186 HARDY PEREXXIAL PLANTS. 



leaves below the crown bud. One of these bud shoots is allowed to 

 remain when a terminal bud is selected, and the other two pinched off 

 together with the crown bud. The terminal bud is the one selected in 

 the large majority of varieties; it consists of the end bud, or that which 

 terminates the selected lateral shoot. Other buds will, in course of time, 

 appear In the axils of the leaves of this shoot; these must also be 

 removed. 



Specimen Plants — These are not grown so much as they were a few 

 years ago, owing to the demand for pot plants beyond a certain size 

 being very limited. Plants which can be sold at a moderate figure give 

 the best results, and for this purpose they can be grown with very little 

 attention, compared with pot-grown specimens, if they be planted out 

 in the field, and attention given them occasionally during dry weather 

 with water and the cultivator. Pinch to produce bushy plants. The 

 number of times that pinching should be done must be governed by the 

 kind of plant wanted ; if only a few stems one pinching may be sufficient. 

 In September the plants should be transferred to suitable sized pots. If 

 protected from the sun and given a moist atmosphere for a few days 

 after the transfer they will show no bad results. Plants for pots are 

 also grown on benches which have been occupied during the Winter by 

 Carnations. They are lifted and potted in time so as not to iaterfere 

 with tlie housing of field-grown plants of Carnations. In either case 

 May is early enough to start the plants. Specimen plants of the largest 

 size are started from cuttings as early as December, and from that time 

 on till the end of January. The cuttings should be fairly strong, and 

 either put separately in thumb pots or rooted In the sand bed. The 

 plants must never be allowed to go to rest, and should be kept in healthy 

 vigor from the start. During the Winter a position near the glass, in a 

 house running north and south, suits them well. The best plants are 

 grown in the house from start to finish; but in this case they take a 

 large amount of space. 



Soil— The Chrysanthemum is not fastidious as to soil, but being a 

 gross feeder at least one-fourth of the bulk of the soil should be of well- 

 rotted cow manure, the remainder, loam. Four or five inches in depth 

 for benches is suflJcient, and before the plants are put in position it is 

 made firm by tramping, or, in the case of side benches, by pounding 

 with a brick. If the soil is dry, give a good watering a day or two be- 

 fore planting. Syringing should be practiced several times daily while 

 the plants are growing; this, together with full ventilation, will provide 

 perfect atmospheric conditions. Watering should not be overdone at 

 any time; the condition of the surface soil will readily suggest when the 

 operation is necessary. 



Ventilation— This is a very essential item lu the cultivation of the 

 Chrysanthemum indoors. To one unacquainted with the exact atmos- 

 pheric conditions under which the best flowers are grown in a green- 

 house, it would seem somewhat strange that a hardy herbaceous plant 

 should be cooped upin a hothouse all Summer; but thisisfar from being 

 the case, because with abundant ventilation top and bottom, and fre- 

 quent syringing, the house is kept in a more favorable state for their 



