192 THE FLORIST AND 
without the slightest risk. Buds in summer, being greener and more suc- 
culent, and the temperature being warmer, cannot be forwarded to such 
great distances. Peach buds, and other kinds cut before the wood is well 
ripened and hardened, should not remain in this condition longer than three 
or four days ; but well ripened shoots of the pear and apple, near the close 
of the season of growth, will continue uninjured for at least a fortnight. 
To prevent bruising during the period of conveyance, cotton batting, or seve- 
ral thicknesses of soft paper, should be placed outside the oil-silk wrapper. 
A pomological friend, to whom we gave instructions some years since in 
sending grafts, took the especial precaution of applying a coating of cotton 
batting j^rs^ to the grafts, and then encased them in oil-cloth. The conse- 
quence was that the dry cotton in immediate contact, absorbed the moisture 
from the grafts, and on their arrival they were found as dry as if exposed 
to a summer sun. In another instance, several thicknesses of soft paper 
were used for a similar purpose, and with a like result. For this reason, 
even the strip of paper containing the name, should be as small as possible ; 
and it is still better to write it vrith a finely pointed soft pencil on a shaved 
portion of the scion — or to cut notches as reference-numbers. 
When large quantities of scions are sent by " Express," a different mode 
of packing is to be adopted. "VVe have sometimes received them withered 
and dried, without anything to preserve their moisture ; and in one instance 
a bundle of grafts was sent ^o^th the leaves left on to keep them moist, but 
instead of producing this result, the leaves had operated as evaporators (as 
they always do,) and had pumped all the moisture out of the grafts, through 
the leaf-stalks, and they were thoroughly seasoned when they came to hand. 
The leaves should always be removed, and the grafts packed in alternate 
layers with fine damp moss, and with a good moss-coating outside. Damp ' 
sawdust is a good substitute for moss, for packages of moderate size. The 
packing should not be wet, as in this case it will cause the scions to become 
water-soaked and tend to induce decay. Buds at mid-summer may be put 
up in this way, and will keep without injury from three days to a week or 
more according to the degree of maturity vrhich the wood has obtained. — 
Qountry Cfentleman. 
The Philadelphia Society for promoting Agriculture will hold their Fair 
at Powelton, in next September. The Schedule of premiums is already 
published, and embraces the usual awards for cattle, horses, agricultural 
product* and machinery, &c. 
Any person in want of a gardener or foreman, can hear of one by apply- 
ing by note, to the Editor. 
