158 



IRISH GARDENING, 



The Chrysanthemum. 



General Note. 



THE numerous varieties of Chinese and Japanese 

 clirysanthemum tiiat form such a charming- 

 feature of our gardens in autumn have all been 

 devoloped within the last loo years. They have been 

 produced by selection from C. indiciini and C. sinense, 

 these being really geographical forms of the same 

 species. This chrysanthemum was first introduced to 

 these islands in 1790, having been sent to Kew Gardens 

 by M. Gels, a French gardener. The Japanese variety 

 was nc)t introduced until the year 1862, but since then 

 it has been a great favourite, and to-day is one of the 

 most popular of flowers. The recognised g^arden 

 forms of chrysanthemum are — (i) Incurved, (2) Re- 

 curved or Reflexed, (3) Anemone-flowered, (4) Pompone, 

 (5) Japanese. 



Ripe Wood Essential. 

 The chrysanthemum naturally forms stems that are 

 woody below, and it is important that growers of these 

 plants desirous of securing the best possible blooms 

 should encourage that firmness of stem that is asso- 

 ciated with perfect flower formation. Light is the one 

 great essential for the proper ripening of the " wood ;" 

 therefore, in a comparatively sunless summer the plants 

 should be kept more widely apart, so that the stems 

 and foliag-e may receive as much light as possible. At 

 all times any condition that tends to produce softness 

 of stem should be avoided, such as too loose potting-, 

 over-crowding-, and over-feeding- during the period of 

 vegetative growth. One sign of ripeness is the 

 bronzing of the leaves towards the end of September. 

 It is a physiologically wrong principle to strongly force 

 the g-rowth of the plant during the summer and then to 

 suddenly attempt to induce ripeness by withholding 

 water. Ripening is a gradual process. 



Feeding the Young Flowers. 

 When the vegetative growth is over and the flower 

 buds begin to swell, judicious feeding will then be 

 beneficial. The best method is to feed frequently with 

 a very weak liquid manure. The best growers take 

 care to vary the character of the food. They use in 

 alternating succession such things as cow or sheep 

 manure, soot, bone meal, guano, or artificials. When 

 feeding roots are seen running on or near the surface 

 of the soil they may be covered with a layer of rich 

 loam, well-rotten farmyard manure or cow dung-. 



Early Flowering Chrysanthemums. 



By p. J. Gray. 



MANY cottagers and others having small gardens 

 and no glass accommodation are under the 

 impression that the chrysanthemum is beyond 

 their reach, and cannot be grown without the aid of a 

 glass-house. On the contrary, protection is only 

 necessary for the late flowering kinds, and there is an 

 early flowering section suitable for cultivation out of 

 doors. These produce their blooms in great profusion, 

 variety and form during the late summer and autumn 

 months until destroyed by frost, and thereby supply a 

 great want in the flower border when flowering plants 

 are scarce. The blooms are invaluable for cutting, as 

 they keep fresh for a long- time when placed in water, 

 and this qualification alone should find them a place in 

 all gardens. 



\'arieties of the Japanese, or large flowering section, 

 are now much used for border planting, and within 

 recent years many new kinds of exquisite form and 



colour suitable for this purpose have been added to an 

 already extensive list. Many of the Pompone section are 

 early flowering-, and although the blooms are not so 

 large as those of the Japanese kinds, yet they are 

 useful on account of their dwarf habit. 



As reg-ards cultivation, cutting-s of good varieties may 

 be obtained from a nurseryman or g-rower in March, 

 and with a little heat these may be rooted and had 

 ready for planting out at the proper season, or, better 

 still, rooted plants may be purchased in April or May fit 

 for putting out at once. For a beginner a few rooted 

 plants are best, and the following season it is easy to 

 increase the stock by cuttings or division of the old 

 plants. The chrysanthemum requires a rich soil, and 

 some time previous to planting some well-rotted manure 

 should be incorporated with it. When planting the soil 

 around the roots should be undisturbed. Plant firmly, 

 and leave at least two feet between the plants to allow 

 for proper development. When the plants are g-rowing 

 freely they may be stopped by pinching off" the points of 

 the leading shoots ; this induces a dwarf or bushy 

 habit of growth. Give plenty of water in dry weather, 

 and apply weak liquid manure once or twice a week 

 when the flower-buds begin to appear. The leading- 

 shoots require support by staking-, otherwise they 

 would get broken by high winds. If larg^e blooms are 

 required some of the flower-buds may be removed while 

 they are small. When planting arrang-e the colours in 

 groups separatel)', and keep tall growers at the back of 

 the border and the dwarfer kinds towards the front. 



There are a great many goc^d varieties to select 

 from, and the following can be relied on to g-ive 

 complete satisfaction : — Japanese Polly, bronze yellow ; 

 Goacher's Crinison, rich deep crimson ; Perle Rose, 

 pink ; Ralph Curtis, creamy white ; O. J. Quintus, 

 mauve pink ; Nina Blick, reddish terra cotta ; Pom- 

 pone Veuve Cliquot, reddish bronze ; Mme. Edouard 

 Lefort, red and yellow. 



In conclusion, when the plants are done blooming 

 and the stems beg-in to wither they may be cut down 

 near to the ground, and with a little protection in severe 

 frost the old stools will live through the winter, and may 

 be divided into pieces and replanted the following- spring. 



Sex in Plants- 



THERE is at present a good deal of interest centred 

 round the questicm oi' the determination oi sex in 

 living beings. Until quite recently the prevailing- 

 idea was that the chief controlling factor was food, or, 

 in other words that the matter of sex was not settled 

 until after the fertilisation of the e^^, and that then the 

 character and amount of food supplied to the developing 

 embryo determined w hether it w^ould give rise to a male 

 or a female. But recent work in botany has shown that 

 in some species of plants, at all events, the question is 

 settled at the moment of fertilisation. Correns, for 

 example, vvorkingf with the common bryony {Bryonia 

 dioica), has shown that the g-erm cells have distinct sex 

 tendencies. The bryony is a one-sex plant, some indi- 

 viduals being- male or pollen-bearing and others female 

 or ovule-bearing. It appears that all the unfertilised 

 ova in the female plants have a tendency to produce 

 females, while of the fertilising material in the pollen 

 grains of the male plants half have male and half have 

 female tendencies. By "tendency" here is meant that 

 while each germ has both male and female potenti- 

 alities, one sex tendency is always stronger than the 

 other — that is to say, one will be active and the other 

 latent. It is, therefore, a matter of chance what any 

 particular fertilised ovum may produce in the way of 

 sex. As in this plant it appears that maleness is a 

 more dominant sex character than femaleness, it follows 

 that if a pollen grain with male tendencies is the ferti- 

 lising element, a male individual will result, whereas if 



