two, three or four plants of a kind into 

 a bundle, each bundle being provided with a label, and are thus packed. 

 Where five or more of a kind are ordered they are separated by a sheet 

 of paper. 



In very severe weather it is sometimes necessary to wrap the boxes 

 with several thicknesses of paper as a safeguard against frost. In very 

 warm weather the foregoing method is impractical, as they are likely to 

 heat and thus be ruined. From May to October the plants are generally 



FIG. 6. BOX OF PLANTS 



PROPERLY PACKED. 



