October 27. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
home of his boyhood—is with us a cherished object; 
yet we never allow ourselves to be led away by our 
sympathies so far as to forget the still more important 
object of furnishing the Emigrant with what he will 
find most useful in his trans-atlantic home. When we 
receive enquiries upon such subjects we immediately 
consult those who we know to he most conversant with 
them; and we cannot do better for the guidance of 
all Emigrants, and their friends, than publish a letter 
from one, with the information we have gathered, for 
his guidance. 
“ I am about to proceed to New Zealand, and am desirous 
of ascertaining if I can take some of my favourites with me ; 
or if the time I start should not he desirable for such a 
purpose, I am anxious to know the best and cheapest way 
of having them conveyed and sent; and, if not a departure 
flora your usual plan, a recommendation to some first-rate 
nurseryman accustomed to such exportation, 
i “ I propose to take Strawberries, various sorts—these I 
propose to take with me, in small 60’s pots; Raspberries; 
Cun-ants; Apricots, Nectarines, and Peaches, sorts ; Plums, 
various kinds ; Bullace and Damson ; Apples, Pears, 
Cherries, Grapes, Gooseberries, Mulberry, of each various 
sorts. 
“ I may have to trouble you on some future occasion in 
reference to “ Flowers,” but, as my time will be seriously 
occupied, I must defer that until after my arrival; and may, 
at some future day, from that distant land, he enabled to 
give you some “jottings by the way” of gardening memo¬ 
randa there.* I have said I propose tailing with me. But 
would it not be more desirable to have them sent at the 
proper time, properly prepared, &c., so that upon their 
arrival the intended orchard for their reception may be 
prepared and ready ? 
“ I need scarcely inform you the voyage will take about 
four months ; and that standard trees, or even others of any 
size, would cost a great deal of money in carriage. It seems 
to me desirable that a similar plan to that I propose in 
reference to my Strawberries would do ; that is to say, upon a 
number of small stocks, have grafted or budded the various 
varieties, aud get them firmly and well-rooted in small GO’S, 
or even a size larger pot, and, when well-established, to be 
turned out of the pots, the plants being only perhaps eleven 
or twelve inches high, might (be packed with earth adhering 
to the roots) be carefully and closely packed in boxes with 
moss, to take up but little room, comparatively. I further 
imagine, that the best time to do this would be about the 
period of shedding their leaves, i. e., about the time usually 
adopted for replanting, say tire end of November, they 
would reach me about .Tune ; a very good time, there, I 
fancy, for replanting. With these suggestions, I leave the 
matter in your hands for guidance and advice.—A. L. B.” 
This suggestion of having many scions of different 
varieties grafted upon one stock, for the convenience of 
Emigrants, is a very valuable suggestion ; and the 
Nurseryman who first adopts it, and is able to announce 
that he has them for sale, will find himself amply 
recompensed. 
We forwarded the above letter to Mr. Beaton, and 
j this is his reply, together with a letter he had from 
Messrs. Low of the Clapton Nursery. 
“ I will give you a narrative of the proceedings in exe¬ 
cuting a commission for a lady who wished to send a supply 
of the most useful plants to New Zealand; but let me first 
observe, that no time should be lost in getting ready, and 
sending off, all plants and seeds destined to Australia and 
New Zealand this season; but any lime between this and 
the new year will do, they will then reach the end of the 
journey in the autumn of those colonies, the very best time 
* We shall be very much obliged by such communication.—E d. C. G. 
after the long confinement on the voyage. In the first 
place, I had a list of all the best and more common hardy 
trees in England from the lady, and I was to add as n any 
more of the best old English garden plants as I could get 
sent tor so much money. The gentleman to whom they are 
now sent, as I understood, complained that although he 
could get all the novelties where he was, no one thought of 
sending him the old English plants which he knew so well 
at home, and which would put him in mind of home and 
the old times every time he saw them, or rode over his 
estates; hence the reasons for the list below. I said, last 
year, that I knew Mr. Low had a good deal of foreign trade, 
solely on account of Iris superior and safe-packing, and to 
him I trusted my commission accordingly. I wrote to him 
to say, that he must find the box, or boxes, for packing; that 
all the plants must be named in the old English style, as 
far as that could be done, or else numbered, and two copies 
of the list, according to the numbers, to be made, one to go 
with the plants, and the other to be sent to me for the lady; 
that the tallies for the names or numbers must be such as 
would not perish, or take any harm on the way, nor coaid 
he destroyed by rats ; that I did not want large plants to be 
sent, but to have them stiff and firm about the collar and 
roots, that young shoots and tops might be pruned off to 
make more room ; that the packing must be double-extra; 
as if more than the usual per centage of deaths were re¬ 
ported from New Zealand, I could never show my face 
again to the lady. After packing the plants, he was to cart 
them to the broker’s office in London, who would see them 
on board; he was also to insure them, and to pay for the 
freight to New Zealand, and the price of the plants, packing, 
cartage, insurance, freight, and commission to broker, were 
not to exceed £12. All this has been just completed, and 
three plants of every one in the subjoined list has been 
sent. I also gave orders to strike any plant out of the 
list I sent which they thought would not bear the journey; 
and I see they dropped three or four, hut added the same 
number of equally good plants. I do not know a better, or 
a more cheap, way of going to work in such cases. I asked 
to know, in general terms, at what rates Mr. Low sent fruit- 
trees to Australia, and to know if lie still continued to ex¬ 
port to distant parts. His own letter will tell his answer 
better than I could put it.—D. Beaton." 
Messrs. Low’s letter, dated Clapton Nursery, October 
14th, is as follows :— 
“ We have lost no time in executing your commission for 
the lady, and the two cases are sent this day to the St. 
Catherine’s Docks, for shipment in the ‘■Stalely,' which 
ship, the broker tells us, will sail to-morrow. We have 
selected stiff plants, used great care in packing, and, by 
way of extra precaution, have bored a number of holes in 
the sides of the cases, which, we have been informed by 
parties who have received cases from us, is a very judicious 
plan, as it allows any damp air to escape. We enclose a copy 
of the contents of the two cases, and there are three plants 
of each sort; but wo shall send you a list to tally with the 
numbers on the plants, every one of which has a leaden 
number attached to it by copper wire. We have also made 
out a list of fruit-trees, for which we have many orders. 
You might, to illustrate our experience in the mode of 
packing, say, that we are in the habit of shipping to Val¬ 
paraiso, Sydney, New Zealand Ports, Mam-itius, Back Set¬ 
tlements of America, Mexico, West Indian Islands, which, 
as the Yankees say, ‘is fact.' We have not included Peaches, 
Nectarines, Apricots, or Strawberries, as, we believe, they 
have plenty in Australia; but you might introduce a clause to 
the effect that purchasers could make alterations if they 
thought fit.” 
20 Pears in variety. * 
20 Plums in variety. 
20 Cherries in variety. 
20 Apples in variety. 
2 Quince. 
20 Gooseberries in variety. 
20 Currants in variety. 
“ These could be supplied, packed, shipped, aud insured, 
all cliai-ges paid to the port of destination, for T10.” 
2 Mulberries, Black. 
1 2 Double Camellias in variety. 
12 Roses in variety. 
20 Flowering Shrubs from other 
countries, and suitable to New 
Zealand climate. 
