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2708. Packing and conveying plants in pots. Plants in pots are packed among moss
in boxes, witli thcir tops covered with a net, and sent to any distance where the climate
will not injure them, and where water is supplied. Where the climate is severe, they
arc covered with a glazed tegument ; and thus glass cases or temporaiy hothouses are
employed in ships to caivy tender plants from this countiy to the colder colonies, and to
bring plants fi'om the warmer colonies home. Stove-plants are also transported from
Erancc, Holland, aud Hamburgh into Germany and Eussia, in waggons with glass
covers.
2709. In packing plants fo r importation, much more care is requisite than has in
g c n e ra l/c c n bestowed on the subject. “ I t is thought enough,” Lindley observes
(Hort. Trans., vol. v. p. 192.), “ to tear a plant from its native soil, to plant it in fresh earth,
to fasten it in a wooden case, and put it on board a vessel.” Notldng can be more
eiToncoiis : preparatory to packing, the plants should have them roots well established in
pots or boxes, which m.ay, in woody kinds, require from one to three months. Boxes
with proper perforations in the bottom are better than pots, because less liable to break,
and of less weight. When the period for embarldng them arrives they should be placed
in wooden cases, the tops of which must be capable of being opened, and should slope
both ways, like the roof of a double greenhouse. These cases must be furnished with
a tarpawling, flxed along their tops, and sufflciently lai'ge, when unrolled, to cover them
completely, so as to protect the plants from being damaged by the salt -«'ater dashing
over them in rough weather. It cannot be expected that heavy cases should meet with
very gentle treatment on sliipboard ; and it is certain they wiU be handled in the
roughest manner by watermen, carters, aud custom-house officers, after they have arrived
in port. The materials, therefore, of which they are made, ought to be of a very strong
description, and the joints of the lower part either secured by iron bands, or well dovetailed
together. The person in charge of the oases on board should have directions
never to exclude them from air and liglit in fine weather, unless to protect them from
the cold, as the vessel makes the land, aud after she is in port, or during high winds, or
especially ivlien tho seamen are washing tho decks ; but in foul weather to dose the iids
down, and to unroll the tarpawling over the latter, so as to exclude the sea-spray
effectually. It; notwithstanding these prcc.aiitions, saline particles should become
incrusted upon the leaves and stems of the plant, it is necessary that the former shotild
be removed as soon and as c,arefully as possible, with fresh water and a sponge, otherwise
tho salt will soon kill them. The quantity of water the plants receive must be
determined by what can be spared ; so that no other direction for its application can be
given, tlian to keep the mould just moist. The requisite supply of water must also
depend much upon the way in which the cases are drained. The best manner in which
this can be effected, is by causing holes about h alf an inch in diameter to be bored
tlirongh tho bottom of the cases and pots. Much mischief being occasionally done to
collections by monkeys and parroqiiets on board the vessels, it is highly necessary that
means should be taken to guard against theh attacks.
2710. Collections are not unfrequently injured, after they arrive in this countiy, by the
pots being shaken so violently as to be deprived of a lai'ge portion of their mould
Nothing can well be more destructive of vegetable life than this, which should be pre-!
vented by the pots being made square, so as to fit accurately into the bottom of tho
outer case. There then could be no difficulty in keeping them steady ; and if they were
fastened down hy cross pieces of wood, they would be secured still more completely. In
addition, the surface of the mould ought to be covered deeply with coarse moss, or other
similar substance (not grass), which might be secm'ed by packthread passed fi'equently
across the box from its sides, or by slender laths, which would be less likely to become
rotten than packthread. By these means, evaporation of the watery particles which are
necessai'y to the existence of the plants, proceeds much less rapidly than when the mould
is exposed ; and the latter has an additional security against being shaken out of tho
pots. When it happens that pots are not to be procured, the want of them mnst be supplied
by the collection being planted in eai'th in the cases themselves, th eh bottom being
previously strewed to the depth of 1 in. ov 2 in. with fr'agments of earthenware or bits
of wood. In such cases, it is particulaiy necessary that the mould should be secui'cly
fastened down.
2711. Orchidaceous Epiphytes, or, as they are commonly called, air plants, may be
transported safely to any distance, by being packed loosely in moss, and put into boxes
so constructed that the plants may be exposed to a free admission of air, but protected
from the sea-water.
2712. ZmZós travel most securely if they are packed in paper or canvas bao-s they
having been previously dried, till all the moisture in their outer coats is evaporated.
B r y sand is a good medium for placing them in, if opportunities should not have
occurred of giving them the necessary exposure to the sun. But minute bulbs, such as
those of m a s, gladioluses, oxaliscs, and others of a similar kind, only require to be folded
in separate little parcels without any previous prepai-ation. Terrestrial Orchidese should
be transplanted when in flower, and not when their roots are in a state of rest.
2713. Any woody or bony seeds, or capsules, that may have been procured, should be
buried among the mould in which plants are p o tted ; or any of those seeds, the juices of
which become rancid soon after gathering, such as those of the Guttiferaj, MagnolioceiP,
Stcrculiacese, &c. Camellia seeds, which are not readily transported, if sown in mould
in China, wiU have become seedling plants before they reach this country. Acorns and
walnuts may be conveyed from hot countries much better in this way than in any other.
Palms, too, arc better sent in this way than in bags or paper. The plants in all cases,
if possible, should have numbers punched upon small pieces of thin sheet-lead, and
fastened round tlie subjects to whicli they belong with fine iron or copper wire. When
such lead is not to be procured, little wooden tallies should be used instead. (Hort.
Trans., vol. v. p. 194.)
2714. Packing and transporting roots of plants, or entire plants in a doimant state, is
a very simple operation. AVhen the distance does not exceed a week’s journey, they are
packed in straw, and covered with mats ; if a longer period is required, the roots are enveloped
in earth or moss; but veiy moist moss is not desii-able, as it occasions mouldiness,
and rots off the hark of the roots when it begins to dry. Regard in all cases must be had
to the kind of plant, season of the year, distance, time, and mode of caii’iage.
C l IA P . IV.
Operations relative to the final Products desired o f Gardens, and Garden-scenery.
2715. The objects of gardening are certain vegetable productions, and certain beauties
and effects in respect to design and taste. We now propose to notice the general principles
by which the gardener ouglit to be guided, in directing operations for the attainment
of these ends ; also the mode of conducting the business of a garden in an orderly
manner ; and the leading points of attention reqnisite to insure the beauty and order of
garden sceneiy.
S e c t . I. O f ihe vegetable Products desired o f Gardens.
2716. The vegetable productions o f gardens are firaits, seeds, roots, stems, and stalks,
leaves, flowers, bark, wood, and entire plants.
2717. Fruits. A ll plants require to attain the age of puberty, before they will produce
fruits or seeds. In annuals, as in the melon, this happens in a few weeks or
months ; in trees, as the pear, it requires sevcrai years. The first object is to induce the
growth of sound tissue ; the next, the production of blossom buds ; the third, to induce
the blossoms to set or fecundate ; and the fonrth, to swell and ripen the fruit. New
fruits are procured from seeds properly produced and selected ; and are continued in
trees by gTafting or budding ; in perennials, by slips or runners ; and in annuals, by
seeds. The quality of fruits is improved by abundant supplies of nourishment, by
increased air, light, and heat, by pruning, thinning, and other means ; their bulk by
moisture ; and their flavour by withholding moisture and increasing light, heat, and aft.
Fi'uit is preserved by placing it in a low dry temperatui-e, buiying it in the eai'th, or
drying it in the sun.
2718. Seeds are the essential part of fruit, or constitute the entire fruit, and are produced
on the same general principle. Those produced for culinary purposes iu gai'den-
ing ai'e chiefly fr-om annuals, and ai-e used green, as the pea, bean, Indian cress, &c. ;
but seeds of almost all garden vegetables are occasionally produced for the sake of propagating
the species. Here attention is reqnisite to make choice of a proper stock, and
to place it so as not to be in danger of impregnation from other allied species, which
might hybridise the progeny ; to thin out superfluous blossoms ; to remove leafy or
barren exuberances, or bulbs, tubers, or other productions which might lessen tho
nonrishment devoted to the production of the seed. Seeds of common forest-trces ai-e
not gcneraliy subjected to such careful management as those of herbaceous vegetables
or rarer trees ; but, wherever improved kinds are desired, the same practices are applicable.
Light, air, and a free exposure, with diy, warm weather, are essential to the
proper ripening of seeds. They are preserved in a diy, cool temperature, like fruit ; and,
if perfectly excluded from air and moisture, wiU never vegetate ; but the -vital principle
of most seeds is but of short duration.
2719. Boots, to be produced in perfection, require a deep, wcIl-pulveriscd, pliable,
porous soil, and moderate moisture. The plants should, in all cases, be preiranted from
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