CUT FLOWERS 129 



and Violets whenever it is possible, because, excepting 

 Tea Roses, they last in a good state a shorter time than 

 most flowers. That is why in a London shop a good 

 bunch of Roses is never cheap, and it is also why un- 

 scrupulous dealers have been known to doctor stale 

 Violets with an artificial essence when their natural 

 sweetness is gone, and would soon be followed by the 

 very unpleasant evidence of the earlier stages of decay. 

 I should say that the very best way of packing Roses 

 and Violets is to stand them in water for two 

 hours after being cut and bunched, and to pack 

 them in tins lined with any fresh leaves — Rhubarb, 

 Cabbage, Lettuce, Spinach, Dock, or any leaves that 

 are large and cool and succulent. There is a 

 handsome Dock that I grow for this and other 

 like purposes as well as for its merit as a plant of 

 fine foliage; the Monks' Rhubarb {Rumex alpinus). 

 The leaves are large and tough and pliable; they 

 may be rolled up into a ball in the hand without 

 being crushed ; they will tuck and fold most kindly 

 into spaces and crevices in one's flower package, and 

 no leaf is so useful for wrapping round a bundle of 

 seedlings. I grow it in plenty near the packing-shed, 

 so that a handy leaf is always at hand. 



Cut flowers, whether for home use or for preparing 

 to go away, should never lie about before being put 

 into water. Any one will see at once when it is 

 pointed out, though many do not happen to think of 

 it, that as the flower in water draws in the moisture 



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