PKOPAGATIOtf OF 2LAN1S: " lOi 



will then have the advantage of the season in recovering 

 from any possible ill effects of the journey, and in becom- 

 ing fully established for future use in your greeneries. 



Perhaps you wonder how delicate plants can endure 

 such confinement in the mail for days together ; but on 

 opening the package you will discover the secret. The 

 small ball of earth, the soft damp moss, the enfolding 

 oil-paper, and the stiff outside wrapping furnish all the 

 conditions of safety for the time required in a journey of 

 hundreds of miles. In all respectable establishments, 

 the art of packing is now carried to a high degree of per- 

 fection, and many thousands of plants are every year dis- 

 tributed from them through the mail all over the country 

 with no loss whatever to their patrons. The gentlemen 

 having them in charge may be relied upon, so far as my 

 experience goes, to give entire satisfaction. I have re- 

 ceived many such packages from a distance, some of them 

 even in moderate midwinter, and in no instance with the 

 least disappointment. The interest awakened by their 

 anticipation and reception was almost boyish, but none 

 the less pleasurable. 



The reception which you give to these travellers by 

 post should be a warm one ; that is to say, if they are at 

 all wilted, put them, root and branch, into tepid water 

 for about fifteen minutes. Then give them the best soil 

 in small clean pots, and let them rest for a few days in 

 comparative shade. Soon they will be ready to take the 

 regular fare of their new home, and may thenceforward 

 be expected to behave quite as well as if they had been 

 "to the manner born." 



