26 ON DOUBLE-FLOWERED CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



cucumber bed, and one-half yellow loam. This I mix well toge- 

 ther some time before I use it for potting in. 



Cultivation.— About the first week in April, I take off suckers, 

 -always choosing the strongest, but most dwarfy, suckers for that 

 purpose. I take as many of each variety as I think I shall want to 

 flower, never keeping less than two plants of a sort. These suckers 

 I plant, one plant in a 48-sized pot, in the compost above described. 

 After I have potted them, I place them in the shade, for about a 

 fortnight, till the roots have got well established in the pots. I 

 then remove them to a south aspect, where they get the sun the 

 most part of the day. 



I have sometimes known some of the sorts not throw ivp a sin- 

 gle sucker. When this happens, I always turn the old plant 

 out of the pot that it flowered in, and beat off the ball of soil ; 

 then trim off the long fibrous roots, of which, the pot never fails to 

 be full, and again repot the old plant, and place it along with the 

 other pots. After I have done potting, I give them a good water- 

 ing, to settle the earth round the plant, and in about a week they 

 be^in to make fresh shoots. About June I repot them into 32- 

 sized pots, always taking care to keep them well watered. After 

 I have repotted them, I cut off the top of every plant according 

 to the height I wish to bloom them. If I wish for tall plants, I 

 only just take off the extreme tops; but if I want dwarf plants, 

 (which I think are most desirable in pots,) I cut them off very 

 low, always taking care to leave three or four joints below the cut. 

 These tops, if put into a bed where there is a little heat, will 

 easily strike root, and make very handsome plants. I have taken 

 cuttings off as late as the latter end of July ; these cuttings, when 

 struck, make beautiful little blooming plants about a foot high, 

 and covered with foliage quite down to the pot. After I have 

 potted them into 32's, I frequently water them with manure water ; 

 this I believe to be very beneficial to the plants. About the last 

 week in July, I repot them again into 24-sized pots, always using 

 the same conrpost as above described. About the middle of Sep- 

 tember, I shift them into 16-sized pots to bloom. The only ex- 

 ception is with the plants that are struck late : these I bloom in 

 32's. When any kind is scarce, it can be inci'eased by cutting 

 down the old plant when it is out of bloom, cutting in the shoots 

 to short lengths, and putting them into a bed where there is a 



