CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



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appointed, the blooms either coming deformed, though often of 

 an enormous size, or the petals pale in colour and soft in texture, 

 being generally the first to damp off. The same natural laws 

 observed and diligently followed by the successful fruit-grower 

 are also indispensable to the Chrysanthemum grower, and I have 

 often been struck how closely the two are connected in many 

 cultural details. The fruit-grower endeavours to secure medium 

 sized, short-jointed, well-ripened wood, to yield fruit of the highest 

 order, and it is exactly similar qualities which produce the finest 

 Chrysanthemums. 



Fortunately the Chrysanthemum is not particular as to 

 soil. I believe it would grow in any soil you could mention, but 

 to see it at its best good turfy loam, inclined to be heavy, must 

 form the staple, with leaf-mould, charcoal, and shell-gravel added 

 to assist in keeping it open rather than to enrich it. Half- inch 

 bones, either mixed in the soil or used as drainage, are, in my 

 opinion, a mistake, and may be worse than wasted. The com- 

 post no doubt is improved by the addition of bones, but these 

 should be used in strictly limited quantities and in a crushed 

 state, so that what feeding properties they contain may be more 

 equally distributed all through the soil, and so be more readily 

 appropriated by the plant. If the plants had to occupy the same 

 pots for a number of years together, there might be something 

 to recommend the use of bones in their rough state, but it is 

 not so. 



Of the value of shell-gravel for most plants I cannot speak 

 too highly. I have noticed repeatedly, when repotting Chrysan- 

 themums and Pines, numbers of white feeding-roots wherever a 

 little of this material has run together, showing clearly that it is 

 a root -producer ; while the lime and phosphate in the shell are 

 well-known elements essential to the health of the plant. It 

 thus serves a double purpose, insuring porosity and conveying 

 food ; and therefore, in my case, little sand is used. It is best 

 to run the shell-gravel through a half- inch sieve, using the 

 roughest part for the drainage, and one good barrowful of the 

 fine to four or five of loam is in most cases sufficient. 



Potting should be done with great care, and firmly, as this 

 induces firm, short-jointed wood — loose potting, rich soil, and 

 large pots having the opposite effect. In most cases 9 -inch 

 pots are large enough for the plants to flower in. 



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