200 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 2, 1886. 
carelessness in this one point. It sometimes happens that as the 
blooms are arranged in their positions for exhibition they are not 
in the best possible manner for packing. Some of those in the 
back row are too deep to admit of the next tray passing over when 
placed in its position in the travelling box ; such flowers then should 
change places with one in the front row, which are generally lower. 
This entails more labour when the show is reached in readjustment, 
but all this extra labour is soon forgotten when the first prize is 
gained ; and the more times an exhibitor competes the more 
strongly is it impressed upon his mind that nothing is gained in 
exhibiting without pains. 
The cups containing the blooms should be firmly fixed in the 
holes in the board to prevent their rocking to and fro. This is 
best done by wrapping narrow strips of brown paper, say 1 inch 
wide, around the cup, which is then pulled tightly down into the 
hole by placing one hand underneath the tray, and with the other 
hand steady the flower to prevent its being jarred in any way. 
While this is being done each cup should be examined to see that it 
contains sufficient water, yet be quite sure they are not too full, or 
through shaking on the journey the water from one cup will fall 
upon the flowers underneath. This must be avoided. If travelling 
boxes are used, like the one figured and described, the blooms will 
arrive safe at their destination, for little short of a railway accident 
could displace them. 
chrysanthemum: box and stand. 
The engravings (fig. 27) and specifications will enable exhibitors 
to provide themselves with the articles represented. The stands 
for twelve blooms are 2 feet long, 18 inches wide, 6 inches high at 
Fig. 27.—Chrysanthemum Box and Stand. 
the back, and 3 inches in the front. This is mentioned here, as the 
figures on the stand are somewhat indistinct. It will be seen that 
there is sufficient height for the blooms when the stands containing 
them are placed in the box, the space being one-eighth of an inch 
wider and longer for their reception. 
Specifications foe Chrysanthemum Box and Stand.— 
The box to be made in cupboard-form of three-quarter-inch well- 
seasoned American pine, dove-tailed together at the angles, the 
sides, top, and bottom to be rebated for the back. Plant a rounded 
nosing as shown to the top of the box and a small chamfered plinth 
round the bottom. 
The door to be clamped top and bottom, as shown on sketch, 
and to be hung to fall in flush with the sides of the box, the door 
to be hung with one pair of 2|-inch butt hinges, and to be fitted 
with a cupboard lock with, say, two keys. Fix a strong chest 
handle on each side of the box. It will be noticed that when the 
stands are placed in the box the door closes tightly against them, 
thus preventing any movement during transit. 
The clear inside size of the box should be 2 feet 8j inches high, 
2 feet ^ inch wide, and 1 foot 6^- inch deep from back to front. 
Tne box is intended to hold four stands, each stand arranged to 
hold one dozen blooms. The stands are made with tops half an 
inch thick, and the two sloping sides three-quarters of an inch thick, 
the holes to be spaced as shown on sketch. The runners for stands 
to be seven-eighths of an inch and half an inch, and screwed to the 
sides of the box as shown. It may be noted that the sizes of the 
stands as figured on the sketch are the regulation size insisted upon 
at the principal shows. 
I have taken as many as 400 blooms in one season to various 
shows in boxes of this pattern, and never had even a single petal 
damaged, much less a whole flower, by transit, and this speaks 
volumes for the method of packing and the style of the box. When 
a long distance has to be travelled by road, which in my case has 
been fourteen miles many times, the roads freely covered with loose 
stones, the boxes should be securely packed in the conveyance ; each 
one should wedge its neighbour tightly, and the outer one should be 
secured by means of blocks of wood such as are used to secure the 
pots of specimen plants when travelling. The blocks are simply 
pieces of wood cut in the shape of the letter <, 4 inches long, 
2 inches broad, and 2 inches high at the thick end, which is butted 
up to the box, and the thin end is fastened to the floor of the cart 
by a nail driven through. This prevents the boxes shaking against 
each other. Should the floor of the cart be in any way uneven 
such hollow places must be filled up with pieces of paper or straw, 
thus providing a perfectly level foundation for the boxes to stand 
securely. When the station is reached a careful person will not 
consign them to the tender charge of railway porters, to be turned 
on their sides and wheeled and jolted over the stones, but will 
carefully assist to lift them in and out of the trains, keeping them 
in an upright position so that the water may not be upset from 
the cups. — E. Mulyneux. 
(To be continued.) 
MADRESFIELD COURT GRAPE CRACKING. 
I think it wa9 found out some years ago that one way to prevent this 
excellent midseason Grape from cracking was to keep it comparatively 
dry at the roots. Another very good plan is to crop freely—that is, to 
a low the Vine to carry as heavy a crop of fruit as it can properly mature 
without weakening the constitution of the Vine. I may be wrong, hut 1 
think that is the most natural way of preventing cracking. I have no 
recollection of cracking being very troublesome where full cropping has 
been carried out. It is a very good plan to plant Madresfield Court 
Grape by itself in a border or pit, when the roots may be almost as fully 
under the control of the cultivator as though it were in a pot; water may 
then be withheld at pleasure without detriment to Vines requiring or 
capable of withstanding more copious applications of water. If a Madres- 
fi Id Court Vine be very lightly cropped it will be almost impossible to 
pievent cracking by any ordinary means, as they become fully ripe, unless 
ihe border be allowed to become so dry as to be actually injurious to the 
Vine. Generally, in my opinion, a cold and moist atmosphere is more 
conducive to cracking than a warm and dry one.—J. UdALE, Elford, 
Tam worth. 
In reference to the cracking of this fine Grape, I think it is partly due 
to not thinningsuffioiently and atmospheric moisture combined. I think 
i hey should he as severely thinned as Lady Downe’s, and th-n we should 
hear of less era king. I have proved that where well thinned there was 
n t a cracked berry in a bunch, but where they were rather close I have 
had five or six cracked ones to remove, as where they press closely against 
each other the air cannot circu'ate freely about the berries, and moisture 
is deposited on them through there not being sufficient warm air to dispel 
it. There seem to be more berries cracking this season'than last; at 
least, we hear of more, which I think is partly due to the sunless season 
we are experiencing ; but with inside borders, and due attention to 
atmospheric moisture, the difficulty, I think, may be overcome.—C. H. 
Cooke, The Dell, Dock Ferry. 
HOW NOT TO GROW ROSES. 
Begin by going to a public sale late in tbe season—the Jater 
tbe better, as the longer you defer Rose planting the worse for 
the plants and the less chance there is of them growing. The 
bundles of Rose trees I see at sales (I sometimes look in, 
not with any intention of buying, because I cannot afford to 
throw my money away, but just out of curiosity) are generally 
dry at the roots ; this is as it should be, as most people who can 
think at all will reflect that as Nature placed the roots of plants 
in the moist ground, digging them up and drying them well for 
a few days is a capital way—to ensure their not growing. 
When you have purchased your bundle of Roses (get standards 
if possible, as these always do worse than ground plants), do not 
be in any hurry to wet the roots in any way, but leave them at 
the auctioneer’s office or any other convenient place until the 
evening or next day perhaps, then carry or send them home just 
as they are, without any straw or packing round their roots to 
keep the fresh air from them; dig a temporary hole in the 
garden, and force them in, throw a few shovelfuls of earth over 
