CHAPTER VII 



Picking and Packing for Market 



One cannot always choose the best time to pick the 

 blooms, as circumstances govern cases. The sprays ought 

 to be picked when the top bloom of the spike is less than 

 half open. Some growers advise cutting as the sun goes 

 down, while others cut the first thing in the morning. 

 This, as we have said, depends upon the time of shipment, 

 distance from market, and other circumstances. In any 

 case, after the blooms are picked, place them from two to 

 two and one-half or three hours in water, so that they may 

 have a good drink. Pots of %Yl m - ln diameter and 8 in. 

 deep, with the hole cemented up, are as useful as anything 

 else, and this allows of the spikes being placed a proper 

 depth in the water, that is to say, about 7 in. of their 

 length. 



There is art in gathering the blooms, and the art 

 should be learned. They ought not to be cut with either 

 scissors or a knife, but by a sharp, quick, upward pull 

 the whole stem comes away from the axil of the leaf in 

 which it grows; or the picker can seize the stalk quite at 

 the base, and with a sharp side movement and upward 

 pull, done quickly, take it clean away. In any case, no 

 jagged, wounded or protruding piece of the stem should 

 be left, as in either or any case decay might set up and 

 harm the vines. It is well, after the picking, to cut the 

 ends of the stems slantingly, and place them in water 

 directly they are cut. A light, cool packing room is best 



