42 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[February, 



and are popular in some of the better specimens 

 of landscape gardening. Where the winters are 

 severe it will no doubt be classed as a cool green- 

 house plant, but will be excellently well adapted 

 for what is known as sub-tropical summer garden- 

 ing. 



The Chrysanthemum Disease. — Of late years 

 a disease has attacked Chrysanthemums, which 

 seriously detracts from the pleasure of their cul- 

 ture. The leaves are attacked by a fungus in 

 early summer, and by autumn there are but few 

 leaves left on the lower portions of the plants, the 

 flower stems are weak, and proportionately small. 

 Mr. Worthington G. Smith finds the fungus to be 

 one closely allied to the famous grape mildew, 

 and that it is the Oidium Chrysanthemi of Raben- 

 horst. As figured in the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 magnified four hundred times, the plant is up- 

 right, in three or five segments, representing a 

 link of sausages, the topmost one of which is 

 shorter and thicker than the one next to and at- 

 tached to the Chrysanthemum. As sulphur was 

 found to be of so much value in the grape mil- 

 dew, it may be of equal service here. 



On the Cultivation of Chrysanthemums. 

 — Like the greater part of herbaceous plants of 

 this class they are tenacious of life, and easily 

 grown ; but if they are to be cultivated well, a 

 regular system of management is necessary. 

 After the flowering season is past, and the old 

 stems cut down, the plants should be removed 

 from the greenhouse or conservatory and placed 

 in a cold frame, when thev are merely protected 

 from severe frost. Here they should have plenty 

 of air, and on fine days the lights should be drawn 

 quite off and the plants fully exposed. When the 

 winter is mild they will stand very well unpro- 

 tected, but owing to their having been grown and 

 excited in the greenhouse they are more apt to 

 suffer from severe weather afterwards than if they 

 had been planted out in the open air; foi; this rea- 

 son it is always better to have the means of giving 

 them some slight protection. 



We saw some magnificent plants in the present 

 season which had produced flowers last year; the 

 stems had been cut down and the old plants 

 treated as described above. They were taken 

 into the greenhouse this autumn, just as they had 

 been left at the end of the previous season, with- 

 out any repotting, and then manured once a week 

 with manure water, made by dissolving a tea- 

 spoonful of sulphate ammonia in a gallon of rain 

 water. The plants were strong, ])roduced beau- 



tiful bright green foliage and splendid blooms, 

 equal to any that had been raised from newly 

 planted cuttings taken in June this year. Chrys- 

 anthemums are very gross feeding plants, but 

 they will not stand much surface-manuring until 

 the pots are well filled with roots, when they may 

 be watered with liquid manure twice or thrice a 

 week, according to circumstances. 



Where exposed fully to the sun's rays they re- 

 quire a very abundant supply of water, which 

 ought never to be neglected, otherwise the under- 

 leaves fall off, and the plants become unsightly. 

 Liquid drainings from cattle sheds (diluted with 

 water), sheep droppings dissolved in rain water, a 

 teaspoonful of guano, sulphate ammonia, or ni- 

 trate of soda dissolved in a gallon of rain water, 

 or a handful of soot to a gallon of water — any of 

 these will be found of great service for surface 

 watering of chrysanthemums. The soil employed 

 for the growth of these plants can scarcely be too 

 rich ; about equal parts of loam, stable-dung, leaf- 

 mould, and sand, make an excellent material for 

 their culture. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Hot-water Pipes. — Having for a number of 

 years studied the question of economically heating 

 incubators and chambers for hatching germs, I 

 have Deen obliged to give a great deal of attention 

 to the subject of boilers and hot-water pipes. The 

 experience gained was always in favor of a reduc- 

 tion of the quantity of water and an increase of 

 heating surface. Working on in this direction I 

 arrived at the result of a half annular pipe instead 

 of the usual system of annular piping. These 



Half-annular. 



Annular. 



A 



half annular or " crescent " pipes, as 1 have called 

 them, are somewhat on the principle of a saddle 

 boiler, and the small heating apparatus which 1 

 have as yet constructed on this principle have ful- 

 filled my most sanguine expectations. A 7-feet 

 length of ordinary 6inch annular piping contains 

 8 I, gallons of water, whereas my crescent pipes, 

 same length and same heating surface, contain 

 only 5 pints of water. The obvious economy of 

 heating power is a great gain, as it enables me to 

 make heating apparatus sufficiently powerful for 

 any small-sized greenhouse ; this can be worked 

 by an oil lamp, costing from gd. to is. 6d. per 

 week, according to number and length of pipes. 

 So many amateur gardeners object to the trouble 

 attendant upon coke or coal furnaces that 1 get 

 constantly asked for such a heating apparatus. 

 Again, the action of the heat is so rapid that no 



