8 April, 1908.] Garden A'oUs. 225 



amateur and professional, although their season of blooming fs com- 

 paratively short. Many diverse forms are obtainable, and the general 

 habit of growth of the best varieties is neat and compact. The flowers 

 are valuable for decoration, lasting well in water. 



Soil and Culture. 



The cultivation of the perennial asters is exceedingly simple. They 

 will thrive in any fair garden soil, having a preference for soil that will 

 be cool and fairly moist during the growing .season. They will grow 

 fairly with a little attention in the matter of manuring and watering, 

 but repay any special care in those directions. In fairly rich ."^oils and 

 situations, where they are allowed room to expand, they will not require 

 to be removed and replanted for several years. In poor soils, and under 

 hot and harsh conditions, it is advisable to lift the plants and transplant 

 into manured soil each season. The usual method of increase is by 

 <livision of the parent crown in autumn or spring. A small division will 

 develop into a fairly large plant during the season of growth. Plants 

 may be struck from cuttings in spring, but this method is rarely practised 

 except by nurserymen when desiring a rapid increa.se of a scarce kind. 

 New varieties are raised from seeds, which should be sown in light 

 soil in spring. Seeds saved from some of the newer hybrid kinds may 

 produce varieties varying in some respect from the parent. The general 

 cultivatign of the perennial aster during the growing season consists 

 mainly in keeping the soil fairly moist during dry weather, and training 

 the plants to stakes where necessary. Tall growing varieties may be cut 

 hack when about a foot in height, which will have the effect of dwarfing 

 them a great deal. A number of varieties and species of aster are available 

 in Melbourne nurseries. 



The China asters are annuals, and must be raised each season from 

 seeds. They are classed as half-hardy, a classification that denotes 

 inability to resist normal winter conditions. Seeds should be sown in 

 spring, September and October being the most suitable months for these 

 and most other annuals of a like nature. To get good results, seed 

 should be sown in boxes of light soil, and when the young plants are 

 fit to handle they should be transplanted into boxes or beds and grown 

 on for a time, when they should be transplanted into their flowering 

 quarters. The first transplanting insures sufficient room for the develop- 

 ment of the young plants; while, if left in the seed beds or boxes until 

 the time came to transplant them into the beds or borders, they would 

 unless sown very thinly be drawn and weakened. To attain .something 

 approaching perfection the China aster requires a good rich soil, well 

 drained and prepared, and a fair supplv of water during the growing 

 season. Under suitable conditions some of the strains produce flowers 

 of great size and l:>eautv. Where water is scarce a mulching of manure 

 will assist materially in the development of the plants. After the flower 

 buds are formed it is advisable to withhold water in a measure as the 

 flowers are liable to " damp off." 



Flower Garden. 



Preparing ground for planting during the dormant season, and the 

 present planting of evergreen and other plants from pots are important 

 operations at this season. The work of soil preparation can be carried 

 out more thoroughly and the soils and manures be better and more easily 

 mixed when the soil is in a partly dry condition than in a stale of 

 saturation. A common error with novices in gardening is the burying of 



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