THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 149 



out any time from April to July, though preference may 

 be given to May. They form an average width by Oc- 

 tober of two feet in diameter, if the tops are pinched off 

 so as to make them bushy. They should be set out about 

 two feet apart each w^ay. The "topping" or "pincli- 

 ing " back, as it is called, should not be done later than 

 the first of August ; for, if much later, it might destroy 

 the flowering to some extent. 



House Culture. — When wanted to be grown for green- 

 house or house culture, the best plan for amateurs is to 

 put each plant, when received, in a flower pot six, seven, 

 or eight inches wide and deep. Plunge these pots to the 

 rims in the open ground, level with the soil, treating 

 them exactly the same as recommended for planting in 

 the open ])order, by pinching, etc. Care should, however, 

 be taken to turn the flower pots round every eight or ten 

 days, so as to prevent the roots from getting through 

 the bottom of the pot, the object being to confine all the 

 roots within the pot. This same plan is the best for 

 amateurs wdio cultivate any kind of plant to grow in the 

 house or greenhouse in winter. Although the Chrysan- 

 themum is entirely hardy, so that even the flower buds 

 will stand quite a freeze without injury, yet, to get the 

 best effect from the plants designed for house culture, 

 they should be taken indoors by October 1st. 



How to Grow for Spring Flowering. — Although the 

 Chrysanthemum is generally only grown for the fall and 

 early winter months, yet, by taking the first young shoots 

 that start from the root of the old plants which are flow- 

 ering in the fall (say by the middle of November), and 

 placing them in the propagating bed, they will root in a 

 few days. If grown on in the ordinary greenhouse tem- 

 perature during winter, shifting them into larger pots as 

 their necessities require, by April they make fine flower- 

 ing plants. The past season we grew a few hundred in 

 this manner, that made grand plants for church decora- 



