CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



108 



CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



lar^e enough to be placed among the large- 

 flowering varieties. The true Pompons, it 

 may be said, are suitable and beautiful for 

 front shelves in conservatories, or for beds 

 or borders out of doors. Being of com- 

 pact, close growth, and having flowers 

 about the size of very large daisies, and 

 rivalling the large ones in colour, they are 

 at once the neatest and most ornamental 

 plants for furnishing the conservatory. 

 The Anemone flowered varieties differ from 

 all the others, in having a centre of close 

 petals, almost like a sunflower, but still 

 more like an anenome surrounded by a 

 fringe of edging of large loose petals. The j 

 Anemone Pompons are merely d\,-J varie- 

 ties of the anemones. Further, chrysan- 

 themums of all the varieties named above 

 may be classified according to the time of 

 their flowering, as early -flower ing, bloom- 

 ing from July to October ; semi-early, 

 blooming in September and October in the 

 open ground ; and ordinary or late-flower- 

 ing, blooming in November and December ; 

 but this is merely useful as denoting the 

 time when each individual plant will 

 flower. 



Culture^ &c. It will be useful to trace 

 briefly the culture and management of the 

 chrysanthemum throughout the year, be- 

 ginning from the flowering season. Sup- 

 posing that plants are brought under 

 shelter late in October, and allowed to flower 

 in the conservatory, they may be removed 

 to a cold frame or sheltered corner, out of 

 doors, until the end of March or beginning 

 of April. If the latter position is chosen 

 the pots must be plunged to the rims in 

 cinder ashes, and the tops slightly pro- 

 tected with some dry litter. 



Propagation. In looking the plants over 

 at the time specified, three obvious modes 

 of increase present themselves. The old 

 stools may be divided, they may be planted 

 out as they are in rich soil with a view to 

 layering, or cuttings may be taken off them, 



and the plants either planted out in the 

 shrubbery or entirely discarded. If divi- 

 sion is determined upon, pieces, with a 

 single, or two or three stems, may be 

 chosen, and either planted out into rich 

 soil or potted. If the last-named method 

 be decided on, they should be placed into 

 a close frame for a week to start them, and 

 gradually used to light and air until they 

 are placed in a sheltered situation out of 

 doors. 



Management of Divided Plants. When 

 they have grown 3 inches, top them, to 

 induce compact growth, if nice plants are 

 your object ; but if you grow blooms for 

 exhibition only, never stop them at all. 

 Concentrate the whole strength of the 

 plant into two or three stems, and the 

 strength of these stems into a single bud 

 at the top, and that bud cannot fail to be a 

 prodigious flower. For conservatory plants, 

 however, two or three stoppings will be 

 necessary, and the flowers, if not so fine, 

 will be ten times more numerous ; and the 

 leaves will, or ought, to touch the rims of 

 the pots. 



Repotting. As soon as the first pot is 

 full of roots the plants should be shifted 

 into another, or placed in their blooming 

 pots at once ; no soil is better for them 

 than equal parts well-decomposed cow- 

 dung, loam, and leaf-mould, liberally 

 coloured with bone dust and sharp sand. 

 Neither should there be much drainage, as 

 the roots will speedily occupy the whole 

 mass of earth, and almost prevent the 

 possibility of stagnation. From first to 

 last the plants should never flag, and be 

 constantly fed with rich clear manure 

 water. 



Training, &>c. In training, the fewer 

 stakes that are used the better, and 

 towards the end of October the plants 

 should be moved under glass. This is a 

 critical change for them, and unless the 

 leaves are kept well syringed two or three 



