OR POLLEN, FROM ABROAD. 4! 



and other trees, and put them all in a glass bottle, among clean 

 moss and water. After ten days' confinement I broke the 

 bottle, put the young trees into pots, and placed them for a 

 time in a shady situation ; they are now fine healthy trees. I 

 mention this circumstance for the information of parties wishing 

 to bring home from some remote, celebrated, or interesting 

 spot a memorial of their visit, as was the case with myself. 

 Such seedlings will succeed equally well if lifted any time 

 during the spring, summer, or autumn months. The chief risk 

 is the sudden exposure to air and light. Alpine plants are 

 easily conveyed from their native habitats by the glass-bottle 

 system ; a strong, wide-mouthed bottle will hold a large number 

 of such plants, if put up in the way described. By this method 

 they will, reach home in a much better condition for growing 

 than they do when rolled in brown paper." 



Rare succulent plants, epiphytal Orchids, bulbs, or tubers, 

 may now be sent from India and other countries with facility 

 and despatch by parcel-post at a cheap rate (about one shilling 

 per lb.); and travellers or tourists might adopt this method of 

 sending small Alpine plants, bulbs, and seeds from southern 

 Europe with advantage. In sending plants by post, they should 

 be packed in Sphagnum moss wrung nearly dry, as above re- 

 commended, and then wrapped in thin sheet india-rubber or 

 oiled silk, the whole being encased in a few folds of coarse 

 brown paper. Of course the methods above recommended are 

 equally serviceable in exporting small parcels of seeds, cuttings, 

 bulbs, or plants. Cuttings packed in living Sphagnum moss, 

 and enveloped in tinfoil, travel in excellent condition. 



A British correspondent of the ' English Mechanic ' remarks 

 that the primitive Hindoo was the first discoverer of the proper 

 packing of tender cuttings, and to his intuitive simplicity he was 

 heavily indebted for a large portion of the floral treasures he 

 collected and had the pleasure of transmitting during his long 

 sojourn in the East and other quarters. The following is a 

 description of the process : Having tied your various cuttings 

 up in lots, and all of as nearly the same length as possible, pro- 

 ceed to cut down that very ubiquitous tree, a Banana. Say 

 your cuttings are 18 inches long, you will require a case of 

 2 feet ; you therefore chop off a thick portion of the above 

 length, and next, with your axe, split it lengthways and remove 

 the fleshy bark, set like the coats of an Onion, layer upon 

 layer. Within this case you pack your cuttings rather loosely, 

 in slightly : moist moss to prevent their heating, securing the 

 two halves of the Banana stems with ties of bark or twine ; 

 then you make a stopper for each end of the same substance, 



