78 Chrysanthemum Culture for America. 



first cutting away all the branches except those bearing the 

 sportive flowers, lay it on its side and cover the ball with sand. 

 Spread the branches on the sand of the propagating bed, and 

 cover the entire stem with sand, being careful to have the leaves 

 exposed, as, if covered, they would rot away. Secure the 

 branches firmly, so that nothing can move them about, and 

 hinder the rooting process. Keep all moist, and young shoots 

 will break from every joint. When these are large enough to 

 remove, cut them off and propagate in the usual way. This 

 is better than cutting the stems into lengths to strike, as the 

 hardened wood is slow to root. 



As a rule the varieties which originate from sports are self- 

 colored, although there are occasionally exceptions to this 

 rule, and in nine cases out of ten the sport will be at least as 

 good in quality as the parent. But in time sportive charac- 

 ters will develop more colors than one in a flower. There is 

 no end to the range of sportiveness, and it is possible that 

 many varieties will be found that will show peculiarities little 

 dreamed of at present. 



Among the inexperienced in chrysanthemum culture, there 

 is much confusion of ideas in regard to sports. Many persons 

 think they are in possession of something new, when in reality 

 they are only bad forms of some variety, caused by allowing 

 the blooms to develop from the wrong bud. There is no 

 necessary correspondence between blooms of a variety that 

 develops its blooms from buds formed at two totally distinct 

 periods, in the growth of the plant. 



The question of sports and sporting is an interesting sub- 

 ject, both from a theoretical standpoint as well as in practical 

 study. The general system, so much in vogue, of growing 

 chrysanthemums for large blooms is not favorable to the 

 increase of our varieties by sports, as the side shoots are 

 taken from the plants as fast as they appear, and it is from 

 these side shoots, when they are allowed to grow and develop 



