October 21. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENEH. 
that J saw jiacked for New Zealand is going out with a 
reverend geutlcinan (Mr. Itaily), who is going on a visit 
to Taranaki. It was four feet six inches long, nearly 
two feet dec}), and as much in width, of strong ono-incir 
deal; one-half of the ])lauts were })ackcd with tlio roots 
in the packing materials, placed against one end of the 
case, the other half at the other end, and thus their 
heads met in the middle of tlio case free from any 
packing-stull'. 1 was told that a few holes were to he 
made on either side of the case in the middle, to let oil' 
any damp or va})our from the leaves or packing stutl', 
but not so large as to admit a mouse. The whole was 
nailed down firmly, the case then strongly corded, and 
the address was ])ainted on the lid; aitd, as an additional 
strength, strips of half-inch hoard were nailed all round 
the ciiso in the middle, and also at both ends, the cords 
I'unning close to these strips, so that they could hardly 
he “ chafied,'’ or worn hy the tossings of the vessel in 
1 had weatlier. The plants were of a mixed character, 
twenty-lbur of tliem being shrubs or trees, and a dozen 
Pinuses, and other things of which 1 did not think it 
worth while to take the names, as none of us know 
really what is most in demand either in New Zealand or 
Australia; hut I expect soon to got a sight of a very long 
and interesting letter, written from Australia, in which 
a great many things are cx])lained respecting the gar¬ 
dening want of t!ie dilihrent settlements, as well as tlio 
gardening gossip of tlie day in these parts. This is just 
what every one that is interested in the subject wants 
to know. 
1 co])ied the following digest from the invoice going 
out to Valparaiso;—450 Camellias, 100 of which to he 
the old double white ; 240 maiden plants of twelve kinds 
of Flams; 25 Fibes setiujuiiieum ; 12 of the White liihes, 
a variety of Sanguineum ; 100 newest Dahlias; 0 Sian- 
iriek Nectarines, and 50 Dajjhno indica rubra, together 
with a host of single ])lants, many of which, I could 
vouch for it, were culled from the pages of The Cott.\ge 
GAiinENEU. Our friends in South America thus seem 
to have as much confidence in our recommendations as 
their brethren in the United States, who, as Mr. Brint, 
of Philadel]ihia, told me last July, have the fullest con¬ 
fidence in whatever appears in our jjages about new 
})lauts. How lenient, therefore, ought our home cor¬ 
respondents to treat our hesitations about getting up 
lists of such-and-such plants on the spur of the moment, 
when wo have such a weight of responsibility, that 
ought to he most conscientiously discharged for the 
good of all ])arties. 
The principle of the mode of ])acking adopted in this 
nursery is that which 1 have all along recommended, 
but the ap})licHtion of it is different. Eirst of all, tl)e 
plants are well watered, so as to have every part of the 
halls wetted throug'h and through; they are then put 
aside to allow sufficient time for draining ofl’ the super¬ 
fluous moisture. Meantime, a quantity of moss from 
Eppiug Forest is thus prepared;—Take a large tub, and 
}}our a potful of water into it, then put in as much of 
good sandy loam as will form the whole into a thick 
puddle, or })aiut; now throw in a quantity of moss, and 
work it with the puddle, taking care to have every ])ar- 
ticle of the moss smeared with the compost; with this 
daubed moss cover each hidh half-an-inch thick, and 
fasten it round with strings of fresh matting, or small 
twine. When the whole are thus finished, begin to 
|)ack, hy }flacing an inch of perfectly dry moss on the 
bottom of the case, at one end; on this place a row of 
the halls on their sides, with the bottom of the halls 
facing the end of the case, with anotlier inch of dry 
moss intervening between the halls and that end The 
halls being round, tlierc will bo little empty spaces 
between them at to}) and bottom ; these spaces must he 
filled u}) with more daubed moss. We have now one 
layer of plants with their heads lying towards the 
41 
middle of the case, a bed of dry moss under and behind 
the halls, hut nothing yet in front of the halls, or what 
was the surface of the pots. Along this front a layer of 
the dry moss, two inches thick, is very closely packed, 
and a })ioco of stout deal, or board, the exact size of tlic 
widtli of the case, is })laced closely against this layer, 
and nailed at both ends from the outside of the case; 
the next layer of plants is then packed over the first, 
and pressed down so as to get bedded in the i)uddled 
moss, dry moss being })laced all round, as with the first 
layer, and the interstices filled up with the puddled 
moss; another bar across as before, and so on till that 
end is filled, finishing with a layer of dry moss, on 
which the lid rests. Then finish the otlier end of the 
box, or case, just in the same way, and when the lid is 
nailed on let us turn up the case on one end, and see 
how the whole stands with the mind's eye. The whole 
mass in the centre, within the dry moss, is in that state 
wo call neither wet nor dry, and so close throughout 
that no breath of air can get into it. This of itself, in 
a wooden box, w'ould remain a long time sufficiently 
dump to kee}) the plants alive in their dormant state; 
hut see how things would turn as soon as the vessel 
got within the tropics—even if there was no jolting of 
the vessel all the time to disturb the puddle, the w'ood 
would not he })roof altogether against the heat of a 
vertical sun, and tlie damp of the mefSs would, in time, 
rise in vapour, and smother the leaves, rot tlje young 
shoots, and probably destroy every })lant long hel'ore 
they reached the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope; 
hut the firm lining of dry moss—and it must he very 
firm indeed, and so must the whole mass—is found in 
})ractico to he quite proof against any dis})ersiou of 
damp or vapour v/hatever, as well as being one of the 
best non-conductors of heat; and, like the proof of the 
l)udding, all this has been proved in a hundred in¬ 
stances, over a great many years, and to all parts of the 
globe. 1 dare say Mr. ]>ow, iflr. Yeitch, and all the 
nurserymen wlio import plants largely from distant 
parts, could tell of the hundreds of ]iounds that have 
been utterly lost to them from had ])ackiug; and no 
doubt this system has been arrived at bit-by-bit, 
although they do not like now to rake up these un- 
])leasant recollections, to which 1 could myself add a 
mite or two as big as a locust, if it were to any good 
]iurpose; so that my hasty return from Oxford, all in 
the dark, to learn a better system, may bo the more 
easily accounted for, although 1 must go back, some day 
or other, to finish my notes on the interesting things 1 
left unnoticed this time. 
As far as I could make out from the ex])lauation of 
ilr. McDonald, the great packer, loam is better for 
puddle than clay, as if it should get too dry, it does not 
bind so hard as clay would do to injure the roots; 
mixing it with moss gives a double chance, or ratlier 
three chances to one in our favoin, for it keeps the whole 
open, as it were, for the roots to work into the puddle, 
should they be excited in running through the hot part 
of the journey, and all gardeners know that roots will 
run along vigorously on the least application of beat, 
although the branches be leafless, and encrusted in frost 
or snow;—make a hot-bed over the roots of any of our 
hardy trees next winter, and prove the I'act, if you doubt 
this. Indeed, although 1 cannot explain my meaning 
so as to make it as clear as.I should wish it to be, I am 
almost sure that the turning point in this safe way of 
packing, is in allowing the roots to extend freely under 
high })ressure, so to speak; — wo have all of us seen 
trees that have been felled in b'ebruary brought into full 
leaf by a few April showers, and that accounts for the 
effect of the small holes in the sides of the packing case, 
letting off tlie vapour that might endanger the heads of 
the confined plants on this voyage. But there is 
another turning point. As soon as the heat converts 
