324 General Notices. 



wise. There are various methods resorted to in propagating the chrysan- 

 themum — viz., by offsets, layers, and cuttings ; but, as I consider the latter 

 the best method, I shall confine my remarks solely to it. From the middle 

 to the end of May is the best season for putting in cuttings : select the 

 points of the shoots of the current year's growth, not more than two inches 

 long ; cut them close to a joint; remove one or two of the bottom leaves ; 

 plant very thinly under hand glasses ; and, if a gentle bottom heat can be 

 conveniently applied, it will accelerate their rooting : bottom heat is not, 

 however, absolutely necessary, as they will strike readily without it in a 

 mixture of leaf-mould and sand ; shade the glasses for a few days; and, 

 when the cuttings have taken root and begin to grow, remove the glasses 

 and pinch out their tops, which will cause them to push three or four shoots 

 each ; when they have grown about an inch, lift them with as good a ball 

 as possible, and pot in large sixties, in a mixture of loam and rotten dung 

 in equal portions ; place them in a close frame, and shade a few days till 

 they have taken with the pots, when they may be set out of doors, allowing 

 them plenty of room to prevent their being drawn ; supply them liberally 

 with manure water. When they have grown about three inches, pinch 

 out their tops again ; this will cause them to throw out from ten to twelve 

 shoots, and will be the means of keeping them dwarf. When they have 

 grown about an inch, repot them in thirty-two's, or six-inch pots, in a mix- 

 ture the same as previously mentioned ; set them in some place out of doors, 

 where they will be shaded for a few hours during the heat of the day, but 

 by no means place them under the drip of trees. After that time, which 

 will be about the middle of August, they •will want nothing more than keep- 

 ing the pots clear of weeds and suckers, and watering — alternately using 

 manure or guano-water. About the beginning of October, a few of the 

 most forward may be placed under the protection of glass at night, being 

 fully exposed during the day, as the chrysanthemum will not suffer forcing : 

 the others may be taken in as the weather may render necessary. I may 

 mention that they will stand two or three degrees of frost, without sustain- 

 ing any injury. By following the above directions, 1 have grown upwards 

 of 200 plants in one season, varying from a foot to eighteen inches high, 

 with from eight to twelve stems each, and from 30 to CO full blown flowers 

 on each plant, without a yellow leaf, and without the assistance of wooden 

 legs. When the plants have done flowering, they may be cut down and 

 stored away in some convenient place, where they will be sheltered from 

 the frost. Allow them but little water till the end of April, when they 

 may be exposed to the open air till the cuttings are wanted ; and when these 

 are taken off, the plants may be either thrown to the rubbish heap, or a few 

 of the early flowering sorts may be planted in the shrubberies ; shorten all 

 the stems to within six inches of the pot ; this will cause them to throw out 

 more shoots, which may be again stopped ; you will thus keep this nat- 

 urally untidy, straggling plant, within due bounds; and, instead of being 

 (as is often the case) tied up in a bunch, or left at random, they will be fine 

 dwarf flowering plants without the least assistance of stakes, blooming at a 

 period when but few flowering plants adorn the shrubberies. — [lb. p. 324). 



