1-12 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



[ AogDBt 19. leeg. 



loum is palled to pieces by Iho band anJ wirewormsdeatroyed. WLeio 

 boQC dast can be had it is preferable to oyster-sbells, nsioc it iu tliu 

 proporLion of abont 1 to SO. Tbo sy&tem most generally adopted is to 

 ^row the plants to one stem, and now is a good time to rob of! all 

 eyes for 2 inches above the soil. 



Townrdd the middle of Fcbrnnrr the plants will require another 

 shift, always waterinf* sparinf^'ly after shifting nntil the roots begin to 

 work in the new soil. Tbey will now heoia to prow rapidlv, when 

 pe^ng'down mnst be had recourse to, continuing the t^amc treatment, 

 and fnmigating occasionnlly to keep them clear of insects. About the 

 miJalo of March they will be ready for another shift, after wLit-b any 

 weak ghoots ou^ht to bo allowed to qrow npripbt for a time, so ao to 

 throw more strcn^^th into them, at the same time tyinpE down the strong 

 oncR to connteratt their inclination to prossness, for it is of primary 

 importance to have all the shoots of nniform strtngth, othci'wiso there 

 will be a diversity in the size of the blooms. 



The grower must now decide in what shape he intends to train bis 

 plants. This should not be delayed too long, for as the season ad- 

 vances the shoots become harder, stiffor, and consequently more brittle, 

 and frequently the breaking of a ahoo* at this stage sjioils a specimen 

 for the season. There are so many fj.ntastic shapes into which the 

 Ghrysanthemnm may bo trained, on account of its extreme adapt- 

 ability to almost any mode of trainiug, that I refrain from recom- 

 mending one more than another; I would, therefore, say, Let every 

 grower train according to his requirement?, or as his fancy may dic- 

 tate. After trying the upright, rqaat, pyramid, standard, and convex 

 forms, I will merely say that I have found the last a very simple and 

 «flfcctive mode of training. Roand the rim of the pot a wire is 

 fastened, to which the uhoots may be tied. In bending the shoots 

 down, they may he left a little higher in the centre ; one shoot can by 

 this method be tied to another, and the framework of the Fpecimen 

 will, with very little trouble, bo formed so that any future tying will 

 merely consist in fiUingin the spaces between the shoots. 



By the last week in April the plants will, by good management, bo 

 ready to receive their final shift ; the large-llowered ones into 12-inch, 

 and the Pompons into 10-inch pots. The plants should now have 

 plenty of room, and should be syringed regularly morning and even- 

 ing. In May they should be gradually hardened-oIT. previous to being 

 removed out of doors, by taking off the lights daring the day. 



About the end of May, or beginning of June, a sunny but sheltered 

 piece of ground should be selected, and the pots should be plunged to 

 throe-fourths of their depth, placing a small inverted pot under each 

 to secure good drainage and esclude worms, leaving sufficient space 

 between the plants to admit light and air. otherwise they will become 

 drawn, and weak nnripe wood will be the result. The plants will 

 require turning round once a*weck. After the pots are full of roots, 

 great attention must be paid to watering, for if the Chrysanthemum is 

 neglected iu this particular, it will tell its own tale by throwing off a 

 shower of leaves almost as soon as any plant under cultivation, not 

 only materially detracting from the beauty of the specimen, but exer- 

 cising a very detrimcnfal effect on the productiou of good blooms. 

 During June, July, and August but little variation of treatment will 

 bo required, only the grower should endeavour to have his plants of 

 sufficient size to enable him to give the large-flowered ones their last 

 stopping in the first or second week in June, and the Pompons theirs 

 in the second or third week. 



In August earwigs and cateqiillars must be looked after. The 

 former may be caught by cutting bean stalks into lengths of 4 or 

 5 inches, placing them on the plants, and examining them in the 

 mornings ; the caterpillars mnst be sought for among the leaves of the 

 plants. If the pots be this month lifted nearer the surface, it will 

 facilitate the ripening of the wood ; and if any of the plants be in- 

 clined to be gross, it will be necessary to withhold water to some 

 extent, in order to ripen the wood before they show their buds, which 

 they wiU do in the iirst week in September. Now is the time to apply 

 liquid manure, and in my opinion the Chrysanthemum should never 

 have any of it until it shows its buds. There maybe a few exceptions 

 to this rule, but many who profess to be good growers, and who like to 

 see their specimens make luxuriant growth, administer liberal doses of 

 liquid manure during the growing season ; nothing can be more fatal 

 to the formation of good blooms. 



Disbudding should now commence ; and in operating care should be 

 taken in the selection of the buds to be retained, to choose the fnllest 

 and most healthy-looking, and leave only one on each shoot of the 

 large-flowered sorts. Some of the Pompons, such as Bob, Mdlle. 

 Marthe, Src, do best by disbudding to one bud on each shoot, and 

 none of them should have more than three left on a shoot. Some of 

 the shoots will bo found to bo more forward than others, and are apt 

 to bloom before these; but by disbudding this maybe avoided, by 

 nipping ont the crown or earliest bud of the earliest shoots, leaving a 

 good side bnd, and retaining the crown or earliest bud of the late 

 shoots. This will cause all the buds to ba equally forward. 



About the second week in October the plants should be taken rnder 

 glass — that is, into houses or pits where they can be protected from 

 frost, keeping them cool and close to the glass, with abundance of air. 

 If they are wanted for exhibition, the earlier varieties may be kept 

 outside for a ;veek or ten days longer, protecting them from severe 

 weather: and, again, the late varieties maybe kept in the warmer 

 end of the greenhonso. The plants should now be watered five times 

 a-woek with lit^oid maanie, applying it 5^ wftrmer than the tempera- 



tnre of the house. This will concentrate the entire energies of the 

 plants in the budd. which will now be sweUicg rapidlr. Towards the 

 end of the month the large-Bowered kinds ehonld be tied to neat green 

 sticks, as the blooms will bo too heavy for the shoots to support them. 

 Tbo Pompons will require little or no staking, bat should be neatly 

 tied-in, so ns to present compact ppecimens. 



In the last week of Octooer, or first week of November, the bads 

 will begin to show colour, when syringing and liquid manure choald 

 bo dis'-ontinued. Any of the blooms that arc at this time too late 

 should be nipped off, as it id of importance that all of them should be 

 at the same stage of expansion. I prepare my liquid manure in this 

 manner : — I have a tab which will contain about eighty gallons of 

 water ; into it I put one peck of pigeons' dnng, over which I ponr some 

 boiliug water to kill insects, and add one peck of soot, and one peck 

 of lime rubbish. I then fill the tub with liquid manare from the 

 fanuyard, stir tbc contents, and skim off the surface previous to ose. 

 I apply this liqnid in the proportion of one to six of clear water. 



In the autumn mildew [3 apt to make its appearance, to prevent 

 which the leaves should be dusted with flowers ot sulphur. 

 About the 2Uth of November the plants will be iu fall bloom. 

 By pursuing the foregoing treatment, the cultivator will be enabled 

 to produce large-flowering specimens that will carry one hundred and 

 fifty good blooms, which will require no drL'gsing, and Pompons with 

 from one hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty blooms, accord- 

 ing as they are disbudded ; but it is imperative that the grower be to 

 a certain extent an enthusiast, for wiUioat enthusiasm nothing great 

 has ever been achieved. 



If specimen blooms arc wanted, the plants should not be stopped at 

 all, bnt the side shoots should be allowed to grow upright, disbudding 

 to a limited number on each plant ; the fewer left the larger the blooms 

 will be. Treat the plants in every other respect as recommended for 

 specimen plants. Incurved varieties are best for this purpose. They 

 are also more in request now for specimen plant?. Some of the sorts, 

 such as Golden Trilby, Princess of Wales, &c., do much better in 

 some years than in others. 



Anemone-flowered varieties, althongh more tender than the others, 

 are very beautiful, and well worth growing. 



I will not occupy time by giving a list of what I consider the best 

 varieties, as the varioas catalogues safficiently describe the most 

 desirable. 



In couclasion, I consider the new Japanese varieties a great acqui- 

 sition to the conservatory, for althongh they do not come np to the 

 standard of what is called a " florists' flower," they possess the mach- 

 desired quality of being late bloomers. This, then, is already one 

 point gained, for it is a greater desideratum to have late-blooming 

 Chrysanthemums than early ones, as flowers are not so scarce in the 

 autumn months as they are in January and February; and as the 

 natural blooming time of the Chrysanthemum is November and 

 December, something is wanted that will bloom naturally for two or 

 three months after Christmas. Thi?, I think, will soon be accom- 

 plished by improving on the Japanese varieties. It is true that by 

 growing some of the early and late kinds, and with the assistance of 

 forcing and retarding, the blooming season of the Chrysauthemum 

 may at the present time be extended from September till February; 

 hut" as it is forced or retarded its blooms will be proportionably inferior, 

 for it despises the forcing pit as much as it dislikes the retarding 

 house, thus affording one more proof that Nature will not he trifled 

 with in any of her grand and varied arrangements. I trust that 

 not only a greater stimulus will henceforth be given to the cziltivation 

 of the Chrysanthemum than has hitherto been accorded it, by offering 

 more liberal prizes for it at exhibitions, but that encouragement will 

 be held out to raisers of late-blooming kinds by offering premiums for 

 lata varieties of the Japanese race, whose oatoral blooming time wiJl 

 be from Christmas onwards, and I have no doubt that wa shall have 

 the blooming season of the Chrysanthemum carried fairly into March. 

 it will then, with its beautiful and diversified colours, monopolise 

 iu brilliant array the most distinguished places on the stages of the 

 conservutory, for at least four or five of the most dismal months of 

 the year. I hope that such a time is not far distant, and that this 

 truly magnificent flower will occupy that superior standing in the floral 

 kingdom which it so well deserves.— R. FLEiriNG, Gitrder.er to li. 

 Hovffhton, Esq.y Sandheys, Waterloo^ Livcj'pcoi. 



SMOKE \-ET.svs VEGETABLE LIFE. 



HA^^^-G been employed for more than twenty years in the midst of 

 a manufacturing district, during which period trade has very mnch 

 increased, and having, therefore, for that length of time had to con- 

 tend against a gradual increase of smoke aud other vapours which 

 are very injurious to vegetable life, I will venture to lay before yon a 

 few plain remarks how that offensive and polluted atmosphere has to 

 a certain extent injured, and in several instances destroyed, some of the 

 trees, (fcc, in this locality. 



When I first came to "live in Warrington the air was not so full of 

 smoke and other injurious gases as it is at the present time. Some 

 species of plants which then flourished have now disappeared. I have 

 noticed that as manufactories have increased, one species of plant 

 after another has gradually declined in health, and in some instances 

 they are mere skeletons of "what tbey formerly were, giving a desolate 

 appearance to that conntry which they once beautified. 



