DWARFING AND GROUPING CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



175 



The plants should then be in the following stages of growth : the 

 earliest varieties, such as Mr. Bunn, Beverley, Prince Alfred, 

 and Lord Wolseley, will have made their first natural break, 

 ranging in length from 3 inches to 9 inches. The Queens and 

 other medium varieties, and also the later ones, such asBoule d'Or, 

 Grandiflorum, Golden Dragon, Meg Merrilies, Princess Teck, and 

 others of that type, will be in various stages ranging from 1-inch 

 to G-inch breaks. I commence about the 1st of June with 

 Boule d'Or, Golden Dragon, Meg Merrilies, Pelican, Princess 

 Teck, and other late varieties, to cut them down to within 2 inches, 

 4 inches, or 9 inches from the pot, leaving the foliage on them. 

 For the convenience of watering, I place them together as they 

 are cut down. At the interval of two or three days I cut down 

 another batch, and so on periodically, finishing with the earliest 

 varieties. With careful attention to syringing and watering, 

 they soon break into strong shoots, mostly from the stem, 

 but sometimes throwing up strongly from the base. When the 

 shoots are from 1 inch to 2 inches long, I thin out the weakest, 

 leaving three, four, or five of the strongest. Alter a few days, 

 when the young breaks are from 3 to 6 inches long, they should 

 be repotted into their flowering pots. I find 7 -inch or 9 -inch 

 pots the most convenient sizes for grouping, and, by judicious 

 feeding, good plants and blooms can be grown in the sizes men- 

 tioned. A few of the back-row plants may, however, be put into 

 10-mch pots. I would just say a good rich loamy soil should 

 be used, but I prefer unfermented leaf-mould from the woods, if 

 procurable, to half-decayed animal manure, as is sometimes used. 

 Bone-dust or horn-shavings should be mixed with the soil, and 

 half-inch bones used for drainage. They should be potted firm, 

 leaving room for a top-dressing of a fertilising manure and a 

 little fine soil at housing time. After repotting they should be 

 stood out again in an open position with plenty of light between 

 them, pinching out all surplus laterals or offshoots as they 

 make their appearance. 



The flower-buds should be showing on the points of these 

 breaks from the first to the third week in August. All side- 

 shoots should be removed and the centre flower-bud only left ; 

 if any should be subsequently found blind, I remove the shoot 

 altogether, to throw the strength into the other flowers. 



One of the most important things to be considered in group- 



