207 
July 4.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
2. The flower should be large—two inches diameter is 
a good size,—circular, higher at the edges than in the 
centre, so as to form rather a hollow, though by no 
means a deeply-cupped bloom, without puckering oi 
frilling of the petals; and where these lap over each 
other, the indentation caused by the join should be 
hardly perceptible. 
3. The colour should be bright and dense; the spots 
on the upper petals should be boldly contrasted with the 
ground, and the darker the better: both upper petals 
should be alike, both side petals alike, and the lower 
petal uniform. 
4. All white grounds should be very pure ; and the 
colours on the white, no matter what they be, should be 
decided, well defined, and not flush into the white. 
5. The spots on the upper petals, or the marks in any 
other, should not break through to the edge. 
0. The general flower-stalk of the truss should be 
straight, strong, elastic; carrying the blooms well above 
the foliage. The foot stalks of the individual flowers 
should bo stiff, and of sufficient length to allow the 
flowers to show themselves in an even head, fitting com¬ 
pactly edge to edge, and forming a uniform bold truss. 
7. The truss should approach to a semi-globular form; 
each flower presenting its face fully to view. Each truss 
should have at least five flowers, and we have one now 
before us, of Constellation, which has eight. There should 
be a truss at the end of each shoot. 
8. The plant should be shrubby in its habit, the foliage 
close, and of a rich bright green, the joints short, stiong, 
and able to support themselves in every part without 
assistance. 
After seeing the Pelargoniums at the great metio- 
politan exhibitions, as well as the seedlings of the year, 
wo regret to have the conviction forced upon us, that 
their cultivators are making the great mistake ol sacri¬ 
ficing too much for the sake of obtaining high or dark 
coloured flowers. Florists breed from parents thus 
distinguished in preference to those having as prime 
characteristics stoutness of petal and rouudness of form. 
Inferior offspring must be the consequence; but, leaving 
form and substance entirely out of consideration, we 
still consider dark-coloured flowers far less desirable, 
because much less pleasing to most eyes than those ot 
fairer tints. We believe the most popular, and we think 
the most beautiful flower that could be bred, should be 
in other respects like Pearl, but with its two upper 
petals dark crimson. 
THE FRUIT-GARDEN. 
Fruit-packing. —A little advice on this subject may 
prove of some interest, both to the young gardener, the 
amateur, and the cottager: it being often imperfectly 
understood, or too carelessly practised. 
In former days our fruits travelled by coaches, oi 
by tho ordinary road-waggon, but now principally by 
steam; and it is to modes of packing adapted to that 
kind of transit that we would now invite attention. Ry 
tho former mode of travelling, tho box or basket was 
subjected to a loose jolting action ; by the latter, it un¬ 
dergoes a perpetual jarring; and although tho action ot 
the steam-carriage is by far more uniform thau that 
of the old coach, yet these little jars, unless provided 
against by good packing, are very damaging to tender 
fruits, or those with a thin skin and a soft pulp. 
The kinds of materials to pack in are the first con¬ 
sideration; and here we may observe, that whatever 
the kind be, it is, as wo think, absolutely essential, that 
it be of an elastic character, and at the same time pos 
sess a kind of strength or soundness which, after travel¬ 
ling many miles and enduring many hard knocks, shall 
yet preserve its elasticity somewhat unimpaired. Thus,, 
as an example, fine grass from lawns which have been 
mowed several times, or some from beneath the shade of 
trees, in a dry state, is a very tempting-looking material, 
and looks soft as silk; but for general purposes the 
second cut from upland mowing will be found.far prefer¬ 
able, as longer preserving its elasticity. 
Closeness, not to say tightness, in packing is the 
great essential; the one great maxim to bear in mind is 
this, Pressure is better than Friction. We well 
remember calling on an old schoolfellow, about twelve 
or fifteen years since, to advise with him as to the best 
mode of packing peaches; for at that period we grew the 
finest peaches in England ; for a few years we had the 
honour of beating all competitors or nearly so, our fruit at 
that period averaging as much as eleven ounces, and some¬ 
times nearly reaching thirteen. The schoolfellow alluded 
to was the late Mr. David Dulley, who kept tho large 
fruit-shop in Covent Garden, formerly occupied by the 
late Mrs. Grange. The axiom about “ pressure, &c.” 
was, he assured me, the best advice in few words that 
could be given; and we have for many years had ample 
opportunity of proving the truth of Mr. Dulley s advice. 
His opinion was, as to material, that few things ex¬ 
celled soft hay, or, as the Londoners term it, “ rowen;” 
such being for the most part the second cut or aftermath 
from grass lands of a somewhat finer character than 
ordinary. Nevertheless, he did not confine all fruit¬ 
packing to this material alone, but merely pointed to it 
as at least, a useful adjunct in all ,/m<-packing. 
At the same period we called at Gunter’s, in order to 
get their opinion; there we were told, that sawdust or 
bran were capital materials for peach-packing; the former 
from white and flavourless wood, such as the lime, horse 
chestnut, &c., &c. The soundness of the last advice has 
always appeared questionable, especially as to railroad 
travelling; the sudden and severe jerks on which would 
seem to require that some body of a more yielding cha¬ 
racter should be placed around the fruit. 
Some persons are very partial to the use of cotton, 
wool, or “ wadding;” some to dry and thrashed moss; 
others use paper shavings from the stationers; the latter 
being for the most part the edgings removed from writing 
paper during the squaring or finishing process we sup¬ 
pose. These paper shavings are, indeed, a truly good 
article, and perhaps are better for grape packing than 
any other material. . 
Having thus “ broken the ice,” as far as first principles 
are concerned, we must now beg to be a little more ex¬ 
plicit, and to come home at once to the details; we must 
crave our readers’ patience whilst we pack threo ideal 
boxes of strawberries, grapes, and peaches. 
Strawberries. —Having provided a shallow box or 
tin of throe inches in depth, clear inside measure, wc 
will place, at least,, one inch of dry thrashed green moss 
over the bottom: moss from which, after thrashing, all 
dirt and dust have been completely ejected. This must 
be pressed as close as hands can make it; indeed, made 
firm and equal. And, now, let a piece of fine and solt 
cap-paper be placed double, and perfectly even, for a 
bed for the strawberries. One of the best strawberry- 
packers we ever knew used to place a layer ot nettle- 
leaves (which had been gathered two or threo days and 
become very pliant) over the cap-paper; and exceedingly 
