The Canadian Horticulturist. 



407 



CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 



|HESE beautiful flowers from the land of " Japs " 

 are among the easiest to grow, if even ordinary 

 skill is exercised. Here is the manner in which 

 they are grown in England, as reported by Illus- 

 trated Gardening. About November select stout 

 shoots that have not been drawn up weakly 

 through the plants being too much crowded. 

 Put them singly in small pots, or several together 

 in a larger ones, three parts filled with fine loam, 

 sand and a little leaf-mould, with a layer of sand 

 on the top. Stand the cuttings on a moist bottom 

 in a cool house or pit that can be kept at a greenhouse temperature, cover with 

 a propagating glass, and keep moist. Here they will root in the course of six 

 weeks without the tops being at all draw^n in the way that is unavoidable when 

 they are subjected to heat. As soon as the cuttings are well-rooted remove the 

 glasses, and put them singly in three-inch pots, using soil similar to that in 

 which they were struck, but with less sand in it. When top growth fairly begins 

 pinch out the points of the shoots and treat generally, in the matter of air and 

 water, as required for the soft wooded greenhouse plants. About the end of 

 March move them into six-inch pots, well drained, using soil well enriched with 

 rotten manure. In April put them in cold frame or pit, where they can be kept 

 close to the glass and have plenty of air, which means to just keep out the frost 

 on the sharp nights that often come about that time. At the beginning of May 

 inure them to the open air by taking off the lights in the daytime ; a little later 

 on stop the shoots, and stand th6 plants out 

 in full sun, with the pots plunged in ashes, not 

 too close together. In June, before they get 

 at all pot-bound, move the plants into their 

 blooming pots, which may be from ten to 

 twelve inches in diameter, according to the 

 size they are intended to be grown to. Use 

 plenty of drainage material and do not make 

 the soil too fine ; put more rotten manure in 

 than most plants would bear, and a good 

 sprinkling of sand. Tie the shoots well up 

 to sticks so as to keep the centers of the 

 plants open, and plunge the pots in ashes, 

 standing them far enough apart to prevent 

 their being in any way drawn. Syringe over- 

 head every afternoon in dry weather ; see that 

 3 



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