CHAPTER VII. 



Sports and Other Variations, 



THE "sports ' ' that are developed from time to time, thus 

 enlarging our collection, are due to the kindly assist- 

 tance of nature. According to Adam Forsythe, the 

 lilac flowers are most likely to sport and frequently 

 change to yellow. It appears that any color is capable of 

 sporting into any other color peculiar to the chrysanthemum. 

 All four varieties of Cedo Nulli have sprung from one. 

 Bronze Jardin des Plantes came from that fine old yellow 

 variety, and Queen of England has sported into six different 

 colors. 



Not to discuss their physiological import, the question 

 for the practical man, is, having obtained the sport, how to 

 keep it. In cases of a sport really worth keeping, the first 

 care is to notice how many terminal shoots produced it, for 

 sometimes the new flowers come in a bunch, but more fre- 

 quently they appear singly. Mark the branches and cut the 

 flowers, taking off a few medium sized cuttings from the wood 

 that produced the new flowers, and strike them in a gentle 

 heat. Having done this, cut the plant down, excepting the 

 stem upon which the new flowers were produced, in order to 

 obtain from it during the winter a large number of side shoots 

 for cutting. By this course a good stock of plants will be 



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