Plant Material for Long-Distance Shipment 7 



in sifted coconut dii>t (coir) or S2:>licignnni ]no>s. they carry very well. 

 Small tin or wooden boxes should be used for this purpose. The 

 coconut dust and moss must be dry. The mistake is nearly always 

 made of wetting this material. This is unnecessary, as it will gather 

 enough moisture in transit to save the seed. The only danger is that 

 the moss or coconut dust when exposed to atmospheric conditions in 

 the Tropics will be too wet on account of the absorption of moisture. 

 As a rule, however, such material will dry out sufficiently in a living 

 room to answer all practical purposes. 



CUTTINGS AND SCIONS OF DORMANT WOOD 



[Many hard-wooded j^lants. such as the apple, pear. plum, joeach, 

 cherry, persimmon, walnut, and other fruits, also many ornamentals, 

 including the rose and other shrubs and trees, are propagated by 

 means of scions and cuttings (see Pis. IV and V). Such mate- 

 rial when jDroperly selected and packed may be shipped long dis- 

 tances without difficulty. In selecting material of this kind for ship- 

 ment care must be taken to see that it is free from scale insects, 

 canker spots, or diseases of any kind. It is highly important, 

 furthermore, that the wood shall be entirely dormant when packed. 

 See to it that the wood is firm and plump and that it contains well- 

 furmed. good, strong buds. Experience has shown that cuttings and 

 -cions of dormant wood taken in the si:)ring, even if not pushed at 

 the time, are likely to start when placed in a warm, moist atmos- 

 phere. Cuttings at this period are in a state of unbalanced equilib- 

 rium and when packed and shipped long distances are liable to 

 reach their destination with buds so badly pushed that it is impos- 

 sible to make them live. If practicable, therefore, dormant wood 

 should be sent during the late fall and early winter rather than in 

 the spring. 



A convenient length for scions of most of the j^lants above men- 

 tioned is 10 to 12 inches (Pis. IV and V). The size will vary 

 somewhat with the plant itself. Pear, peach, cherry, plum, and 

 similar scion wood in order to give good, strong buds should be 

 about the size of a lead pencil. The accompanying illustrations show 

 >nch scions and will give an adequate idea of their size and shape. 



In cutting scions when the weather is cold or dry, they shoidd 

 he protected by a temporary wrapping of burlap or some similar 

 material. Scions may be made up in bundles, the size of the bundles 

 varying with the kind of material and the distance to be shipped. 



For many years the standard material for packing such scions 

 has been sphagnum moss (PL III). This has many excellent 

 qualities, but for packing small lots of scions, cuttings, budwood, 

 and perishable seeds, like chestnuts and acorns, it is very difficult to 

 describe just how to wet the moss properly. A great many ship- 

 ments, even when carefully packed under specific directions, arrive 

 either too wet or too dry. The need of some simple method which 

 could be easily described and followed without danger of overwetting 

 or drying out has long lieen felt. Indications point to the discovery 

 of such a method, which is called the wet-burlap method of pack- 

 ing (see PI. VI). 



Attention was first called to a form of this method by J. E. Mor- 

 row. Superintendent of the Plant Introduction Garden at Chico. 



