April. 19 18 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



147 



How to Pack Plants for Shipping 



ONE of the little pleasures of gardening 

 is the giving away of plants. Some one 

 wants this or that, not because it cannot be 

 bought but because of the fact that it carries 

 with it the unpurchaseable quality that we 

 usually call association. 



Now and then the plant, or plants, must 

 be sent out of town, either by express or mail. 

 In that case it should be borne in mind that 

 the gift is not complete in the mere giving; 

 the packing must be such as to be an insurance 

 against the plants arriving all dried up. 

 True, some plants will stand a lot of abuse 

 in this way, but that is no excuse for letting 

 your parcel arrive in a condition that will 

 cause the recipient to feel a real pang of 

 disappointment. 



It is the custom of nurserymen to ship 

 plants with the roots freed from soil by 

 washing, and wrapping loosely in sphagnum. 

 There is no better way of packing, but the 

 average grower of flowers does not have the 

 moss at hand. The best substitute, at least 

 so far as my experience goes, is to leave a 

 part of the soil in the roots and moisten it 

 slightly. Then wrap the plants — each kind 

 separately — in pieces of newspaper after the 

 manner indicated in the accompanying pic- 

 tures. Begin with the larger plants and 

 pack So that the heavy ends go against the 

 ends of the box, filling up the hollow between 

 with small plants. Before putting on the 

 cover, dip the hand in a basin of water and 

 sprinkle lightly. 



The packing should be fairly tight, as the 

 plants travel better, and for this reason care 

 must be taken that the box is no larger than 

 actually required. A pasteboard box answers 

 well enough for small packages if it is wrapped 

 in stout paper, but wood is better for express 

 packages above the mail limit of four pounds. 



This method of wrapping in a bit of news- 

 paper I use commonly when handing a friend 

 a plant to take away from my garden. It 

 keeps the soil in the roots, and the package 



M ^K 





/^^^jiM 



Properly packed, roots at ends of box, and 

 sufficiently tight to prevent movement and loss 

 of moisture 



The wrong way tc pack plants. Too loose 

 and insufficient soil. Plants will be dead on 

 arrival 



is a handy one to carry. A string may be 

 tied lightly around the package to prevent 

 the wrapper from unrolling, but I rarely 

 employ one. 



New York City. H. S. Adams. 



This Year Plants are as Gold 



"C^VERY plant that you have succeeded in 

 *-* getting from a seed should be made to 

 count to the full of all it is capable of pro- 

 ducing. If you have more plants than you 

 can use yourself, see to it that your friends 

 and neighbors have a chance to use them 

 before any are discarded. This applies not 

 only to such plants as you may have started 

 under glass, or in your seed bed, but to the 

 thinnings from your growing crops. Make 



EVERY PLANT COUNT! 



To really make your seed go as far as it 

 can possibly be made to go, it should be 

 manufactured into plants before it is put into 

 the garden! There are two reasons for this; 

 first, it is started under better conditions, 

 (whether under glass or in the "seed-bed" 

 out of doors) and a higher percentage of 

 germination is secured: second, each plant 

 is set out in the garden just where it is wanted, 

 and there are no skips to reduce yields or 

 surplus plants to discard with accompanying 

 waste of seed. The more transplanting you 

 can do this year, the more you will conserve 

 seed, of course — and the better your garden is 

 likely to be ! 



A PINCH of lettuce seed sown under glass, 

 ■*■■*- or in a carefully prepared seedbed out- 

 side, where the soil can be especially prepared 

 by adding leafmold or humus and watered 

 as frequently as necessary to assure good germ- 

 ination and strong little plants (because there 

 are only a few square feet to take care of), will 

 yield several dozen plants. Planted in the 

 open, in a drill, five to ten times as much 

 seed will be required; the seeds will take 

 longer to germinate, and may be a "failure"; 

 the strongest plants will not be evenly dis- 

 tributed along the row, and nine times out of 

 ten are left overcrowded. Only the best 

 plants will be used in transplanting. The 

 net result is greater returns, with the use of 

 less seed, by transplanting than by sowing 

 in the open. 



"LIVERY plant in its place is gold — but 

 every surplus plant is a weed! Three 

 poor overcrowded plants will not produce as 

 much as one good strong one which has had 

 room to develop perfectly. Thin out your 

 rows as soon as the second or third true leaves 

 are formed on the little seedlings. 



But don't waste the thinnings. To make 

 every flant count use these thinnings for 

 transplanting. Give them to a neighbor! 



If a little care is taken not to break the 

 main roots off too short in pulling them out 

 (which can be done by loosening the soil 

 about them before taking them out of the 

 row) surplus beets will transplant readily and 

 in two weeks or so look as fine as the plants 

 left in the original row. Cut back the larger 

 leaves of transplants, and trim the roots so 

 that they can be handled conveniently, and 

 plant firmly, without twisting the roots. 



tpASILY transplanted vegetables are beets, 

 - Li brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, cel- 

 ery, chard, corn, endive, kohlrabi, leeks, pe- 

 tsai, lettuce, onions, and turnips. Those which 



may be transplanted with more difficulty are 

 beans, cucumbers, melons, okra, peas, radish, 

 spinach, and squash. Those which, under or- 

 dinary conditions, is not profitable to trans- 

 plant, either because they will not stand it or 

 because the roots will be spoiled in the process, 

 are carrots, parsnips, pumpkin, salsify, and 

 squash. 



Many succession crops that are ordinarily 

 planted in the garden can be started in the 

 seed border, thus not only saving seed but 

 gaining a week or two on the second use of 

 the ground, as the succession crop may be 

 started three to four weeks before the first 

 crop is out of the way. To make a success of 

 this, the border should be prepared as carefully 

 as the flats or frames, are prepared for seed 

 sowing under glass. In very hot weather, a 

 coldframe, that can be given partial shade 

 (with a slat sash, or a frame covered with 

 muslin), will make an ideal place to start seeds 

 when it is difficult to start them in the garden. 



Plants of lima beans, melons, etc., which 

 cannot be obtained to advantage by the 

 ordinary methods, may be easily secured by 

 obtaining a supply of paper pots or dirt 

 bands, and starting them in these in rich 

 compost. Plant three weeks or so before it 

 will be perfectly safe to put them outside. 

 If the seed is soaked for about twenty-four 

 hours before being put in the pots, practically 

 every one will germinate. 



Ready to roll up; showing space to allow for proper folds 

 and right amount of soil 



Rolled to the last 

 fold and ready for 

 the final wrap 



w 



