102 MISCELLANEOUS EXHIBITION PLANTS. 



If greenfly makes its appearance, the infested shoots should 

 be dusted when dry with tobacco-powder; and if mildew 

 appears, it should be immediately dusted with flowers of^ 

 sulphur-. The plants should be ready for their summer 

 quarters by the 1st of June. An open airy position, but 

 well sheltered from strong winds, is the best for them. They 

 should be arranged at suitable distances apart, leaving suffi- 

 cient room to get between them for disbudding, tying, and 

 watering. There are various modes of training adopted for 

 exhibition plants, such as pyramid, standard, and others, but 

 unless a particular form is specially stipulated for in the 

 schedule, the best, as producing good results with a minimum 

 of labour, is the low bush form. The young shoots should 

 be early started round the stakes in a spiral course, and 

 pinched in the end of May or beginning of June, according 

 to the earliness or lateness of the variet}'. Three shoots 

 should be preserved from this break, which would give nine 

 crown buds to the plant. This number being rather few, and 

 possibly too early, these shoots should also be pinched after 

 making about six inches of growth, and other three shoots 

 preserved from each, thus giving tvrenty-seven terminal buds 

 to the plant, which number is suflicient for a pot of large 

 flowering chrysanthemums. All other shoots should be at 

 once rubbed out, the branches tied well down to keep the 

 plants dwarf, and the leaves all brought to the outside for 

 exposure to the light. During July the growth will be rapid, 

 and requires much attention. The plants should be looked 

 over twice every day, giving water only to those actually 

 requiring it ; too much vs^ater does more harm to the plants 

 than slight want of it, but they must not be allowed to become 

 parched or to flag. Where the pots are exposed to the rays 

 of the sun, they may be shaded with boards, or any suitable 

 material at command. When the buds appear, they should 

 be all nipped out except the terminal ones, which should be 

 carefully preserved and tied into position, spreading them as 

 equally as possible over the plants. 



When the plants are thoroughly established and the pots 

 full of roots, usually about the middle of July in the case 



