THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 73 



causes tliem to bloom much earlier. I then pot them in a three-inch 

 pot, about the latter end of November or beginning of December, 

 shutting them up for a week or two to give them a fresh start, after 

 which the great question is to keep them growing as fast as you can. 

 But they must have plenty of air to keep them healthy, and they 

 must not have too much water for fear of frost, from which you must 

 guard against by well matting the frame, which is a much better plan 

 than giving them heat, as this last will be sure to cause them to run 

 up, an eftect you by no means desire. 



As soon as all danger of frost is past, work must commence in 

 earnest. I commence shifting into a five-inch pot, and stopping as 

 often as they require it. This part of the growing must be learned 

 by practice, as the long-jointed varieties will require stopping three 

 times to the short-jointed ones' twice. I continue stopping them as 

 often as I can imtii May, and then discontinue it altogether ; and I 

 prefer shifting them into every size pot as they grow, instead of 

 letting them get cramped for room, and then shifting them into a 

 pot two or three sizes larger, to save trouble. Besides, if you give 

 them a large shift, all the goodness gets wasted out of the mould 

 before the roots have been able to fill the pots. 



About the latter end of April or tlie beginning of May, I plunge 

 them in the ground, in doing which a little management is required, 

 to prevent the roots from penetrat^og the ground, for if they are 

 permitted to do so, they grow very rapidly, and when they are 

 taken up they receive such a check that they will sometimes refuse 

 to bloom at all. To prevent such a calamity as this, I dig a hole 

 about a foot square, and put in a six-inch pot bottom upwards, so 

 that the hole of one pot comes directly over the hole of the other, 

 thereby insuring perfect drainage. I then commence pegging them 

 up once a week. By so doing it stops the sap from flowing too 

 freely, and causes them to break well back, and you may obtain four- 

 teen or fifteen breaks, instead of four or five by stopping too often. 



I now commence giving liquid manure, preferring to give it them 

 rather weak to continually watering them with a strong dose once or 

 twice a week, and using nothing but plain water in between, for that 

 reminds me of a certain son of the Emerald Isle who fed his pig well 

 one day and then gave him nothing for a day or two, and when asked 

 his reason, he said it was to make it streaky, but as we do not want 

 streaky chrysanthemums, I do not admire Pat's feeding. I increase 

 the strength of the liquid manure as the j)lants advance towards 

 maturity, but discontinue it altogether as soon as they show colour, 

 when they should be got under glass directly, for although the pom- 

 pone is so thirsty at the roots, it does not like wet on the flowers, as 

 they are very likely to get mouldy and rot if suftered to get wet, 

 which is very vexing to the grower after all the trouble he has taken 

 with them. 



