THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



163 



System of "slatted" packing, first layer. 



altogether if unprotected. When the 

 express people see that they are grow- 

 ing plants they won't dare not to 

 handle them properly. 



A lighter and better thing for send- 

 ing these plants out in spring is a 

 crate, which is much handier than a 

 box. Make two frames, say 18 in.x2 ft. 

 of 2x1 pine, strongly nailed; these are 

 the ends and! to the bottom and sides 

 of these nail 6-in. boards, any length, 

 and when packing is done two or 

 three of them on top. Except for the 

 bottom to carry the weight of plants 

 half-inch stuff is plenty strong enough 

 for sides and top. 



Flowering plants, such as azaleas, 

 can be sent away the same way, pro- 

 viding the weather is not cold. If it 

 is, close packing is necessary, and 

 then the ball or pot must be secured 

 by strips so that if the box should 

 get a turn on its side, which all closed 

 boxes are liable to, the plants will 

 still remain in position. 



Palms and dracaenas of all kinds 

 are easy to pack and very seldom can 

 we make a complaint that any leaves 

 are bruised or broken. If the weather 

 is warm these plants can be safely 

 sent by a fast freight line, which 



saves the high charges of the express 

 company, but whatever time of year 

 it is the leaves should be brought up 

 close to a stake, if stake is needed, 

 and each leaf carefully tied in. Then 

 they can be stood upright in boxes, 

 with or without pots, and a frame 

 work built around them. In cold 

 weather or at least when there is dan- 

 ger of a hard frost, these plants 

 should always go by express. The 

 price of one palm may pay for the 

 charge on the lot. 



If only a few they can be laid in a 

 box, well wrapped in paper, and any 

 moving prevented by plenty of pack- 

 ing material, but when a considerable 

 number they are better packed in the 

 same way that we receive our azaleas, 

 acacias, etc., so excellently packed, 

 from Belgium, with this difference, 

 that while the imported stuff 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 mate- 

 rial, 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 cross- 

 ing the Atlantic several holes a few 

 inches square are cut in the sides and 

 top of box to let there be a circulation 

 of air; without it the plants would 

 lose their leaves. It is mighty im- 

 portant 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 aza- 

 leas we received and a ship rodent 

 had made a state room of our box, 

 and from the twigs, and mince meat 

 he had made of many of the plants 

 he doubtless considered himself a first 

 class saloon passenger. With our 

 boxes of plants going by express a 

 thousand miles there is no need of any 

 air holes, in fact weather would not 

 permit. 



Whenever plants are going away, 

 summer or winter, they should be wa- 

 tered, 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 wrap- 

 ping or packing 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 or- 

 chids. With cattleyas they put sev- 

 eral small stakes around the edge of 

 the pot and a stout one in the cen- 

 ter, and every leaf and bulb is secure- 

 ly tied with cotton batting and raffia; 

 a plant from J. Veitch & Son of Vanda 

 Lowii 10 ft. 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 



Finished for closing up. 



