March, 1914. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



67 



ural or insect agencies. All who desire 

 to see the tuberous begonia at its best 

 should plant a small bed with dark blood 

 red singles or doubles, about ten inches 

 apart, and between these plant alyssum 

 minimum as a ground work. The snow- 

 like carpet of the latter will bring out the 

 color of the former in bold relief, the 

 combination being magnificent. Begonia 

 Bertini nana, B. Count Zeppelin, and B. 

 Lafayette are likewise admired to a 

 greater extent when treated in this man- 

 ner than when planted pure. 



When the stems commence to decay or 

 when they are cut down by frost, lift the 

 tubers with the remaining foliage, and if 

 possible with a quantity of soil adhering 

 to them. Pack them in shallow boxes, 

 stems upward, place these on a green- 

 house bench or in a shed near a window, 

 so that light may have access to them 



until the growth entirely decays. Re- 

 move all decayed stems to facilitate the 

 drying of the tubers, otherwise they may 

 become diseased. Carefully remove all 

 soil and spread the tubers on a shelf for 

 a day or so, and finally store them in 

 layers, in boxes containing dry sand, two 

 inches of sand or so between each layer 

 of tubers. 



Place the boxes away for the winter 

 in a dry frost proof shed, cellar, or green- 

 house, the latter being preferable. Aim 

 to maintain an average temperature of 

 50 degrees, not allowing it to fall for 

 any length of time below 40 degrees or 

 to rise to 60 degrees. These winter 

 temperatures are deleterious, inasmuch 

 as the former will chill, and catise the 

 tubers to decay, while the latter will in- 

 fluence growth to start at an unnatural 

 and undesirable time. 



Home Culture of Chrysanthemums 



W. Hunt, Ont. Agri. 



THE chief reason why these popular 

 autumn flowers are not more 

 commonly grown by amateurs is 

 because they are so liable to attacks of 

 insect pests. Some twenty-five or thirty 

 years ago the greater part of these plants 

 grown by commercial florists were field 

 grown. To-day one seldom if ever sees 

 a field-grown plant ; they are almost all 

 grown under glass. The small pest call- 

 led the Tarnish Plant Bug (Lygus pra- 

 ctensis) is mainly responsible for this. 

 This is the same pest that is so de- 

 structive to the aster bloom, causing so 

 many blooms to be imperfect in form, 

 large gaps often being seen in the petals, 

 spoiling the appearance of the flower. 

 The buds and terminal points of growth 

 of dahlias, too, are often spoiled by the 

 same insect. 



These pests are very common on many 

 garden plants besides those named, es- 

 pecially on garden corn. They usually 

 appear in June and continue their attacks 

 all through the- hot weather. As they 

 apparently do very little harm to any 

 of the economic plants in the garden, 

 having a particular liking for the de- 

 corative plants only, they have not re- 

 ceived much attention from entomolo- 

 gists, as there does not appear to be any 

 really effective remedy found yet for 

 them. 



Another insect that attacks the chry- 

 santhemum is the Black Aphis, a black 

 and near relative of the Green Aphis, so 

 common on house and garden plants. In 

 very dry seasons the Red Spider (Tet- 

 ranychus telarius) is troublesome, but it 

 is not as injurious as the two hrst- 

 named if the plants are given proper 

 attention. 



There are three methods by which 

 chrysanthemums can be propagated, 

 viz., from cuttings, divisions of the old 



College, Guelph, Ont. 



roots, and from seed. The best method 

 for an amateur is by dividing up the old 

 plants. This can be done every year or 

 at least every second year, to prevent the 

 plants becoming too large and cumber- 

 some. Old plants that have been kept 

 in a cool window or a light basement or 

 cellar all the winter should be brought 

 up into a cool, sunny window, away 

 from fire heat in March. 



When the young growth is about one 

 or two inches in length, divide the plants 

 with a large knife into small divisions 

 or sections, each section having good 

 roots and three or four shoots of top 

 growth. Pot these sections into pots 

 just large enough to hold the plant nice- 

 ly, not too large, four-inch usually, in 

 good potting soil, with about one part 

 sand to eight or ten parts of potting 



soil. As soon as the roots have fairly 

 well filled these, re-pot them into a two 

 or three sized larger pot, a six-inch pot. 

 This can be done usually about the first 

 week in May, using good, rich, loamy 

 potting soil. Place nearly an inch of 

 broken flower pot or similar material 

 for drainage in the bottom of the pot 

 before potting. 



One point in potting chrysanthemums, 

 at any time, is that the soil must be 

 packed very firm around the roots. Use 

 a small piece of hardwood for this pur- 

 fKDse. Water the plants well once as 

 soon as potted. Shade them from hot 

 sun for a few days. Keep the soil they 

 are growing in well moist at all times. 

 The soil should never become really dry. 

 Spray the growth with water, especially 

 on the under side of the foliage at least 

 every few days, oftener if possible, in 

 bright, sunny weather. 



The cuttings are taken from the young 

 growth that starts near to and around 

 the base of the old flowering stem about 

 March or April, or from the top growth 

 of young plants. The stem of the cut- 

 ting should be from two to four inches 

 in length. The base of the cutting 

 should be just below a node or point of 

 the stem. Remove about half of the 

 lower leaves, leaving three or four of 

 the top leaves on. Leave the terminal 

 point of growth intact. 



The best material to root the cuttings 

 in is clean, gritty sand, sand that will 

 make gtood stone mibrtar. The sand 

 should be well moistened and packed 

 firmly in a flower pot, seed pan, or a 

 shallow flat box, each having good 

 drainage. Set the cuttings upright in 

 the sand about one and one-half inches 

 apart, inserting rather more than half 

 the length of the main stem in the sand. 

 (To be continued) 



A Conrer of the Roae Garden of Mr. E. E. Starr, Whitby Ont. 



