468 



Gardening for Amateurs 



Chrysanthemum September Beauty, a good decorative variety. 



and cottagers may make good use of glass 

 porches in autumn. For ten days after 

 housing ventilate the greenhouse freely. As 

 the buds open, admit less air, but have a 

 nice circulation and warm the pipes at night 

 and on dull days. Backward plants must be 

 placed at the warmest end and the more 

 forward at the coolest. Further, it is ne- 

 cessary to shade the more advanced blooms. 

 Continue to give manures to the plants until 

 the blooms are half developed. Always leave 

 the ventilators open a little at the top to 

 prevent too much condensation of moisture 

 on the blooms. 



When Exhibiting the cultivator must 

 select perfectly fresh flowers of good colour 

 and refined not coarse of petal. Mere 

 width of bloom is not sufficient, there should 



be depth too. If the 

 flowers are staged on 

 boards, the petals 

 should be quite clear 

 of them ; if exhibited 

 in vases the leaves 

 as well as the flowers 

 must be fresh. So, 

 too, must the foliage 

 be good in the case 

 of specimen plants 

 and those used in the 

 formation of groups. 

 A few surplus 

 blooms and plants, 

 as the case may be, 

 should be taken to 

 the show to replace 

 any that may be ac- 

 cidentally damaged in 

 any way. 



Big Specimen 

 Plants. These are 

 appreciated both at 

 home and for show 

 purposes. They take 

 up a lot of space, 

 and amateurs who do 

 not possess plenty of 

 room should not at- 

 tempt to grow many. 

 Cuttings intended to 

 be gro\vn to form 

 specimen plants with 

 a main stem clear 



of the soil in the pot must be inserted 

 early about the last week in November. 

 Select varieties that make new shoots freely. 

 Where the cuttings are rooted they must 

 be struck singly in deep narrow pots 

 re-pot them before the roots become 

 numerous. Do not pot very firmly, for 

 the object is to encourage the growth of 

 a strong stem possessing fine leaves. At 

 a height of 7 inches stop the plant, and so 

 secure a number of side shoots. These 

 must in due course be tied out and 

 stopped also in April. Shift the plants 

 to larger pots, as becomes necessary, until 

 the final potting in June. It is necessary 

 to stop the shoots again in June ; tie 

 them out to stakes so as to form well- 

 balanced and symmetrical specimens. In 



