ON CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 1 59 



Snowdrop, white ; remarkably small flower ; pretty. William Payne, 

 deep orange ; dwarf and free. 



Early=Flowering Varieties. 



Though the early-flowering Chrysanthemums have not made the 

 advance in public favour that they should have done, considering 

 their great utiUty alike for garden decoration and for furnishing 

 cut flowers for home use or for market, there is strong 

 evidence that their merits are beginning to be more fully 

 recognised, and that their culture is extending in all directions. 

 In time, no doubt they will occupy much of the space now 

 devoted to plants which neither produce such a good display in 

 the flower garden, nor supply so many cut flowers for so long 

 a period. 



Cultivation. — In forming a collection of early-flowering 

 Chrysanthemums, it is always advisable to grow two lots of 

 plants of the same varieties ; one in pots, and another outside 

 in a nice sunny position. The former will be extremely useful 

 for room or conservatory decoration, and should any of the 

 plants outside prove tender and unable to withstand the rigour 

 of winter, or fail to throw up cuttings for propagating, their 

 stock may be grown from the pot plants, and the risk of losing 

 choice varieties is reduced to a minimum. Unless duplicates 

 are thus grown, it is practically certain that losses will occur 

 amongst the outside plants, and usually most highly-prized 

 varieties are those to disappear. 



With all early-flowering varieties the end of February or 

 beginning of March will be quite soon enough to put in 

 cuttings. If inserted earlier they seldom make such good or such 

 floriferous plants as those put in later, which grow on freely 

 without a check. In taking cuttings, it is always best to choose 

 those shoots springing from the soil, avoiding those which may 

 have formed on the stem below *where it was cut down; the 

 latter never make such large or vigorous plants as those struck 

 from suckers coming through the soil. In preparing the cuttings, 

 carefully remove a few of the lower leaves, and then insert 

 singly in small pots, properly drained, using a sandy compost of 

 loam and leaf-mould, in equal proportions, thoroughly mixed. 

 Press the soil firmly about the cutting, and immediately after- 

 wards give a good watering, which tends to settle the soil, and 

 to prevent the foliage from flagging. A close cold frame is a 

 very suitable place to stand the pots in, keeping it quite close 



