March 31 , 1888 . 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
485 
GARTERS’ 
TESTED SEEDS 
FOR GARDENS OF ALL SIZES. 
CARTERS’ BOX, 2/6 
of Vegetable Seeds price Post free. 
CARTERS’ BOX, Si 5 /" 
of Vegetable Seeds price p os f j ree 
CARTERS’ BOX, Sss 7/6 
of Vegetable Seeds price p ost j ree 
CARTERS 5- SOX, SrsgS Ifl/fi 
of Vegetable Seeds and 12 varieties of V 
Flower Seeds _price Post free. 
CARTERS’ BOX, 4 C o°S n ef Id/- 
of Vegetable Seeds and 20 varieties of ■ ■ • 
Flower Seeds price Post free. 
CARTERS’ BOX, 65 varieties 9 0 ! m 
of Vegetable Seeds in sufficient quantities “ v / 
to produce a constant supply of tlie best carriage 
Veg etables all the year round price free. 
Larger Boses, 30/, 40/, SO/, carriage free. 
Particulars of Contents on Application. 
Seedsmen bi/ Sealed Roved Warrants , 
237 & 238, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON. 
A splendid exhibition variety, specially selected 
for its immense flowers and exquisite colours. 
Sis varieties, separate. 3s. 6cL.) § 
Sutton’s Selection of Brilliant [ Zt 
Oolours, mixed, large packet 2s. Sd.) ^ 
“ The Asters from yourseed were the finest I have ever seen. 
I took four First Prizes."—Mr. A. WATTON, Gardener to 
F. Weintraud, Esq., Orpington. 
Sutton’s Seeds 
GENUINE ONLY FROMSUTT0NxSONS,READINC. 
Next Week’s Engagements. 
Wednesday, April 4th.—The Royal Caledonian Horticultural 
Society’s Exhibition (two days). Sale of Roses, Fruit Trees, 
&c., at Stevens’ Rooms. Sale of Lilium auratum, Bulbs, 
Plants, Roses, &c., at Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. 
Thursday, April 5th.—Sale of Orchids at Stevens’ Rooms. 
Friday, April 6lh.—Sale of Imported and Flowering Orchids at 
Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms. 
Saturday, April 7th.— Sale of Lilies, Plants, &c , at Protheroe 
& Morris’s Rooms. 
FOR INDEX TO CONTENTS, SEE P. 494. 
'• Gardening is the purest of human pleasures, and the greatest 
refreshment to the spirit of man.”— BacIon. 
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 1888. 
Packing Fruit and Flowers for Market.—- 
Said a well-known and much-respected salesman 
in Covent Garden Market, the other morning, 
“ I wish you would give the country readers of 
The Gardening World a hint not to send 
fruit and flowers to market by the Parcel Post,” 
and the prompt rejoinder v, r as, of course, 
“ Why 1” Appreciating, as we do most fully, 
the advantage to private persons of being able 
to send small parcels of fruit and flowers with 
little trouble, at a cheap rate of transmission, 
and with the certainty of prompt delivery, we 
did not at once see the reasonable nature of our 
friend’s request. It seemed to us, at the first 
blush, that if the Parcel Post was a convenient 
means of transmitting garden produce from the 
grower to the consumer direct, it ought to answer 
equally well in the case of things sent from the 
grower to the salesman ; hut we were quickly 
undeceived. “So many of the small growers,” 
said our friend, “are sending their things to 
market now by the Parcel Post that we hardly 
know what to do with them. In the first 
place, as you know, the principal business in 
the market is done early in the morning, and 
things sent by Parcel Post don’t reach us until 
the market is over, or nearly so. Hence, in 
such cases, Ave have no chance of making good 
prices, and, consequently, are obliged to sell 
the goods, in many instances, for what they 
will fetch rather than let them spoil, in which 
case the grower would, of course, get nothing. 
When we have to sell under such conditions, 
ive can only make low returns, and the sender 
wonders how it is that he gets so much less 
than the published market prices.” 
“Then, again,” continued the salesman, 
“ another great objection to the Parcel Post is 
that perishable things travel badly—that is to 
say, the parcels sent by this means of transit 
are tossed and knocked about a great deal more 
than they would be if sent by rail, with the 
result that however fine the goods may he when 
despatched, they are much depreciated in value 
by the time they reach us. Look at these two 
boxes of Strawberries, and you will see at once 
what I mean. Both came from gardeners to 
private gentlemen; but one is an experienced 
hand at the business. He has been sending to 
market for some time, while the other is a 
novice, who must learn the market ways before 
he can expect the best returns. This box from 
Mr. A- has come to hand in perfect con¬ 
dition ; the berries are of good size, well- 
coloured, and so bright and fresh that, if need 
he, they would keep well for a day or two. 
This lot came by rail. Compare the difference 
between these and the sample sent by Mr. 
B-, which came by Parcel Post. The 
berries are as good as the others as regards 
size ; but they have lost all their bloom, and are 
so much bruised that in another hour or two I 
shall not he able to give them away. It is a 
hard case, because ‘ berries ’ are selling well 
just now, and the grower ought to be making 
good prices ; but what can we do 1” 
As a useful practical hint to the inex¬ 
perienced, it may be here stated that the box 
sent by Mr. A- was M ins. deep (inside 
measure), and contained one layer of Straw¬ 
berries, with leaves between each, a layer of 
soft packing material underneath, with Straw¬ 
berry leaves on the top, and on the lid were 
the words, in conspicuous type, “ Fruit, with 
care; this side up.” The other box was 
deeper, hut not so long, and contained two 
layers of fruit, which is the very worst plan 
that can be adopted. 
As with fruit, so it is with cut flowers. 
How few there are outside the circle of regular 
market growers who know how to pack their 
blooms so that they will reach the salesman in 
presentable condition—a point which is of even 
more importance, perhaps, than the actual 
quality of the flowers ; for however good the 
latter may he, if not fresh they will not 
command the best price. On this subject also 
we can get some valuable hints from the 
salesmen, and one of the first is that choice 
flowers, like fruits, travel best in shallow boxes, 
with only one layer ; though, in some cases, 
two layers travel very well. The next point 
that should he attended to—and a most im¬ 
portant one it is—is to see that the flowers, 
no matter of what description, have been stood 
in water for at least an hour or two before 
being packed into the boxes. It is surprising- 
how delightfully fresh most flowers come to 
band that are treated in this way, and how 
much more readily they sell than those which, 
having been cut and put into a dry box, and 
dry themselves, reach the unfortunate salesman 
in a limp and exhausted condition. In the 
case of single blooms — such as Camellias, 
Gardenias, Lilium candidum, &c.—they travel 
best in a single layer, with cotton-wool beneath 
them; hut before putting in the latter, the 
bottom of the box should he well saturated 
with water, to which the gummed side of the 
wadding will adhere, and so prevent the flowers 
from shifting much during transit. 
The Eoyal Horticultural Society. —The 
first meeting held in Westminster was, in many 
respects, of a gratifying character. The Drill 
Hall is, of its kind, a fine building, though 
not particularly favoured in its external sur¬ 
roundings; and most of the leading nurserymen, 
who have so long stuck to the society through 
good and evil report, sent collections of plants 
and cut flowers, which, with a most interesting 
miscellaneous collection from Kew, valuable if 
not numerous contributions from amateur sup¬ 
porters, and a remarkable collection of Apples 
for the season, made up an exhibition of an 
admirable character, and showed an amount of 
good will on the part of the exhibitors which, 
if carefully fostered by the Council, can result 
in nothing but good for the society. 
The members of the various committees also 
met in stronger force than usual, and as regards 
visitors—well, there were not so many as we 
should have liked to have seen, yet certainly 
more than have attended the South Kensington 
gatherings for some time ; but doubtless a larger 
attendance of the general public may lie confi¬ 
dently looked for when the new location of the 
society is made better known. 
At the termination of the labours of the 
Fruit and Floral Committees, the members were 
called together and addressed by the president, 
who bade them, as representative horticulturists, 
a hearty welcome to the new premises ; and on 
behalf of the Council, most cordially thanked 
the exhibitors for the efforts and sacrifices they 
had made that day to give the society a good 
start off. Sir Trevor also alluded to the 
difficult conditions under which the society’s 
work had been carried on at South Kensington, 
and explained that as it had been decided to 
pull down the conservatory and use the property 
for some other purpose, if they had not left 
now they would have had to do so ere long. 
He thought it would be a disgrace to the horti¬ 
culturists of this country if they allowed the 
society to become defunct, and he trusted that 
by their united efforts they would still show the 
country that there was lasting vitality in the 
old institution. Now that they had got away 
from the trammels of South Kensington, he 
believed the great body of horticulturists in the 
kingdom would give the society their support, 
because it was to the advantage of the gar¬ 
dening community that there should be a strong 
and popular body to watch over their interests, 
and especially as in the near future agriculture 
must he more closely associated with the sister 
art of horticulture. It was the hope of the 
Council that all horticulturists—and those 
present especially—would work heart and soul 
to re-establish the society on a firm basis. 
V r e learnt during the day that some eighty 
or more ladies and gentlemen have signified 
their wish to join the society as guinea sub¬ 
scribers, as soon as the new bye-laws are 
passed ; and we take this opportunity of 
saying that if there are any among our readers 
who are desirous, by becoming Fellows, of 
supporting the Council under the altered cir¬ 
cumstances of the society’s affairs, Ave shall 
be \ T ery happy to send them copies of the 
nomination form, and to assist them in getting 
the necessary signatures to the same. 
-- 
The International Meeting of Horticulturists in 
Ghent. —We understand that the meeting announced 
in our last issue will be presided over by Count de 
Kerchove, of Denterghem, President of the Federation 
of Belgian Horticultural Societies and of the Royal 
