May 29, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
615 
the petunia grown as a 
STANDARD. 
A great deal has been said and written about this useful 
and very beautiful flowering plant during the last half 
century, and there is no plant more easy to manage, or 
one more ornamental, whether cultivated in pots or for 
garden decoration. A pinch of carefully selected seed 
will give a large percentage both in the number of 
plants, and variety in colour ; and the varieties are 
now so intermixed, and have assumed such a sportive 
character, as to render the conservatism of colour 
as regards individual plants almost out of the 
question ; but still they are for all that, objects of 
great interest, and have been so for forty, or I may 
say fifty, years. 
The most attractive varieties that I remember in my 
early days, were those raised and sent out by Mr. 
Miller, of Providence Nursery, Ramsgate. This was 
between forty and fifty years ago, and Mr. Miller also 
at that time raised simultaneously some good distinct 
varieties of the Verbena ; in fact he devoted con¬ 
siderable interest to the raising of novelties, such as 
Fuchsias, Petunias, Verbenas, &c., many of which I 
have had the pleasure of growing. Samuel Girling of 
Stowmarket, and others, used to send out batches of 
these novelties every season ; in this way, sometimes, 
high prices were paid for plants of no considerable 
merit, hence the number of plants that have been 
raised, named, and discarded, from time to time, is 
almost beyond calculation. As P>obert Burns has it 
“Few seem favourites of fate,” and those few were 
retained as new features developed themselves, and 
have been the means of building up, as it were, the 
floricultural world, as we now view her varied and 
beautiful structure. 
The showy Petunia is not the least amongst its 
numerous compeers in this respect, both in and 
out of doors, in the greenhouse or the garden, 
when grown as Standards from 2 ft. to 4 ft. high, the 
plants have an admirable effect, and in every respect 
are as attractive as many other plants that are far 
more difficult to cultivate. It has been my practice 
to go through my seed beds in the autumn, and take 
up and pot some of the best of them for this purpose ; 
these are preserved through the winter with but little 
trouble, and commence to flower in the spring, and by 
potting and liberal treatment may be kept in condition 
for a very long period. I send you a few blooms that 
you may form an estimation as to their effect en masse 
grown as standards for greenhouse and conservatory 
embellishment .—George Fry, Lewisham. [A fine lot 
of blooms, not large as a rule, but fragrant and very 
brightly coloured.—E d.] 
-- 
Scottis h Gar dening. 
Fruit Packing. —It may be pardonable for one 
to introduce a subject which has been often discussed 
in the gardening press, but as the excuse which can be 
made by young practitioners is always to the front, 
“just commenced,” it may not be out of place to offer 
a few brief remarks on the transmission of fruits. 
Every season there are new hands who enter into the 
ranks of fruit growers, and who having to pack and send 
the produce to a distance, are ready to receive the best 
instruction which can be offered. Sending fruit 
by parcel post, or by rail, is not always the most 
serious or difficult portion of the business, but across 
country roads by carriers, message carts, or other 
locomotion, is the most trying part of the journey for 
the fruits. 
The evils most common with young packers, is their 
timidity in placing the fruit close together, often 
leaving space which allows shifting, which means 
bruising and destruction. We have since our earliest 
recollections of gardening, had something to do with 
transmission of garden produce, and have always tried 
to follow the best examples recorded. Many years 
ago, when living in the neighbourhood of Covent 
Garden, we took special notice of the arrival of produce ; 
its condition being the best proof of careful packing. 
Much has to be sent from Scotland for proprietors in 
London and elsewhere, it is therefore of great moment 
to be able to furnish the dessert table at a distance with 
as tempting fruit as w T hen handed from the garden at 
home. Strawberries are at present fruits which are 
much in request, and it is only by careful management 
that they can be transmitted in condition to form a 
tempting and enjoyable dish when they arrive at their 
destination. 
It facilitates success by growing kinds which are solid 
and do not suffer readily from decay—Sir Joseph Paxton, 
Sir Charles Napier, and British Queen, are as manage¬ 
able as any we know of. When forced they should be 
ripened with plenty of air, cool, and quite free from a 
moist and close temperature. This not only improves 
the flavour very much, but the solidity of the fruit 
renders it very manageable and capable of bearing car¬ 
riage with safety. The small and frequent consignments 
from private gardens are most manageable when placed 
in shallow flat boxes, a piece of clean paper is laid over 
the bottom, and each fruit is placed in a leaf as closely 
together as one can pack them without bruising. 
Strawberry leaves taken off the night before they are 
■wanted, laid thinly over a table, gives them a somewhat 
tough and limp texture which prevents them cracking. 
When the fruit is placed on them, a layer of leaves is 
placed over the surface, and wdien this is done the lid is 
fastened so that it may be easily removed. Thin 
wooden or tin boxes are preferred. If the box is too 
deep for the size of the fruit, a layer of wadding is 
placed over the surface (keeping leaves or clean paper 
between it and the fruit) so that there may be no 
moving on the journey. 
We find Strawberries travel well in this way. Our 
earliest tuition of packing Strawberries when a youth, 
was to -wrap the stalks of the Strawberries in the leaves, 
but that is not our general practice now. Time is saved 
by putting first a Strawberry, then a leaf, and we find 
that by the parcel post the fruit arrives in sound 
condition. To prove the success of this method, one 
can send to a friend a box of fruit and ask him to return 
the same unpacked. With larger lots sent by rail we 
prefer boxes with portable lids, which will divide in 
several layers the closely packed fruit. Most days, 
during the spring and early summer, we send Straw¬ 
berries in this way to great distances. Another method 
is to fit the fruit into square (they answer better than 
round ones) chip baskets holding a fair dish in each ; 
these are fitted into a larger basket. For out-door fruit, 
the fruit of firm kinds may be placed in three or four 
layers with leaves between each, and by this means 
arrive in tolerably fresh condition. The ordinary 
market system with out-door Strawberry transmission 
does not suit aristocratic tables. 
Peaches are always easily managed when sent under¬ 
ripe. If they are packed when fully ripe the flavour is 
much impaired, the fruit has to be used immediately 
after its arrival, and it is very liable to suffer from 
being bruised. Boxes a little deeper than the sizes of 
the largest fruit—say over 3 ins.—is necessary, and over 
the bottom is spread a layer of wadding. Each fruit is 
■wrapped carefully in a piece of tissue paper, and wadding 
wrapped round to keep them free from each other, thus 
preventing bruising. Our general system is to cut 
pieces of wadding and tissue paper into squares large 
enough to encase each fruit. The paper is laid under the 
wadding to prevent it from imparting a woolly flavour 
to the fruit, and the lid of the box is fitted so that 
the package resists it slightly. 
Dry moss is often used instead of wadding, and is 
much the best material ; but this is not so often comeat- 
able as wadding, even in inland places. Then there is 
the trouble of drying and picking over the moss, 'which 
is not necessary with the w T adding. Grapes are sent to 
market in a more satisfactory condition than was very 
general some years ago, they being laid in baskets rest¬ 
ing on clean paper, so that one bunch keeps its fellow 
steady. They are laid in the bottoms of railway vans, 
and are removed to the place of sale almost as entire as 
when they left home. This is, of course, special trans¬ 
mission. A system for extra care is to have boxes 
along which a row of bunches can be tied by their 
stalks, holding them in position to the sides of the 
boxes. Two row r s of bunches can thus be taken safely 
to their destination in charge of officials with as much 
safety as they are taken to the exhibition tables. The 
general method is to place the bunches in boxes or 
baskets lined with 'wadding, and soft paper shavings 
pressed closely over the bottom. Clean paper is used 
to keep the fruit from the package. The baskets or 
boxes are filled closely with bunches (compact ones of 
moderate size are most suitable) ; clean tissue paper 
is placed next the fruit, but nothing between the 
bunches. "Wadding between the lid and Grapes keeps 
all safe.— M. T. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
_ 
THE GREENHOUSE. 
There has not been much occasion for shading just 
lately, but we must soon have bright hot weather, if 
it is to come at all, and then some attention will be 
needed to prevent scorching or undue drying of the 
soil. Most plants require a free exposure to sun 
during growth to mature the wood and buds, and 
prevent the rapid sappy growth, which is always 
unsatisfactory in results whether the plants be grown 
for flowers or fruit. When, however, the flowers are 
expanding, especially on the plants from temperate 
climates which are those chiefly grown in the green¬ 
house, some shading is needed, or they are likely to 
be injured, or their duration greatly lessened. 
In very bright whether too, if the house is not shaded 
the soil in the pots is dried very rapidly, and unless 
constant attention be given to watering, the plants are 
seriously damaged in a short time. In providing 
shading for such houses, it should not be of a perma¬ 
nent character, unless they occupy an extremely hot 
exposed position and are used mainly as flower-houses ; 
but in all cases it is preferable to have blinds that can 
be rolled up at pleasure. A thin scrim canvas can be 
obtained that will admit plenty of light while effec¬ 
tively breaking the force of the sun, and this can be 
easily fixed to the house. A circular bar of wood of 
sufficient weight should be employed, to which one 
edge of the canvas is securely tacked, then the upper 
edge of the canvas is tacked to ridge of the roof, and 
by running strings over a circular piece at each end 
and fixing these to the upper part of the roof at one 
end, the blind can be readily raised or lowered. 
Ventilation is another important matter, and it ■will 
be safe to leave some of the ventilators open all night 
now, opening them still more the first thing in the 
morning, and in the calm, warm days, the roof-lights, 
if these are moveable, or the ordinary ventilators should 
be opened to their fullest extent. Supply water 
liberally morning and afternoon, and any plants coming 
into flower, like the show and fancy Pelargoniums, will 
be greatly assisted by applications of weak liquid 
manure. But whenever using stimulants of any kind, 
be careful to have them well diluted, and if the liquid 
is strained through rough canvas or other material, it 
will be all the better, as it will not then disfigure the 
surface soil in the pots, nor will it be so likely to clog 
the soil and interfere with the drainage. Above all, in 
assisting plants in this way, it should be remembered 
that it is quite useless to give them more than they can 
readily assimilate. — Scolytios. 
-- 
FORESTRY IN JAPAN. 
Within the last few years an important experi¬ 
ment has been made in the introduction into Japan 
of the seeds of trees and shrubs from other countries. 
Tea is extensively cultivated, but it was only in 
1879 that the first Coffee berries were brought from 
the Sandwuch Islands and planted in Japan, and great 
hopes are entertained of the success of this experiment 
from a commercial point of view. The Cinchona tree 
was introduced from India in 1878, but the climate of 
Japan does not appear to be favourable to it; and in 
1880 large importations of forest trees were made from 
Europe and America, and planted in the experimental 
gardens of the forestry department at Tokio. Some 
were failures, and others took favourably to the country 
—the list including several Firs, Oaks, and Maples, the 
Birch, the German Larch, Lime, Ash, Pinus Webbiana, 
and other trees, which will, in time, form an important 
addition to the timber supply of the country. Ex¬ 
tending over 15 degrees of latitude, and with high 
central ridges of mountains on the larger islands, the 
climate of Japan differs considerably in the north and 
south, on the plain and in the mountains, so that the 
vegetation partakes both of tropical and temperate zone 
characteristics. The country itself may be divided into 
five distinct tree regions or zones. In the first the tem¬ 
perature is high, and the forests consist of broad-leaved 
evergreen trees then comes the zone of the Oak and 
the Beech, and other broad-leaved deciduous trees ; 
next that of the family of Cedars, among others the 
Tliuias and Retinosporas, for which the country is 
remarkable. Higher still is the region of the Firs and 
Pines, the Conifers including many of the finest speci- 
