TRANSMISSION OF LIVING PI ANTS BY SEA. 



115 



XIII. — Experience in the Transmission of 'Living Plants to and 

 from Distant Countries by Sea. By Mr. Fortune, Curator 

 of the Botanic Garden of the Society of Apothecaries at 

 Chelsea. 



(Communicated Nov. 5, 1846.) 



Having been engaged by the Horticultural Society of London 

 to proceed to China for the purpose of examining the Horticul- 

 ture and Botany of that country, and of sending home such 

 vegetable productions as might be useful or ornamental in Eng- 

 land, the Council deemed it an excellent opportunity for sending 

 out at the same time a collection of living plants and seeds, 

 with the view of ascertaining precisely the effects produced 

 upon such things during a long sea voyage, as well as of intro- 

 ducing to China some of the best flowers, fruits, and vegetables 

 which are cultivated in Europe. For this purpose they ordered 

 some glazed cases to be prepared, and filled with such kinds of 

 fruit-trees and ornamental plants as were likely to succeed well 

 in the climate of China, and be of use both to the Chinese and to 

 the foreign residents. They were made fast on the poop of the 

 vessel, and we sailed from England on the 1st of March, 1843. 

 The weather during the early part of the voyage was cold, dull, 

 and wet, and the plants grew very little until we reached the 

 latitude of Madeira, which Ave saw on the 13th of the month. 

 The thermometer averaged 62° Fahr. at this time in the shade, 

 and the plants feeling the effects of the sudden change of tem- 

 perature began to grow with great rapidity, completely filling 

 the cases in a few days with young shoots and leaves. This 

 took place before we reached the equator. The vines, peach- 

 trees, and figs seemed quite at home ; the roses also grew fast 

 and began to blossom, but were evidently in an atmosphere 

 which was too hot and close for their constitution, and in a short 

 time their leaves began to suffer from pressure against the damp 

 glass in the same manner as we frequently see plants in crowded 

 hothouses in England. 



About this period — that is, when we were in the vicinity of 

 the equator — the thermometer averaged 77° in the shade, and 

 was frequently higher in the night than during the day. From 

 the condition of the plants at this stage of the voyage, it was 

 evident that a most important point in the preparation of cases 

 is always to select specimens which are strong, healthy, and 

 well established ; weak plants, in many instances, are sure tp 

 perish, because the stronger kinds overgrow them, keeping them 

 from the light and air, and preventing them from forming stems 

 and leaves for their support. 



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