Book IV. FINAL PRODUCTS DESIRED OF GARDENS, 



443 



bring plants from the warmer colonies home. Stove-plants are also transported from 

 France, Holland, and Hamburgh, into Germany and Russia, in waggons with glass 

 covers. 



2316. In packing plants for importation, much more care is requisite than has in general been bestowed 

 on the subject. " It is thought enough," Lindley observes {Hort. Trans, v. 192.), " to tear a plant from its 

 native soil, to plant it in fresh eartli, to fasten it in a wooden case, and put it on board a vessel." Notiiing 

 can be more erroneous : preparatoi-y for packing, the plants should have their roots well establish e<l in 

 pots or boxes, which may, in woody kinds, require from one to three months. Boxes with proper per- 

 forations in the bottom are better tlian pots, because less liable to break, and of less Weiglit. Vv'hen the 

 period for embarking them arrives, they should be placed in wooden cases, the t(ips of which must be 

 capable of being opened, and should slope both ways, like the roof of a double green-house. These cas:>3 

 must be furnished with a tarpawling, fixed along their tops, and sufficiently largo, when unrolled, to cover 

 them completely, so as to protect the plants from being damaged by the salt-water dashing over them in 

 rough weather. It cannot be expected that heayy cases should meet with very gentle tr;;atment on siiip- 

 board ; and ft is certain they will be handled in the roughest manner by watermen, carters, and custom- 

 house oihcers, after they have arrived in port. The materials, therefore, of which they are made, ought 

 to be of a very strong description, and the joints of the lower part either secured by iron bands, or well 

 dovetailed together. The person in charge of the cases on board should have directions never to ex- 

 clude them from air and light in fine weather, unless to protect them from the cold, as the vessel makes 

 the land, and after she is in port, or during high winds, or especially when the seamen are washing the 

 decks ; but in foul weather to close the lids down, and to unrol the tarpawling over the latter, so as to 

 exclude the sea-spray effectually. If, notwithstanding these precautions, saline particles should become 

 encrusted upon the leaves and stems of the plant, it is necessary that the former should be removed as 

 soon and as carefully as possible, with fresh water and a sponge, otherwise the salt will soon kill 

 them. The quantity of water the plants receive must be determined by what can be spared ; so that no 

 other direction for its application can be given, than to keep the mould just moist. The requisite supply 

 of water must also depend much upon the way in which the cases are drained. The best manner in 

 which this can be effected, is by causing holes about half an inch in diameter to be bored through the 

 bottom of the cases and pots. Much mischief being occasionally done to collections by monkeys and 

 parroquets on board the vessels, it is highly necessary that means should be taken to guard against their 

 attacks. 



2317. Collections arc not un frequently injured offer they anive in this country, by the pots being shaken so 

 violently as to be deprived of a large portion of their mould. Nothing can well be more destructive of 

 vegetable life than this, which should be prevented by the pots being made square, so as to fit accurately 

 into the bottom of the outer case. There then could be no ditticulty in keeping them steady ; and if they 

 were fastened down by cross pieces of wood, they would be secured still more completely. In addition, 

 the surfacv.* of the mould ought to be covered deeply with coarse moss, or other similar substance (not 

 grass), which "Tiight be secured by packthread passed frequently across the box from its sides, or by slender 

 laths, which would be less likely to become rotten than packthread. By this means, evaporation of the 

 watery particles which are necessary to the existence of the plants, proceeds much less i-apidly than when 

 the mould is exposed; and the latter has an additional security against being shaken out of the pots. 

 When it happens that pots are not to be procured, the want of them must be supplied by the collection 

 being planted in earth in the cases themselves, their bottom being previously strewed to the depth of an 

 inch or two with fragments of earthenware or bits of wood. In such cases, it is particularly necessary 

 that the mould should be securely fastened down. 



2318. Parasitical orcJiidcce, or, as they are commonly called, air plants, may be transported safely to any 

 distance, by being packed loosely in moss, and put into boxes so constructed that the plants maybe ex- 

 posed to a free admission of air, but protected from the sea-water. 



2319. Bulbs travel most securely if they are packed in paper or canvass bags, they having been previously 

 dried, till all the moisture in their outer coats is evaporated. Dry sand is a good medium for placing 

 them in, if opportunities should not have occurred of giving them the necessary exposure to the sun. 

 But minute bulbs, such as those of ixias, gladioluses, oxalises, and others of a similar kind, only require 

 to be folded in separate little parcels without any previous preparation. Terrestrial orch idea; should be 

 tran.splanted when in flower, and not when their roots are in a state of rest. 



2320. Any woody or bony seeds, or capsides, that may have been procured should be buried among the 

 mould in which plants are potted ; or any of those seeds, the juices of which become rancid soon after 

 gathering, such as those of the guttifereas, magnoliaceae, sterculiacea;, &c. Camellia-seeds which are not 

 readily transported, if sown in mould in China, will have become seedling plants before they reach thjs 

 country. Acorns and walnuts may be conveyed from hot countries much better in this way than in any 

 other. Palms, too, are better sent in this way than in bags or paper. The plants in all cases, if possible, 

 should have numbers punched upon small pieces of thin sheet-lead, and fastened round the subjects to 

 which they belong with fine iron or copper wire. When such lead is not to be procured, little wooden 

 tallies should be used instead. {Hort. Trans, v. 194.) 



• 2321. Packing and transporting roots of plants, or entire plants in a dormant state, is a 

 very simple operation. When the distance does not exceed a week's journey, they are 

 packed in straw, and covered with mats : if a longer period is required, the roots are en- 

 veloped in earth or moss ; but very moist moss is not desirable, as it occasions mouldiness, 

 and rots off the bark of the roots when it begins to dry. Regard in all cases must be had 

 to the kind of plant, season of the year, distance, time, and mode of carriage. 



Chap. IV. 



Ojyerntions relative to thejinal Products desired of Gardens, and Garden-scenery. 



2322. The object of gardening is certain vegetable productions, and certain beauties and 

 effects in respect to design and taste. We now propose to notice the general principles 

 by which the gardener ought to be guided, in directing the operations for the attainment 

 of these ends ; the mode of conducting the business of a garden in an orderly manner; 

 and the leading points of attention, requisite to ensure the beauty and order of garden- 

 scenery. 



Sect. I. Of tlie Ve.zetable Products d^esired of Gardens. 



2323. The vegetable prodacLions of gardens are fruits, seeds, roots, stems, and stalks, 

 Icav. s, flowers, barks, woods, and entire plants. 



