1204 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



March 22, li;»06. 



peeially are being rapidly completed, 

 for tomb,to» growing is a tftide in wMch 

 growers are fairly safe, as it only re- 

 (luires the prices to fall so that ordinary 

 quality. is in reach of the masses for the 

 markets to be rapidly cleared. 



Grape growers do not appear to 

 grumble so much at the present time, 

 when getting only 1 shilling per pound 

 for bept indoor grapes, as they did 

 years ago when receiving 4 or 5 shillings, 

 or even more. At that time growers 

 comj^lained that good grapes could not 

 be grown at the then prevailing prices, 

 and yet they certainly now appear to be 



living and doing fairly well. No doubt 

 the cost of production is cheapened to 

 meet the requirements of these mod- 

 ern times. 



I am informed a motor wagon service 

 is being formed to run between London 

 and the Southampton fruit districts 

 during the coming season, which will be 

 most convenient for growers, enabling 

 them to get their produce to market 

 with only one loading and unloading 

 from farm to market stand, which is 

 a great improvement on the many 

 handlings packages receive when ordi- 

 nary railway traffic is used. J. B. 



PACKING FOR SHIPMENT. 



Good packing when shipping cuttings 

 or you^g plants is as important as it is 

 in shijiping cut blooms, and great im- 

 jn'ovements have been made along that 

 line in recent years. Your cuttings may 

 be ever so good when you take them out 

 of the sand, but if you do not get them 

 to your customers in good condition, they 

 will prove no better in the end than 

 ]>oorer cuttings that arrived in as good 

 condition as they started. 



Years ago the common way of packing 

 rooted cuttings was to take np twenty- 

 H^e in one hand, holding them in a tight 

 bunch, and after wTapping a bunch ot 

 wet sphagnum around the roots, wrap 

 the whole in a piece of paper, the same 

 as you would a young plant, leaving the 

 top open but turning the bottom side 

 of the paper in after one roll of the 

 l>undle, finishing uj) with a couple of 

 wraps with cotton twine. Under this 

 mode of wrapping it was found that in 

 case a cutting had only a few roots, or 

 if they were rather fleshy and brittle, 

 often they wouiu be broken oft* and it 

 much sand clung to any of the cuttings 

 it would grind and cut any roots that 

 were young and tender. 



A Better Method. 



A much better method has taken the 

 place of this, which is as follows : Cut 

 your wrapping paper into sheets about 

 10x16 inches. Lay a thin layer of damp 

 sphagnum in the middle of this and 

 running from the end next to you halt 

 way across the sheet. Take the cuttings 

 one by one and lay them with the roots 

 on the sphagnum. It will take about 

 two layers to hold twenty-five cuttings. 

 Then roll into a bundle and when all 

 the cuttings have been turned in, fold 

 in the paper below the sphagnum and 

 ••ontinue rolling until the end of the 

 sheet, tying the bundle to hold it to- 

 gether. Roll these bundles tolerably 

 tight, so that in handling the cuttings 

 can not move around and allow the saml 

 to grind up the roots. 



Use substantial boxes to pack them in. 

 I^ine well with several thicknesses ol 

 newspaper, on all sides and top and 

 Itottom. Cover the bottom with a layer 

 of excelsior, then begin laying in thti 

 bundles. Begin at one end, laying the 

 root end against the end of the box 

 and press togetliei well, so that they 



will be tight; lay the roots of the next 

 row on the tops of the first row ana 

 so on until you come to the end of the 

 box, where you will reverse the bundles 

 to better fill up the space. Put in an- 

 other good laj'er of excelsior and pro- 

 ceed as before, but begin at the other 

 end of the box, continuinjj thus until 

 your box is full. Press the whole down 

 tightly, fold over the paper linings and 

 nail on the lid. 



Tight Packing Desirable. 



When ready for the lid the box should 

 be so full that you will have to bear 

 down on it heavily in order to nail it 

 fast. Don't be afraid thai you will in- 

 jure the cuttings. The excelsior will 

 prevent that, but if they begatl moving 

 around there would be damage uone. 

 This tight packing is one of the secrets 

 of success in shipping and must be prac- 

 ticed as long as the employees of the ex- 

 press companies handle our boxes as 

 roughly as they do. You can mark 

 * ' this side up ' '" and ' ' handle with care ' ' 

 all you want to, it does not stop them 

 from slamming your boxes around as 

 though they were handling baled hay. 

 if packed loosely it will take but few 

 tumbles to work the bunules loose ami 

 when moving around begins then trouble 

 begins. If several varieties are in the 

 box they will become mixed, besides the 

 damage done to the plants. 



After nailing up the box, if the 

 weather is liable to be cold, cover again 

 with several thicknesses of newspaper 

 and finally with heavy wrapping paper. 



Nail on the tag in the upper left 

 hand corner. With an oil crayon write 

 the address on the box in case the tag 

 should be mutilated before reaching its 

 destination. On the tag should ho 

 printed the necessary instructions in 

 regard to the contents being perishabk- 

 plants, etc., besides your name and ad- 

 dress. This will count heavily in case 

 of suit for damages, if that ever hv 

 comes necessary. /- 



The best shipping tag we have ovpi- 

 run across is one that we copied from 

 the F. Dorner & Sons Co. and which 

 we are now using. Any express com- 

 pany that fails to deliver a 'package in 

 good condition witn that tag on it can 

 offer no excuse except negligence, jno 

 viding your packing was good. 



Packing Young Plants. 



When jiacking young plants from j)ots 

 the same rule should prevail. Wrap each 



plant separately instead of wr»ipp>ug 

 fpur or five in each bundle. There will 

 be less breakage and you can pack them 

 better. If the distance is short no 

 sphagnum will be needed, but if they 

 travel a thousand miles or more, and 

 are likely to be packed up for four or 

 five days, then you had better put a little 

 damp sphagnum around the roots, but 

 be sure you keep it away from the foli- 

 age. 



Line your boxes just the same as yon 

 do for cuttings and lay the plants in the 

 box the same with excelsior between, as 

 recommended before, only be sure yon 

 pack as solidly as possible. There should 

 be no chance for them to shove togethei- 

 endways in case the box is turned on end 

 and dropped, which is very apt to occur 

 if it is heavy. We have seei? boxes of 

 plants arrive in miserable condition, due 

 entirely to loose packing. Don't use too 

 large boxes in packing, even if the order 

 is large. Medium sized boxes stand ;i 

 much better chance of getting through 

 in good condition. Another thing which 

 will greatly aid in securing proper hand 

 ling is to put handles on the ends of tiie 

 boxes, especially if the boxes are good 

 sized. The expressmen can get hold of 

 the boxes better and, if the handles are 

 put on properly, the box can only bo 

 lifted and carried the proper way and 

 there will be no occasion for rolling or 

 dropping them, and besides, the handles 

 will not permit the box being stood on 

 end. 



Another Good Plan. 



Another way of packing young plants 

 is to set them upright in the bottom 

 of the box, and this is a very good way, 

 in many cases preferable to the other. 

 Line your box as before and, instead 

 of a layer of excelsior, cover the bot- 

 tom with a layer of damp sphagnum be- 

 fore setting in the plants; press the 

 plants together as tight as you can and 

 after about every fourth row nail in n 

 cleat to hold them firm. Fold the paper 

 over the top and instead of nailing on a 

 solid lid, nail on slats so the expressman 

 can see that the box is not packed solid. 

 Boxes pacKed this way should always 

 have handles on them. This method is 

 more practicable in mild weather than in 

 severely cold weather, as you can not 

 line except on the inside of the box. 



When wrapping the plants, see that 

 none are wrapped with the soil in .. 

 dry condition. Keep in mind the time 

 they will be on the road and calculate 

 to have them reach their destination just 

 a little on the dry side. Excessive mois 

 ture is not good for them, either, while ' 

 packed up tight, and if they can be in 

 just a normal condition there will be 

 less danger of damping, and they will 

 be in better shape to take hold when pot 

 ted up again. A. F. J. Bauk. 



A WIETOR SEEDLING. 



The establishment of Wietor Bros., 

 Chicago, is noted as the place wher« 

 chrysanthemum cuttings and young 

 plants are produced in greater quantity 

 than elsewhere; as the place where 

 White Cloud carnation has held its own 

 in spite of the competition of the many 

 good whites of recent introduction; as 

 the place where a big business is trans- 

 acted with less apparent effort than in 

 many cases where only a little is accom- 

 plished. It is shortly to be known as 

 one of the places whence come novelties, 

 attention heretofore having been de- 

 voted entirely to growing primarily for 

 cut flowers and secondarily for young 



