60 Chrysanthemum Culture for America. 



fall of three feet was obtained in the length of the pit, which 

 was necessary for drainage. In the east end, which was com- 

 pletely above ground, was the entrance door. No artificial 

 heat of any nature was used. A three-foot bed was made 

 through the center of the pit, and one of the same size on 

 each side, with an eighteen-inch path all around. The beds 

 were made by setting oak planks an inch and a-half thick, on 

 edge all around, the planks being a foot wide, allowing for a 

 bed of that depth if desired. The beds were filled about nine 

 inches deep with a compost of the following proportions : two 

 thirds sandy loam, one-third rotten cow manure and a six-inch 

 pot full of bone meal to each wheelbarrow full of this mixture. 

 The plants were selected from all sources, both new and old, 

 the foremost object being to get the largest blooming sorts in 

 cultivation. About June first the plants, being vigorous and 

 stocky and in six-inch pots, were planted in the pit, two rows 

 in the center bed and one on each side bed about eighteen 

 inches apart, using two hundred and fifty plants in all, and 

 about two hundred varieties. The sashes were all left off 

 until fall, with the exception of every fourth, which was sta- 

 tionary. Under these stationary sash were planted such sorts 

 as Mrs Alpheus Hardy, E. H. Fitler, and others that do not 

 stand the sun well. Abundance of water was at hand, and 

 careful attention was paid to staking, each shoot being tied to 

 a stake, and not more than four shoots allowed to each plant, 

 many of the varieties having only two, and some only one, 

 according to the vigor they showed in making their growth. 

 About the middle of August a top-dressing of about two inches 

 was given them of a material similar to that used in the con- 

 struction of beds, and September first, a top-dressing of one 

 inch of cow manure, which filled the beds up level with the 

 edge of the plank, making the soil a foot deep. The terminal 

 or crown bud was reserved in most cases, and all other shoots 

 and buds removed before they attained much size. By the 



