CHAPTER VIII. 



On the Management of Cut Flowers, Plants in Rooms, and 

 Bulbs in Pots and Water Glasses. 



ART. I. Cut Flowers. 



IT being now an almost universal practice to have cut 

 flowers in rooms, as natural ornaments, some hints relative 

 to the management of them may perhaps be of service to 

 their fair patrons. To preserve cut flowers, such as the 

 Dahlia, and succulent kinds, in a fresh manner, and to keep 

 them from wilting and fading in summer, they should be im- 

 mediately immersed in clean water when cut from the plant; 

 by this means, the pores will be filled with water, and 

 exhaustion prevented, and, consequently, the flowers will 

 remain in a fresh state. 



Packing cut flowers. In packing cut flowers to go some 

 distance in the winter season, I recommend to put them in a 

 wooden box, of a size corresponding to the quantity to be 

 packed, the inside of the box to be lined with cotton wool, 

 and the flowers to be laid loosely in the box, beginning at the 

 bottom with the hardiest kinds, placing them in such a man- 

 ner, that the flowers are upwards, and that the leaves inter- 

 sect them ; arranging the whole, so that one part will spring 

 lightly on the other, in case of a sudden jerk in travelling : 

 in this manner, proceed with the whole to the top, which 

 cover with a lid lined with cotton wool like the sides. In 

 this mode of packing, the wool serves to keep out the cold, 

 and gives way to the flowers that press it, without bruising or 

 injuring them. 



For the preserving of flowers in rooms, I extract the fol- 

 lowing from Sweet's Hot-house Manual, which is the only 

 article on this subject I have seen in print, and the best me- 

 thod I can recommend. He says : 



16 185 Q2 



