proceedings of the farairrs' club. 43 



Packing Trees for Transportation. 



The Chairman said tliat he tlion^lit that those whu <h) pack trees hon- 

 estly (>u<;-ht to be comineiuled. lie said that h(; had recently received from 

 two well-known nnrsnry firms in Uochestcr, 60 standard pear trees, ordered 

 late in the season, and allhoiijrh the bills bear date May 4, they did not 

 reai-h his conntry seat. Norwalk, Ct., nntil the 14th, having, as he sup- 

 poses, laiil a week in AU)anyor other depot, and yet, owing- to jjrcat care in 

 paekin;;^ and plenty of moss and not very wet, they were in fine order. If too 

 wet, the small tibroiis roots will be apt to rot. Gredit should be given to the firms 

 of Frost & Co., and CJoidd, IJeokwith & Co., and all others who take great care 

 in packing'; nut carlessly, as if because sold they had nothing- more to do 

 or care for, as is sometimes apparently the case. He also stated another 

 case to prove the benefit of good packing'. He said in June, 18(i2, I bought 

 at Jeffeison Market, a good large size apricot tree, (as large as my wrist), 

 which was then in full bloom. The seller said it had been there nearly two 

 months, and being crooked, no one would buy it. I set it out on the north 

 side of the street in rear of my residence, the blossoms soon withered, and 

 I thought the tree would die, but after several weeks it leafed out, and in 

 1803 bore fine fruit, and now has a fine crop maturing', showing that 

 apricot trees can be transplanted safely while in bloom, if well packed, as 

 this was. 



Mr. Wm. II. Trince. — Well conducted nurseries always keep men who 

 perfectly understand the business of packing, and I never heard of any trees 

 smt from Flushing that died in their transit; some years ago I sent some 

 trees to Hnssia, and we never heard of the smallest plant tliut perished for 

 the want of care in packing. There should be plenty of well prepared 

 moss put around the roots, damp, but not wet. 



Mr. Geo. Bartlett said he had no doubt that Mr. Prince knew how to 

 pack tri'A's — he had never heard any complaint upon that point. The 

 trouble was that they did not always turn out according to the labels. 



Mr. Wm. S Carpenter. — 1 have been in the habit of receiving packages 

 of plants from Europe, and from nurserymen in various parts of our country, 

 some of them w(.'re well packed, and the trees and shrubs although a long 

 tinje on the passage, yet they arrived in perfect condition. Some of our 

 nurserymen are very careless in their mode of packing, sometimes only a 

 little wet straw it used, by this careless mode of packing and sending out 

 tree.s great loss and disappointments are experienced. I received one lot 

 of trees from New-Jersey, that were mis-sent by the nurseryman, so that 

 they were a few days over the expected time, and owing to the very bad 

 packing, not five per cent of them lived. 



Mr. S lion Robinson made the same statement in regard to a lot received 

 from Kcirliester. 



Mr. Wm. R. Prince. — We pack our trees in moss from the swamps, and if 

 properly done there is no danger of their dying if they are months in get- 

 ting to tlieir destination. The proper time to plant trees is when they are 

 in a perfect dormant condition. I pref<.-r the autumn to plant trees, and I 

 think full tweuty-five per cent is gained in planting at that season. 



