J 10 ON LAYING THE BLOOM HEADS OF CHKl'SANTHEMUMS. 



the mode it is likely to effect the greatest benefit. The liole at tlie 

 bottom must not be covered over by a flat piece of pot, slate, oi* other 

 material, or tlie water would not pass off; but a hollow piece should 

 first be properly placed ; then broken pots, angular stones, pieces of 

 brick, &c., to a suitable depth, varying, according to the depth of the 

 pot, from one to two inches. Over this a layer of turfy loam, turfy 

 peat, or moss should be placed to prevent the soil being washed amongst 

 the drainage materials. It is now well known that pieces of brick, 

 from their porous texture, act in the manner of a sponge for the azote, 

 which is so essential to the nourisiunent of plant*. Such substances 

 become, in fact, by their pliysical action and chemical properties, an 

 actual manure for plants ; the soil being aerated, and the water passing 

 rapidly off, most essentially promotes the healtli of the plant, liroken 

 or crushed bones have been tried with the soft-wooded plants with great 

 success, a layer being placed over the potsherds. 



ON LAYING THE BLOOM HEADS OF CHRYSAN- 

 THEMUMS. 



BY DAHL OF MANCHESTER. 



There having been lately in tlie Floricultural Cabinet, and other 

 floral publications, some papers on what is called dwarfing these fine 

 flowers, my attention was drawn to the subject. 



One elderly gentleman / heard think very loud on the subject. In 

 general I am very much pleased with his thoughts, being mostly of a 

 very practical nature ; but he thought that if the operator came off 

 with the loss of 25 per cent, he might congratulate himself. One of 

 your correspondents says he binds two parts of the stem with worsted, 

 so far apart as to make a tongue in the space ; and when pegged down 

 he fills up the space between the tongue, and the stem with thick mud. 

 With the idea of a loss of 25 per cent., with the binding the joints with 

 worsted, with the mixing up mud and applying it to the incised wounds, 

 I could not bring my mind to assent to, and resolved to allow the few 

 I had, which were fine sorts, to stand the chance of being spoiled by 

 the frost. 



But finding my plants were making fine bloom heads, I began to 

 think if there could not be some plan devised by which the whole could 

 be done without so much risk and trouble. A thought struck me. I 

 thought that if the stem was gradually bent down, so that the end of it 

 reached the ground, the sun's rays would draw up the end. Such was 

 the case. I got some sticks with hooks at the ends, and placing them 

 about the centre of the stems, gently and gradually forced them down, 

 so that each end met the ground. In a few days the whole of them 

 had turned up about six inches, with a fine round shoulder. I got 

 some small pots, and sunk them to the rim in the ground, and pegged 

 them down. In about three weeks the pots were filled with roots. I 

 then separated tiiem from the stems, and potted into larger pots, and 

 sunk them in the ground, till the time for taking them in to blow in 

 the house. The stems, by the time the tops are taken off. Mill have 



