Deoomber 26, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



507 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



Month 



Day 



of 



Week 



Th 



P 



S 



Son 



M 



Tu 



W 



DEC. 26, 1872— JAN. 1, 1S73. 



Bank Holiday. 



Innocents' Day. 



1 Sunday afteh Chkistmas. 



Circumcision. 



Average Tempera- Rain in 

 ture near London. 43 yeara. 



Day. 



Night 



43.2 



31.4 



43.0 



29.7 



42.6 



29.5 



43.9 



33.0 



44.4 



31.7 



43.9 



32.4 



43.0 



30.3 



Mean 

 37.3 

 36.4 

 36.0 

 38.5 

 38.1 

 38.2 

 36.6 



Days. 

 16 

 15 

 13 

 20 

 17 

 15 

 12 



Sun 

 Rises 



n. h. 



7 af 8 



Sun 



Sets. 



m. h. 



57 af3 



57 3 



58 3 

 58 3 



58 3 



59 3 

 4 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock i Day 

 before \ of 

 Sun. I Year. 



Days. 

 26 

 27 



361 

 362 

 363 

 364 

 365 

 366 

 1 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 43.4° ; mi 

 81.1°. The greatest heat was 58\ on the 2Sth, 1855 ; and the lowest eold S\ on the 28th, 1853. The greatest fall of ltt m was 0. 



and its night temperature 

 ,70 inch. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 



HIP OVEMBER lias come and gone ; November 

 " cbill and clear," chill and foggy. Cbill and 

 wet it has been this year; consequently a 

 bad season either for flowers or fruits keep- 

 ing well. There have been many complaints 

 of Grapes spoiling by damping-off, and the 

 Chrysanthemum blooms also kept badly. 

 During such unfavourable weather as we 

 have had recently much care is necessary. 

 Spill as little water about as possible. A 

 circulation of air must also be kept up by using the heat- 

 ing apparatus during the day, allowing the fire to go out, 

 or nearly so, at night, and shutting-up the house early in 

 the afternoon. 



This season has been a bad one throughout for the 

 Chrysanthemum. A low temperature in May and June 

 checked the growth of the plants, and caused much of 

 the foliage to drop-off, especially from those grown for 

 the quality of the flowers. Specimen plants of the large- 

 flowered varieties, as well as of the Pompons, have not 

 been so well finished this year ; the quality of the flowers 

 has been below the usual standard. 



Those who do not grow then' plants for exhibition have 

 little idea of the labour that is expended upon specimen 

 plants. Before this season's plants are out of flower 

 it is time to put in the cuttings for the following year. 

 All intended to be grown into good specimens should be 

 rooted plants by the middle of December, as it will be 

 sufficiently evident that the larger the plants and the 

 greater the number of flowers, quality being about equal, 

 the greater the merit of the specimen. In order that the 

 plants may experience no check, I place each cutting 

 separately in the centre of a small pot, shifting on as 

 may be required. The best place in which to keep the 

 young plants during the winter is a low span-roofed pit, 

 placing the pots close to the glass. The cuttings will 

 strike root in such a place very well. The lights ought 

 to be kept close until the cuttings are rooted. It is not 

 desirable to plunge the pots in bottom heat at this season, 

 or to use any more artificial heat than is necessary to 

 keep the frost out. When the young plants have grown 

 5 or 6 inches stop them ; this will cause the production of 

 shoots near the top of the plant — five are a good number. 

 These must be again pinched when long enough, and tied- 

 out before they become too stiff, as the shoots are easily 

 broken off at the joints. The secret of success is keeping 

 the plants healthy and close to the glass, to cause the 

 production of short-jointed wood. They likewise require 

 liberal supplies of water during the whole season of their 

 growth. If the plants are stinted of water, the foliage 

 will have a sickly appearance, and die-off prematurely. 



At the time a specimen plant is in full flower the shoots 

 should be completely clothed with healthy foliage. The 

 flowers should be incurved and of full size, each flower 

 to be supported by a slender stick. Some of the varieties 

 with reflexed flowers are very showy ; such as Annie 

 Salter (yellow), Dr. Sharpe (purple), and others of this 



No. 618— Vol. XXIII., Naw Sbhibs. 



class make exceedingly handsome specimens. The size 

 of pot which is generally used for flowering them in is 

 about Hi inches in diameter inside measure. 



The Pompon varieties are flowered in 8^-inch pots, and 

 require similar treatment to the others, except that only 

 a few sticks are required to train the shoots into position. 



The Japanese varieties are also much grown now, and 

 the treatment they require is very similar to that recom- 

 mended for the large-flowering sorts of the Chinese 

 section, except that it is preferable not to tie-down the 

 shoots too closely ; they should be allowed to grow more 

 upright. The flowers of this section are yery distinct 

 and singular in appearance, and the colours of many of 

 them are very brilliant. February is a good time to put 

 in the cuttings, and I should advise their being pinched 

 once. The shoots which will be thrown out should not 

 be bent or twisted in any way, but be allowed to grow 

 in a natural manner ; they will flower well in 10 or 11-inch 

 pots. Each plant will carry two or three dozen flowers, 

 and when judiciously arranged in the house they will 

 relieve most effectively the dumpy and formal appearance 

 of regularly-trained specimens of the large-flowered and 

 Pompon varieties. 



It is not necessary to put in the cuttings of Chrys- 

 anthemums intended to be grown for cut blooms until 

 February or early in March. They should be struck in a 

 little bottom heat ; very little heat is required, as it only 

 forces the plants into too rapid growth. When it is 

 perceived that the plants are rooted, abundant supplies 

 of air should be admitted to them, and as soon as they 

 are fairly established remove them to a cold frame, the 

 lights of which should be taken off in fine weather. Be 

 careful to pot-on the young plants as they require it, 

 placing them finally in pots from 9 to 12 inches in di- 

 ameter, two plants in the smaller-sized pots, and three 

 in the larger. Do not pinch them at all, remove only 

 the side shoots; each of the plants will carry on an 

 average three flowers. Those who grow for exhibition 

 manage them in this way ; but the plants are also very 

 valuable for back rows in the conservatory, or arranged 

 in groups as the Messrs. Salter used to exhibit them at 

 Hammersmith. A grand display of plants grown in this 

 way was also exhibited by the Messrs. Veitch in their 

 Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, during the present sea- 

 son, where the noble and symmetrical blooms of the large- 

 flowered section vied with the quaint and weird-like forms 

 of the Japanese, the whole set-off to the best advantage 

 with the handsome and glossy-green foliage of the Camel- 

 lias planted-out in the conservatory border. I, for one, 

 am well pleased that Messrs. Veitch have " gone in" 

 for Chrysanthemums, as whatever they undertake is 

 done well, and if they go on as they have begun we shall 

 soon cease to bewail the dispersion of Messrs. Salter's 

 collection. 



There will be little difficulty in arranging the plants to 

 advantage in any establishment. The trouble is to grow 

 them, and this is more a matter of labour than skill, as 

 the plant is easily grown. They require great attention 

 to watering during the summer months, when much other 



No. 1265.— Vol. XLVIII., Old Sbkies, 



