118 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AXD  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
February  5,  1903. 
Packing  Cut  Flowers. 
Having  for  years  taken  special  interest  in  the  lianclling  of 
cut  flowers,  from  the  j'ceeiving  end  to  getting  them  to  the  trade 
in  small  towns  and  large  cities  in  the  best  possible  shape,  causes 
one  to  try  the  many  waj's  to  pack  the  blooms. 
I  would  say  that  it  is  not  so  much  the  packing  of  flowers  that 
the  trade  lias  to  complain  of,  but  it  is  more  often  the  fault  of 
the  flowers.  In  Chrysantliemums  especially  this  is  noticed,  as 
the  grower  does  not  leave  them  on  the  plant  long  enough  to 
have  them  well  done,  or  “  finished,'’  as  the  term  Is  often  used, 
and  flowers  of  this  stage,  no  matter  how  carefully  packed,  would 
not  carry  ten  miles.  The  same  fault  again  applies  when  the 
grower  goes  the  other  way,  and  lets  them  get  over-ripe  ;  the 
softness  that  sliows  in  a  Chrysanthemum  not  yet  done  will 
“spot.” 
As  near  as  I  can  learn  from  what  I  see  in  our  place,  as  well 
as  in  others,  just  as  soon  as  a  grower  hears  that  a  certain  thing 
is  a  bit  scarce,  he  goes  home  and  at  once  starts  tO'  count  how 
many  pennies  there  are  in  sight,  and  goes  at  the  cutting  regard- 
le.ss  of  their  completenciss.  This  is  a  great  mistake,  for  a  dozen 
first-class  Chrysanthemums  will  bring  more*  than  ten  dozen 
poor  ones.  Another  thing  comes  before  we  get  to  the  packing. 
.Cloven  No.  1  Chrysanthemums  and  one  “ringer”  does  not  make 
a  dozen  firs+  quality  flowers.  The  same  applies  to*  all  flowers, 
Roses.  Carnations,  and  Violets. 
If  I  raised  flowers  to  be  sold  on  a  wholesale  market,  or  if  I 
wet  .  ■  buyer  on  a  large  scale,  I  would  furnish  my  own  boxes, 
and  n<  ver  have  a  box  over  Bin  to  Tin  deep  for  Roses,  Carnations, 
and  that  class  of  flowers.  For  Chrysanthemums  I  wmuld  advise 
a  flat  box,  wide  enough  for  four  to  six,  and  long  enough  sO'  that 
they  could  be  packed  flat,  with  an  extra  light  white  wax  tissue 
between  each  row  of  blooms.  Never  pack  Chrysanthemums  one 
on  top  of  another. 
I  have  mentioned  above  that  I  believe  all  flowers  should  be 
as  near  dry  as  possible  before  packing  ;  this  I  am  sure  applies  to 
every  flower  except  the  Violet,  and,  while  it  is  never  followed, 
I  believe  that  a  clamp  tissue  on  the  stems  and  each  bunc}i,  with 
white  wax,  would  improve  them  on  their  journey.  Above  all 
things,  don’t  try  to  put  all  the  Violets  you  can  possibly  gather 
into  one  box,  but  stand  them  up  and  make  rolls  of  nice  clean 
paper  between  each  row.  A  Violet  takes  the  odour  of  printer’s 
ink,  so  I  say  “  pass  up  ”  old  new.spapers  for  this  one  flower,  and 
give  them  enough  space  so  as  not  to  crush  the  end  row  either 
forward  or  back. 
Experience  is  the  best  teacher,  and  a  grower  often  wonders 
why  his  neighbour  gets  more  for  his  flowers  than  he  himself  gets, 
even  though  they  both  sell  through  the  same  broker.  It  is 
simply  one  of  two  things.  The  one  who  gets  the  money  is  the 
man  who  never  cuts  a  flower  until  it  is  just  right;  never  tries 
to  push  through  a,  few  “  seconds  ”  with  a  lot  of  fine  stock,  ancl 
who  is  liberal  in  his  judgment  in  regard  to  the  reciuirements  of 
the  time  of  year,  as  to  the  proper  boxes,  paper,  twine,  and 
sundry  items  that  put  his  flowers  before  the  buyer  in  the  best 
possible  shape.  That  is  why  he  gets  all  there  is  to  be  had;  but 
his  neighbour  would  not  believe  this,  even  though  he  stood  in 
front  of  the,  counter  when  the  stock  was  sold. — (Paper  prepared 
by  E.  E.  Pieser,  Chicago,  Ill.,  for  the  Chrysanthemum  Society 
of  America’s  Convention.) 
- 1  ■ - - 
County  Council  Lectures. 
In  some  quarters  much  has  been  said  against  the  expenditure 
undertaken  by  the  different  County  Councils  in  the  way  of 
promoting  teclinical  ancl  scientific  teaching  by  means  of  lectures 
to  the  people  by  collegiate  professors  and  teachers.  The  chief 
complaint — and  too  often  a.  well-grounded  one,  observes  “  The 
Yorkshire  Herald  ” — was  that  these  lectures  really  did  not  reach 
the  classes  for  whom  they  were  intended.  One  reason,  perhaps, 
why  .some  of  the  “technical  lectures”  are  not  favourably  re¬ 
ceived  by  the  poorer  classe.s  is  undoubtedly  that  sometimes  the 
lecturers  “  fly  over  the  heads  of  their  audience.”  They  are  too 
scientifio — not  practical  enough  for  the  people;  and  instead  of 
proving  to  their  hearers  that  there  really  is  much  to  be  learned 
from  scientific  teaching  and  that  science  and  practice  need  to 
go  hand  in  hand,  they  send  them  away  with  the  feeling — and 
the  feeling  is  sometimes  expressed,  toO' — “"Why,  he  knows 
nothing  about  it,  practically.”  Happily,  the  majority  of  the 
lecturers  are  capable  practitioners  as  well  as  being  enlightened 
in  science. 
My  Garden  and  its  Flowers. 
Had  I  been  a  man  with  a  princely  fortune,  instead  of 
only  having  a  moderate  competency,  I  should  have  had  a 
large  garden  with  a  whole  army  of  gardeners  to  attend  to 
the  garden  proper  and  to  the  floral  and  arboreal  treasures 
with  which  I  should  make  delightful  an  extensive  domain. 
As  it  is,  I  have  to  content  myself  with  a  small  one,  which 
would  be  larger  but  for  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  land  in 
the  place  in  which  I  had  to  settle  from  health  considerations 
some  17  years  ago,  and  where  I  could  only  obtain  sufficient 
for  a  small  house  and  garden,  but  where  I  believed 
that  great  boon,  moderate  health,  might  be  found.  Thus 
driven  from  business  to  the  quiet  of  a  country  life,  I  have 
found  in  my  garden  and  its  flowers  a  solace  and  a  happiness 
far  beyond  the  pow'er  of  words  to  describe.  In  it  I  can 
spend  many  happy  hours  looking  at  and,  higher  pleasure 
still,  working  among  the  hardy  flowers  in  wdiich  one  takes 
delight,  and  which  wdll  repay  one’s  care  and  trouble.  My 
garden  is  close  to  the  shores  of  the  turbulent  Solway,  whose 
swift-flowing  and  rapidly  ebbing  tide  has  become  pro¬ 
verbial.  It  is  so  near  that  in  spring  tides,  when  the  south 
wind  drives  up  the  waters  from  the  sea  behind,  they  some¬ 
times  partly  overflow  in  wdnter  the  Potato  garden,  which 
lies  betw'een  the  shore  and  the  roadway  which  passes  the 
front  gate  of  the  garden  before  the  house.  This  Potato 
garden  I  reclaimed  from  the  shore  some  years  ago,  and  the 
Solway  seems  yet  to  grudge  having  parted  with  it  to  me, 
and  to  be  inclined  to  return  and  take  possession  for  a  time 
at  least.  On  one  memorable  occasion,  when  a  wild  storm 
raged,  the  whole  of  this  Potato  garden  was  under  water, 
and,  as  it  came  unexpectedly,  the  useful  tubers  which  had 
been  pitted  for  later  use  were  scattered  far  and  near.  This 
plot  of  ground  is  light  and  sandy,  but  grows  excellent 
Potatoes,  and  is  improving  year  by  year. 
Immediately  in  front  of  the  house  is  a  flower  garden  of 
small  size.  When  I  came  to  it  it  had  few  flowers  in  it,  and 
the  greater  portion  was  in  the  foi’m  of  lawns  or  grass  plots 
with  borders  round.  As  my  collection  of  flowers  increased 
the  grass  was  encroached  on  bit  by  bit,  until  it  quite  dis¬ 
appeared,  and  borders  of  herbaceous  plants  and  rockeries 
mononolise  the  space,  except  where  the  needful  walks  for 
access  run.  The  borders  are  edged  with  stones,  which  are 
planted  with  Alpine  flowers,  so  as  to  obtain  as  much  as  pos¬ 
sible  from  every  inch  of  the  space  which  can  be  had. 
The  garden  behind  the  house  is  the  largest  of  the  three, 
and  it,  too,  shows  many  traces  of  how  insidiously  does  the 
liking  for  flowers  encroach  upon  the  domain  of  the  purely 
utilitarian  tastes.  When  I  came  to  it  there  were  practi- 
callv  no  flowers,  and  it  was  given  up  to  the  usual  vegetables 
which  are  grown  in  gardens  of  its  size.  Now,  save  a  grass 
plot,  and  some  borders  where  some  vegetables  still  remain 
on  grudging  sufferance,  or  where  the  fruit  trees  are  prized 
as  much  for  their  beauty  when  in  flower  as  for  their  fruit, 
the  whole  is  given  up  to  hardy  flowers  in  beds  or  on 
rockeries.  A  small  greenhouse,  a  little  Water  Lily  pool  or 
two,  and  my  little  garden  study,  wdiere  this  is  written,  are 
also  encroachments  upon  the  domain  of  the  vegetables. 
One  side  is  practically  all  rock  garden,  and  the  roofs  of  one 
or  two  outbuildings  have  been  utilised  for  flowers.  Just 
above  my  head,  as  I  write,  some  three  dozen  Oncocyclus 
Irises  are  growing  on  the  cement  roof,  and  when  oppor¬ 
tunity  permits  they  will  have  beside  them  some  other 
flowers  which  experience  has  proved  can  be  successfully 
grown  in  such  positions.  I  am  making  a  study  of  this 
“  roof  gardening,”  believing  that  it  will  give  me  a.n  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  growing  many  more  flowers,  and  of  giving  some 
things  exactly  what  they  want. 
On  a  little  potting  shed  there  are  many  German  Irises, 
as  one  calls  the  forms  of  I.  barbata  colloquially,  Semper- 
vivums,  Sedums,  encrusted  Saxifrages,  and  other  flowers  of 
drought-resisting  habit.  The  rubbish  heap  has  just  been 
further  screened  by  a  double  wall  for  alpines,  and  it,  too,  is 
covered  with  a  roof  on  which  there  flourishes  a  collection 
of  named  German  Irises,  which,  by  the  way.  bloom  well 
there,  and  look  beautiful  as  seen  with  the  light  shining 
through  their  almost  translucent  petals.  Rustic  stone 
steps,  on  which  plants  grow,  lead  up  to  these  two  roofs. 
The  little  pools  for  aquatics  have  given  me  much  pleasure, 
and  furnish  an  opportunity  for  growing  on  their  margins 
*  This  article  was  written  at  our  request,  and  was  intended  to  accompany 
the  biographical  notice  of  Mr.  Arnott,  which  appeared  in  the  Journal  some 
little  while  ago.— Ed, 
