32 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



NOVEMBliU 11, 1909. 



gent'iiillv iiKidf, to vo\er extra cxpLMisc 

 of crates and jiackiiiy, as plants in pots 

 require mndi more room and care; it also 

 aikls considerahly to the ex]iense of ship 

 jiiiig, owinji' to increasetl wei^iht. 



Crating or Boxing 



Tiie al)()\e conditions Ijeinif settled sat- 

 isfactorily, the next, stej) is to prepare 

 tlie jiiants for eratinj; or l)oxin<;. This 

 will depend to a <;r(\it extent npon the 

 season of the year and the ilas.s of 

 plants. 



Snch plants as table ferns, asparagus, 

 small roses, ehrysantheiniinis, {geraniums, 

 ix'ddiny jilants, and ])lants of like nature, 

 shoidd lie knocked out of the jiots, a lit 

 ll(> of the top soil removed, ami each 

 plant \\fajipiMi in a small piece of paper, 

 with the top o])en in mild weather, and 

 with laiyer pa|)ers and the top (dosed in 

 ccdder wt-ather. 



In loiii^ distance shipments a little 

 damp iiioNS should lie placed arouiiil the 

 mot of each plant. 



Tvari^oi' plants, such as I'oston I'erns, 

 nraucarias, ficus, palms and lloweiinj; 

 )ilants. should lirst haxc pajier writppeil 

 around the liall of stiil. or pot, and tiien 

 a lare('i' piece ot paiiei', co\criii;4 the en- 

 tire plant and coming hiyh enou;;h to 



is the lioxes or crates to I)e used in pack- 

 ino-. 



(fates as li<;ht as i)ossiblo, consistent 

 with strength and safety, should be se- 

 lected ami Midi nailed. 



i'lxpcM'ience hits taught us that as a 

 rule |ilaiUs travel better, arrive in better 

 condition ami gi\(! more satisfaction 

 wIkmi pack(>d ui>right in light, strong 

 cr.ates, with jilenty of ventilation in sum- 

 mer or in 7iiil(l we.'ither. In cold weather 

 lioxes should be used instead of crates, 

 ;ind should be well lined with ])aper. In 

 extre:nely cold weather, sheet wadding 

 also should lie used to keep out the cold. 



In every instance the plaids should be 

 securely cleated, to hold them in place 

 in the crates, should they be accidentally 

 or carelessly tipped over while being 

 handled in transit. 



Packing Plants Upright. 



There jnay bo some objections to the 

 piiidving of plants upright, on tho ground 

 of extra expense of ])acking and trans- 

 portation, but 1 belie\e that in ninety- 

 nine out of (n(>ry hundred cases the bet- 

 ter condition of pl;nits, ;ind consequently 

 greater satisfaction, will more than 

 make up for the additional ex[iense. 



1 wciuhl strongly urge that no boxes or 



Harry E. Philpott. 



I Mr I'liilpott is X'ice-pref'i'lent of the Canadian Horticultural Society, and in due order oi things 

 should liecome Prcs.dent at the election to lie held at Toronto today ) 



pre\ent the tops I'ldui being bi'ui.sed in 

 ii'an^it. in the case of llo'iTt'iing |ilants. 

 and Jilants with lemler t'oliage, tissue 

 pa{>cr should be used insiile the news- 

 ]iaper or other hea\iei' pajier, to prtnent 

 bruising. 



Best Style of Boxes or Crates. 



The Jilants being wrapped and col- 

 lected, the next thing to be considered 



crates weigh more than 1.1(J pounds, a.s 

 they can be handled by the express coin- 

 |iany much more easily. This would then 

 pre\ent the danger of their being tilted 

 on end, and in some cases turned upside 

 down. 



If, however, it seems desiralde to pack 

 sm.'ill plants of carnations, roses, chrysan- 

 themums, and other stock, lying (lown, 

 then comparatively small boxes should be 



selected, and plenty of excelsior used in 

 the bottom and between the layers of 

 plants to prevent heating and bruisiu.r 

 of the foliage. 



The crates or boxes should always b, 

 well cleated over the top, to secure a low 

 freight rate and the special plant rate 

 of twenty per cent less than regular nier 

 chandise rate by express, which is al 

 lowed only when plants are well crated 

 or boxed. 



The Lettering on the Boxes. 



Crates or boxes should bo plainly 

 marked on top with tho name and ad 

 dress of the consignee; also marked,- 

 "This side up with care," "Live plants, 

 perishable," "Keep from extreme heat 

 and cold." Also in express shipments 

 there should be a notice calling the at 

 tentiou of tho express agent to the classi- 

 fication, and to the' fact that the shiji- 

 ment should bo billed at twenty per cent 

 less than regular meivhandise rate. 



]n,thie paper 1 have treated the sub- 

 ject in a general way, and taken up 

 points that are of importance to both 

 consignor and consignee. There are, how- 

 ever, special kinds and sizes of plants 

 that re(juire special packing and hand- 

 ling, and they must be treated accord- 

 ingly, but i cannot enter into details 

 here. 



One thing I have always been inter- 

 ested in and have found of great benefit, - 

 and that is to watch the various ship- 

 ments unpacked at the conventions and 

 exhibitions, and jn'ofit by adopting their 

 good points and avoiding their mistakes. 



This one rule always applies: Pack 

 liglitly but securely, with identy of ven- 

 tilation in w.'irm weather, and secure 

 from frost in cold weather. 



Cut Flowers. 



Now as to cut flowers. In the first 

 place, I shall dwell mostly on the carna- 

 tion, ;is that is the flower chiefly afTect- 

 ing the Canadian florist. 



(Jarnations should be jjropagatod from 

 clean, healthy stock. 1 prefer stock 

 grown outside during the summer; these 

 slunild be properly and carefully handled, 

 to kee{) them free from disease at all 

 times. 



After they are put in the houses, 

 which is generally done during the months 

 of July and August, they should not be 

 allowed to come into bloom until the last 

 part of Septendjer or the first pan of 

 October. This should be done by care- 

 fully ];inching back any shoots that are 

 showing buds too early. Care must now 

 be taken to have the bloom in the proper 

 stage of de\elopment when cut, so that 

 it will arrive at its destination in the 

 best of Condition. 



Growing Carnations for Shipping. 



It is not a hard matter to arrive at a 

 decision as to how carnations should be 

 cut and handled during the early part 

 of the season, or until the middle of 

 November or the first part of December, 

 when the ])lants have been given prac- 

 tically no feeding at all, Imt the hardest 

 time of the year to ship carnations and 

 have them reach their destination in per- 

 fect condition, is from December 1 to 

 -March 1, and again in the spring when 

 the weather gets extremely warm and the 

 plants make a quick, soft growth. There- 

 fore we will take into consideration the 

 proper way to handle carnations through 

 tho middle of winter. 



In the first place, the plants should 

 never lie giviMi an uneven temperature at 

 night, but the temperature .should be 



