CHRYSANTHEMUM INDICUM. 



83 



being a successful competitor at the annual exhibition of the above 

 flower held in this locality, may not be uninteresting to those of your 

 readers engaged in its cultivation, or about to be so. 



I commence propagating as soon as the blooming season has ceased, 

 by filling- some 60-sized pots with a compost of sandy-loam ; then select 

 my cuttings, preferring the strongest suckers with a portion of root 

 attached to them, and into eacli pot insert three cuttings. I then place 

 fiem in a cold frame, not excluding the air entirely from them. I do not 

 advocate striking them in heat, as it deprives them of that robust habit 

 in their infancy so necessary for ensuring superb blooms. In the 

 month of April a compost is prepared consisting of one-third yellow 

 loam, one-third rotten turf, and one-third rotten manure, adding suffi- 

 cient rough sand or grit, to make the soil porous ; the whole is then 

 well incorporated. The plants are then shifted from their nursery pots 

 into size 32's, care being taken not to disturb the young roots; they 

 are then placed in the open air, in a situation sheltered from the 

 easterly winds, at a sufficient distance from each plant to prevent their 

 growing weak. During their growth, at intervals, their position is 

 altered, in order to regulate their habits, and prevent them striking 

 root into the ground. In the latter part of June, or beginning of July, 

 I give them a final shift into large-sized pots, providing them with 

 plenty of drainage, and the compost is the same as before, only it par- 

 takes of a more porous character. After tins they are placed in a 

 situation fully exposed to the sun, and adopting the same practice of 

 removing, &c, as hitherto. I fix a strong stake to each plant, and tie 

 them as required. 



Being plants that require a liberal supply of water during their 

 growth, they should not be permitted to suffer from drought, as that 

 would destroy the under foliage, and retard their vigour. Neither 

 should the soil be so drenched as to become soddened, as that would 

 injure the plant, and prevent its producing fine blooms. I afford them 

 strong liquid manure water once a-week, from the end of July till the 

 blooming season. 



As laterals push forth they are pinched off, but at no period do I 

 stop the main stem. As soon as the blooming stems are visible, all are 

 removed but three or four on each plant, according to its strength. 

 When the flower-buds are discernible, 1 thin them, leaving one bud to 

 a stem, preferring the centre one, if round and perfect. 



The earwigs will now attempt ravages among the buds. Diligent 

 search, morning and evening, should be made for them, or the hopes 

 of the cultivator will be blighted. I place bean-stalks among the 

 branches, into the hollows of which they creep, and in the morning I 

 blow them into a bottle of hot water, which effectually destroys them, 

 and the stalks are replaced. 



As the blooming season advances they are removed into the green- 

 house. My object being to obtain superb flowers, the plants are not 

 checked in their growth by stopping, from which circumstance they 

 become somewhat tall, and to some may appear unsightly; but to 

 remedy this supposed defect we intermix them with the Camellias, the 

 deep green foliage of which affords a pleasing screen to their stems. 



