HOUSE PLANTS. 
87 
covered with a sheet of paper, and immediately conveyed to the 
apartment where they are to be used, if that apartment be near 
at hand. But if they are to be sent to any distance, they should 
be placed in tin cases, such as botanists use when collecting spe¬ 
cimens. We have sent flowers, in such cases, for several hundred 
miles, and found most of them in good condition at the end of a 
journey of three or four days’ continuance. In this way the 
Dutch florists send specimens of their finest flowers not only to 
England, but to more distant parts of continental Europe. Our 
own florists send to the metropolis, for competition at exhibitions, 
flowers from Cornwall, from the north of England and from Scot¬ 
land, and they arrive without the least decay. They are placed 
in wooden or tin boxes, having an internal arrangement of small 
phials, fixed under a covering of tin or wood, perforated with 
holes, just large enough to admit the stalks of the flowers, the 
ends of which are placed in the water of the phials, and in this 
way they are conveyed with perfect safety. 
Flowers should not be cut during sunshine, or kept exposed to 
the solar influence ; neither should they be collected in large 
bundles and tied tightly together, as this invariably hastens their 
decay. When in the room where they are to remain, the ends 
of the stalks should be cut clean across with a very sharp knife 
(never with scissors), by which means the tubes through, which 
they draw the water are left open, so that the water ascends 
freely, winch it will not do if the tubes of the stems are bruised 
or lacerated. An endless variety of ornamental vessels are used 
for the reception of such flowers, and they are all equally well 
adapted for the purpose, so that the stalks are inserted in pure 
water. This water ought to be changed every day, or once in 
two days at the furthest, and a thin slice should be cleanly cut 
off from the end of each stalk every time the water is removed, 
which will occasion fresh action and re-five the flowers. Water, 
