THE HOUSING OF PLANTS. 6^ 



cut with long stems. Strip off all the leaves, put the 

 stems into glass bottles, nearly full of water, and use 

 wadding to prevent evaporation from the bottles. It is 

 much easier to keep a flower a week than it is to push it to 

 gain a day. Chrysanthemums do not like being forced. 



A flower is at its best when it has all the centre florets 

 well up and none of the lower florets have began to decay. 

 To obtain this result should be the aim of each exhib'tor, 

 and if the flowers are in other respects well grown there 

 will not be much to fear. But with Japs it is better if 

 necessity arise to pull out a few short undeveloped florets 

 from the centre, provided that there are plenty left to shake 

 into their places, rather than lose the long, drooping, lower 

 petals from decay. With incurveds it is different. If 

 their centres are not pretty welll up, the half-grown petals 

 have to be removed and the core gouged out, also, in order 

 to get the long florets to meet in the centre with a view 

 to the manufacture of a good bloom out of half of one. 

 But flowers so manipulated never gain high honours. 

 Unless an exhibitor is hard pressed for a bloom to make 

 up his number, such immature specimens are better left 

 on the plants, either for a future show or for decorative 

 purposes. 



