THE ASTEK. 



CaUistemma hortemis. 



HIS charming flower, which ranks 

 with the balsam in importance 

 as an annual, has no history, and 

 is nothing 1 unless well grown ; 

 therefore the best employment 

 of the space at our command 

 will be to frame a compact essay 

 on the cultivation of the aster in 

 first-rate style, with a view to 

 the production of flowers good 

 enough for exhibition. 



It is impossible to grow good 

 asters in a poor soil, and the 

 water supply should be constant 

 and plentiful. If grown in the 

 same bed every year, it should be 

 regularly well dug and tolerably 

 manured, as if intended for a crop of 

 peas or cauliflowers. But finer flowers 

 may be secured by growing them every year in fresh soil 

 that has not carried sters before, or at least only once in 

 seven years or so. 



The seed is usually sown too early, and the plants get 

 starved before the season is sufficiently advanced to allow 



