6 THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 



rightly treated they will have abundance of growth 

 suitable for cuttings by the first week in March. 

 European growers propagate much earlier, in Decem- 

 ber and January, but this is necessitated by the cooler 

 climate and diminished sunshine. A careful Hest was 

 conducted with plants propagated in January and 

 others of the same variety in March, but the results 

 did not show any gain in favor of the earlier date as 

 applying to the general collection. An occasional 

 exception may arise when a particular variety, naturally 

 of slow growth, may be benefited by earlier propaga- 

 tion. The variety Major Bonnaffon was one, but a wise 

 general rule, for our practice, is to get all exhibition 

 stock propagated in March. 



Selection of the cuttings calls for some careful 

 discrimination. There are shoots to avoid as well as 

 shoots to propagate, but selection is easy in the 

 majority of varieties which throw up around the base 

 of the old stem an abundance of clean, straight young 

 shoots, any of which cut off when about three inches 

 in length, cut to a joint and the lower leaf removed, 

 makes a suitable cutting, as shown in Fig. 2. The 

 shoots to avoid are any that may be yellow, weak or 

 unhealthy, and more especially any that show an 

 embryo flower bud at the tip. An exception to 

 this last undesirable condition has occasionally to 

 be made, as a few varieties are addicted to this prema- 

 ture bud development, for example, Viviand Morel and 

 W. R. Church, but they will, shortly after rooting, 

 develop a growing shoot from a latent axillary bud. 

 As soon as possible after the cuttings have been taken 

 off and prepared, they should be inserted in the medium 

 in which they are to be rooted. 



The usual custom is to insert the cuttings in a 

 bed of clean, sharp sand in a propagating house, 

 similar to the methods pursued for Roses and Carna- 



