CHAPTER VI 



TRAINING PLANTS 



The Abutilon, Chrysanthemum, Fuchsia, and 

 many other shrubby plants suitable to culture in the 

 window garden, can be trained in various ways to suit 

 the taste of the owner. You can have them like 

 miniature trees, or as shrubs. If you prefer the tree 

 shape, let a straight stalk grow to the hight of two or 

 three feet. Allow no branches to start along this stalk. 

 When it has reached the hight where you want the head 

 to form, cut off the top. In a short time branches 

 will be likely to start along the stalk, but all of these 

 except a few at or near the top must be rubbed off. 

 Let these which you leave make a growth of four or 

 five inches, and then nip the ends of them off. This 

 will induce branches to start at nearly every leaf. In 

 this way, by keeping up the "nipping" or "pinching- 

 in" process, you can force as many branches to grow 

 as will be required to form a bushy, compact head. 

 The Abutilon and Chrysanthemum are especially 

 adapted to this manner of training. Some of the 

 stout-growing Fuchsias, like Rose of Castile, make 

 fine little trees, but most varieties are too slender in 

 habit to grow satisfactorily in this form. 



If you prefer a shrubby plant, with branches 

 from the pot up, you must begin your pinching-in 

 while the plant is small. Nip off the top when five or 

 six inches of growth has been made. Four or five 

 branches will probably start below. If these are supped 

 off when they have grown long enough to have half 

 a dozen leaves each, they will throw out branches, 

 and thus you secure a bushy plant, which, to my 



