THE FLORIST-FLOWER GARDEN. 543" 



outhouse where there is no fear of frost. Great care is necessary in drying the 

 tubers, for if too rapidly dried and not well ripened, they shrivel up, and will 

 not throw out eyes for next year ; and if not dried enough, the young buds 

 mould and fog off. Those who attempt to keep dahlia-roots during winter must 

 remember that they are very susceptible of frost. 



1698, ChrysanilieTMims. — Attend to the staking of chrysanthemums, for the 

 wind is as much an enemy to them as it is to the dahlia. A single stake is 

 almost useless. The best plan is to put in three thus : — One firmly driven 

 into the ground parallel with the stem, and two others crossing at an angle of 

 20°. Tie these stakes well together at the point of junction, and while \ying 

 the chrysanthemum round, loop in the stakes at the same time. In this 

 manner, as the plant grows, the stakes become entirely hidden, and the- 

 plant itself is secured against the most severe wind. Chrysanthemums, in 

 their present advanced state of culture, are beputiful flowers : admired they 

 would be at any season of the year ; but they are especially valuable because- 

 they flower so late. They are also kind for cultivation under any state of 

 atmosphere. Perhaps the finest chrysanthemums in the world are those 

 grown in the Temple Gardens in the murky and sooty atmosphere of London ; 

 and along the coast, under the influence of salt-breezes, it takes a very severe 

 frost to cut them off. They are gay also, as well from variety of form as of 

 colour. Their very names bespeak their variety. There are chrysanthemums 

 quilled, tasselled, clustered, incurved, ranunculus-flowered, marigold-flowered, 

 and aster-flowered. There are also the tall and the pompones, and named 

 and unnamed varieties of each without number. Every year new specimens 

 are added, eclipsing in novelty, and often in beauty, all that have gone before. 

 See that cuttings and layers are shifted into pots suitable to prcat-rvc them 

 during winter. 



1699, Florists have largely increased the objects of their care, including- 

 Roses, Clarkias, Calceolarias, and many others; but, probably, the present 

 list includes all which can with propriety be so called. 



1700, The bed for the reception of auriculas, polj^anthuses, cai-nations, and 

 flowers of similar habit grown in pots, should be placed in an open airy 

 situation, where they can readily receive shelter from rain and shade from a 

 too ardent sun. The bed and stage, which is represented at the head of this- 

 chapter, is 12 feet long and sis feet wide, and is calculated to hold seven row^s 

 of pots, with a space of five inches between each row ; this, allowing six inches 

 to each pot, will give seventy-two in the row ; but allowing nine inches to 

 each, it will give 350 plants, — a veiy fair collection for a private gentleman. 



1 701, This bed is prepared by laying down about six inches of coal-ashes 

 upon the natural soil, over which a platform is made by laying down a flooring 

 of square tiles, closely fitting into each other : over this are laid seven rows of 

 bricks, equidistant from each other ; and on these, at regulated distances, the- 

 pots are ranged after the operation of potting has been performed in May, 



1702, The shelter and shade are provided in the following manner : — A row 

 of strong stakes, sufficiently close too-ether to support a top rail without inter- 



