FEBRUARY. 51 



The mode of treatment which has been so successfully adopted by- 

 Messrs. Veitch, is as follows. A single plant has been placed in the 

 centre of a small quantity of soil, in the bottom of a round glass pan, 

 and filled with water, which is kept as nearly as possible at a tempera- 

 ture of 70°; the skeleton leaves float gracefully just beneath the surface 

 of the water, and produce a most charming effect, which is enhanced 

 by placing bits of white spar or marble over the surface of the soil in 

 which the plant grows. 



At present, these Water Yams are in an almost dormant state, the 

 leaves of last year having died gradually away according to natural 

 habit ; but already signs of renewed vitahty are evident, and shortly 

 the plants will, doubtless, again be covered with " net- work " leaves, 

 the colour of which, as they increase in age and size, changes from the 

 most vivid green to every shade of that colour, being, when fully ma- 

 tured, of the darkest olive tint, and they become almost black before 

 they decay. 



The effect of many leaves in different stages of growth, on a fine 

 specimen cultivated in the manner here described, is strikingly beautiful, 

 and must be seen to be thoroughly appreciated. 



It is not too much to say, tha , in addition to its intrinsic botanical 

 merit, which will secure it a place in the collections of all lovers of rare 

 and beautiful exotics, the " Ouvirandra fenestralis " is likely, in these 

 days of " fine-foliaged plants," to become even a drawing-room orna- 

 ment of the first class. 



Our wood-cut, which represents a small leaf, will convey a good idea 

 of the general appearance of this singular lace-like foliaged aquatic. 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



The past season has confirmed the impression we had previously 

 formed of the great advantages the Pompone Chrysanthemum possesses 

 over the old large-flowering kinds, both for pot culture and also as a 

 border plant. 



They more freely flower a little earlier, and require but very few 

 stakes. Those that visited the exhibition of this flower on the 

 14th November, at Stoke Newington, must have come to the same 

 conclusion. 



Easy of culture as the Clirysanthemum is, we find many fail, 

 chiefly, we think, from putting the cuttings in too early, from which 

 cause they become leggy, instead of dwarf green bushes with foliage 

 down to the pots. The best plan, however, and with the least trouble, 

 is to grow them in the ground from cuttings put in late in May, 

 stopping them once, after they have got hold of the ground, and pot 

 them up after the buds have been formed 



By giving them tolerable room in a south border, this plan will be 

 found by far the best. 



