MAY. 129 



but this is not absolutely necessary, for they strike readily without 

 it. I shade for a few hours in the daytime, until they have taken 

 root, when I give them plenty of air, and pinch out their tops, which 

 causes them to break freely. When the shoots have grown an inch 

 or two in length, I pot into large sixties, in a mixture of turfy loam 

 and one-third rotten dung, selecting the strongest and bushiest plants, 

 and discarding the rest. When potted, I again place them in a close 

 frame, and shade a little until they have made fresh roots. They 

 are afterwards set out of doors, sufficiently far apart to prevent their 

 being drawn, and kept well supplied with water. When the shoots 

 have grown three or four inches in length, I again pinch out their 

 tops, in order to make them bushy ; and after they have grown an 

 inch in length, I shift the plants into 6-inch pots, placing them 

 again in their former situation ; and when they have filled the pots 

 well with roots, I re-pot them into 9-inch pots, in which I flower 

 them, using the same compost as before. I now place them thinly 

 in a nice open place, where they have a free circulation of air : this 

 keeps them dwarf and healthy. I keep the pots clear of weeds 

 and suckers ; water them as often as they require it ; and when they 

 have fairly set their flower-buds, I give them some good clear manure- 

 water twice a week, or more or less according to the state of the 

 weather. About the beginning of October, I remove some of the 

 most forward plants under glass, giving them plenty of air during 

 the day. The others are taken in as they are required, or as the 

 weather may render necessary ; for though hardy, the Chrysanthe- 

 mum will not stand more than 4° or 5*^ of frost, without sustaining 

 some injury. I bloom here every year about 150 plants, varying 

 from one to two feet high, and having from twenty-five to thirty full- 

 blown flowers on each plant, many of which do not require a single 

 stake to support them. 



It may be worth while to remark that, if some of the most pro- 

 mising shoots of out-door plants are layered in the beginning of 

 September, by giving them a twist, and pegging them down a few 

 inches below the surface of the ground, so as to make young plants 

 about ten inches high, they will be well rooted in three weeks, i. e. 

 if they are kept watered. When rooted, they may be taken up and 

 potted in 6-inch pots, and placed in a close frame for a few days, 

 while they make fresh roots ; afterwards they should have plenty of 

 air. Plants managed in this way are very suitable for the front 

 shelves of the stage, or for mixing with other plants. 



The earliest and best flowering of the plants I take cuttings from 

 are selected and planted in any vacant places in the shrubberies, all 

 the shoots being first shortened back to within six inches of the pot. 

 This causes them to make more shoots, which are again stopped, thus 

 keeping the plants dwarf and in due bounds, and inducing them to 

 bloom at a season when few flowers adorn the garden. 



April 11, 1850. T. R. 



VOL. III. NO. XXIX. 



