FOREIGN NOTICES. 



1S7 



ny or of contrast, brings to my mind a work of 

 Sir D. Brewster, on Natural Magic, or some Bach 

 popular subject . where .he gives very valuable 

 hints on this matter. As well as I can remember 

 bis hints, I believe tlnit lie takes the seven old co- 

 lors of the rainbow; and as a general rule, each 

 color harmonizes with the one next before or after 

 it, and ooatrasts well with the third or fourth from 



t. 



We all know that the colors of the rainbow are 

 arranged a_s follows, beginning from the inner 



dge of its arch: — Violet, indigo, blue, green, yel- 

 low, orange and red. These, if arranged in what 

 may be termed " The Rainbow Round Robin," 

 will stand thus, and illustrate the author's state- 

 ment. 



V harmonizes with I and R, and contrasts with 

 G and Y; Y harmonizes with G and 0, but con- 

 trasta with V and I, and so with the others. 



" I have a great idea that this would make a 

 good design for a set of flower-beds, each of one 

 colour, and they might be surrounded by seven 

 more, the outer set contrast ing with the inner, and 

 the centre might be white." — Cottage Gardener. 



The Chrysanthemum in China. — The Chry- 

 santhemum is the Chinese gardener's favorite 

 dower. There is no other with which he takes so 

 much pains, or which he cultivates so well. His 

 Camelias, Azaleas and Roses, are well grown and 

 well bloomed, but with all these we beat him in 

 England ; in the cultivation of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum, however, he stands unrivalled. The plants 

 themselves, seem, as it were, to meet him half 

 way and grow just as he pleases; sometimes I 

 met with them trained in the form of animals, such 

 as horses and deer, and at other times they were 

 made to resemble the pagodas, so common in the 

 country. Whether they were trained into these 

 fanciful forms, or merely grown as simple bushes, 

 they were always in high health, full of fresh green 

 leaves, and never failed to bloom most profusely 

 in the autumn and winter. 



The method of cultivating the Chrysanthemum 

 in China is as follows. Cuttings are struck every 

 year from the young shoots, in the same manner 

 as we do in England. When they are rooted, they 

 Are potted off at once into the pots in which they 

 are to grow and bloom ; that is, they are grown 

 upon what would be called by our gardeners "the 

 one-shift system." 



The soil used in potting is of a very rich des- 

 cription. About Canton it is generally obtained, 



in the first instance, from the bottom of lakes or 

 ponds, where the Nelutnbium or Water- Lily grows. 

 It is then laid up to dry and pulverise for some 

 months, when it is mixed with old niL r ht-s<iil taken 

 from the manure tanks found in every garden. A 

 heap of this kind, after being laid up for some time 

 and frequently turned over, is in a tit state for pot- 

 ting the Chrysanthemum. Manure water, taken 

 also from the tanks already noticed, is liberally 

 supplied during the growing season, and its effects 

 are visible in the luxuriant dark green leaves 

 which cover the plants. 



In forming the plants into nice compact bushes, 

 which (with due deference to Chinese taste.) I 

 think much prettier than animals and " seven-sto- 

 ried pagodas," their system is as follows: The 

 plants are trained each with a single stem ; this is 

 forced to send out numerous laterals near its base, 

 and these are tied down in a neat and regular 

 manner with strings of silk thread. By having 

 the plants clothed with branches in this way, and 

 by keeping the leaves in a green and healthy state, 

 the specimens never have that bare and broom- 

 headed appearance which they often present in 

 England when they are taken into the green-house 

 in winter. 



About Shanghae and Ningpo the Chrysanthemum 

 is still better managed than it is near Canton ; but 

 the success which attends it may also be attribu- 

 ted, partly at least, to the more favorable nature 

 of the climate, the plant being indigenous to the 

 central or more northern parts of the empire. The 

 system of cultivation is nearly the same ; the main 

 points attended to being those which have been 

 noticed, namely, choosing a rich soil, planting at 

 once into large pots; training to a single stem, and 

 inducing it to send out numerous lateral, and giv- 

 ing liberal supplies of manure water during the 

 growing season. The Chinese are fond of having 

 very large blooms, and, in order to obtain these, 

 they generally pick off all the small flower-buds. 



In China, as in England, the Chrysanthemum 

 flowers during the winter months. When in bloom 

 it is in great request among the people, and is used 

 in the decoration of court-yards, halls and temples. 

 It is everybody's plant, and blooms alike in the 

 irarden of the lowly Chinese cottager as in that of 

 the blue-buttoned mandarin. 



Although we are indebted to China for the pa- 

 rents of those varieties of Chrysanthemums which 

 now enliven our gardens during the dull months of 

 winter, yet, strange to say, the progeny is more 

 numerous in Europe than in China itself Some of 

 those beautiful kinds raised by Mr. Salter in 

 France would be much admired even by the Chi- 

 nese florist. It is a curious fact, however, that 

 many of those kinds, such as formosum and luei- 

 dum, which were originally raised from seed in 

 Europe, are also met with in the north of China. 

 R. F. Gard. Chron. 



There once was a time when rules for making 

 a compost heap were as complicated as a Dutch 



