152 AUGUST 



are given all the air that is compatible with perfect 

 safety. They are dewed over with a fine rose 

 every day, and watered as often as they require 

 attention, being plunged in basins of water at a 

 later stage when the pots are full of roots. They 

 are kept free from insect pests, and their winter 

 temperature is as moderate as it ought to be, and 

 the result is complete failure because it is not the 

 best that can be had. As I watch Sterculus pot- 

 ting them up and talking as if he expected a fine 

 show a few months later, I feel a very hypocrite 

 as well as a monster of incapacity, for I know that 

 the results will be meagre and trivial compared 

 with those obtained by my friend whose plants 

 I described in April. 



But though I know they will disappoint me, still 

 I am very kind to them, as well as to the other 

 winter things from which I expect much more com- 

 fort. All plants that are to bloom in the dark 

 days require care in the bright weather of August ; 

 if they are neglected now dearth will result later. 

 The retaining of chrysanthemum buds is as im- 

 portant as any other work, but the culture of this 

 flower is such a large subject that it would be of 

 little use to attempt to give instructions for it in this 

 book. There are several handbooks which tell 

 everything that is necessary, and the best among 

 them, so far as my experience goes, is that by Mr. 

 W. Wells, of Redhill, the well-known raiser of these 

 flowers. There are some plants which bloom best 

 from terminal buds, and others which give better 

 results from crown buds, and to distinguish between 

 these does not come within the scope of the 



