THH NATIONAT. NURSERYMAN 
lor) 
the* ('oiitciits, :iii(l tli(‘ rcncluMl by tlu* Uoiiiinit- 
1’Iiis S(H*iiis to us to o|)(‘ii ii)> uiiotluM- serious ([ues- 
tioii, wlubher “Doi-uiaut trees, shrubs or ])luuts witli 
roots ))oxe(l and to])s tlioi-oug'lily era ted eaii be fairly 
elassitied under item ,l(), ])ai>-e 180, ('lassilieation No. 
-to, under the s])e(*itieatiou of “Plants, shrubs, ti'ees 
or vines in bundles, /o/rv roots boxed or wra])- 
l)ed,” at rate of 1 */>, and whether it would not be the 
fair thino- to elassify these undei- “The last division 
of item No. 10, “In barrels or boxes, rate R^o.” 
It is the i)raetiee of the ornamental nurseries, in 
shi])])in^' such thin^>-s as larg-e Boxwood, larg-e Rhodo¬ 
dendrons, and many larg'e evergreens, to thoroughly 
box the ball, and substantially ci-ate the top, thus 
making a paekage just as secure in every way as a 
going to ask your Uommittee to kindly take iij). 
In the matter of s))ecifying u rrub' ther(* may be 
some (piestion in the minds of the Ulassilication ('om- 
mittee as to (‘xactly what is meant. Furniture, some 
ty])es of machinery, and live stock ai'e shi))])ed in 
crates, which ci-ates simply mean a frame work to 
which is attached a solid bottom, or at other times ;i 
hottom of stri])s and then fi-om the bottom boards up 
ithe entire crate is comi)osed of light strips with large 
s])aces between. 
There is another way of crating that is used by the 
Nursery '^Frade for the i)rotection of its shii)ments. 
Fliis is made by ])lacing the ball, or roots of tho ])lant 
in a siihstdiitial ho.r u'Uh <i solid hofloiii, solid ends 
and sides, ends and sides being sufficiently deep to 
thoroughly cover and i)i-otect the ball and roots of 
Office of the. Sherman Nursery Co., Charles City, Iowa. 
box, with as much ])rotection to the contents and with 
the advantage to the ('ondition of the contents of al¬ 
lowing the tops ])lenty of air; and thus avoiding a 
chance of heating. In a ])ackage of this (‘hai-acter 
there is no more risk to the carrying (*onipany than 
there is when the same contents are ])acked in a box 
with the toj) boarded. 
The form first above noted, which we term a crate, 
stands as much rough handling, is as convenient for 
loading and is more secure to the carrying (‘om])any 
in every way as any other form of |)acking. It seems 
to us that under this condition the Classification 
(V)mmittee should in fairness rule this ])acking as un¬ 
der “The last division of item 10, i)age 180, Classifi¬ 
cation No. 10 at the R 25 rate.” 
As a very large ])ercentage of shipments from the 
ornamental trade are ]mt u]) in this way we think 
this reaches a serious question, and one that we are 
the plants. For instance, a crate in wlii('h large Ever¬ 
greens would be shi])])ed would be made by taking a 
box with corner studding of 1 Cl>x2 inches, ends and 
sides of Ys or% boards, all thoroughly stra])i)ed with 
•'/s or % band iron. Into this the ball of the tree is 
set, moist packing material ])laced around it, a couple 
of stri])s ])laced just above the ball and inside the box 
from side to side, or end to end, as the case may be. 
The sides and ends of this crate would be solid ap- 
])roximately 30 inches from the fioor u]). Above this a 
crating is carried with corner studs of F)4 to 2 inch 
Spruce or Yellow Pine, the sides then stri])i)ed with 
boards 6 or 8 inches in width, and a s])ace of I inches 
l)etween each board. This character of crating is 
also done on the ends and the entire to]), thus making 
a package as strong as a box. 
It is not infrequent for our men in the Shi])ping 
Department to pick up a package of this kind by the 
