36 JOUKNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



principal points of difference in the culture of this plant from others 

 consist in the large quantity of manure required, and the multiplication 

 of the branches by as many as six successive " stoppings." The last should 

 be done not later than the middle of August, as in order to arrange the 

 flower-stalks in the prescribed way, and to ensure their producing good 

 flowers, you must leave ample time to permit the last " stopped " branches 

 to attain the length of two or three feet. As regards the "stoppings," 

 they should be carried out as follows : 



The first must cause the stem to bear 8 shoots ; when each of these 

 has 5 leaves they are " stopped " to induce each to bear 3 shoots ; these are 

 " stopped " in the same manner. This process is continued five times ; so 

 that after the second stopping the plant will have 24 shoots, after the 

 third 72, the fourth 216, and the fifth 648 ; but on the sixth all should 

 not be " stopped," as by this time some may begin to show signs of 

 strain, owing to the constant " stoppings," and no longer be strong 

 enough to stand the operation. Thus, assuming that there remain after 

 the fifth "stopping" one-third of the total number of shoots strong 

 enough to bear it, the sixth will bring in 648 new shoots, and with the 

 addition of this 648 to the 432 which did not undergo the sixth 

 "stopping " the final number of 1,080 shoots is attained. Staking these 

 shoots requires the most skilled management. 



Ipon-Zukuri (single-stem growing) is a method of producing one 

 flower on a single-stemmed plant (fig. 7), and is applied either to the 

 O-giku kind or Hironoshi-giku. The operation is similar to the one 

 carried out in this country. Until arranged as in the picture, it is culti- 

 vated in a pot, the cutting from the outset being cultivated in a bed 

 protected from the frost. But as some strong ones are able to grow to 

 16 or 17 feet in height, if left there till the time of blossoming, these are 

 planted in pots. The plants should be placed on the flower-stand 

 according to their various finally attained heights, and good care be taken 

 to present a judicious mixture of colours and shapes, thus ensuring a good 

 general aspect. 



Binsashi-Zukuri (frame growing) is a method of arranging the 

 flower-stalks, and is applied to the Chu-giku. The cutting should be 

 divided from the parent plant at the end of December and planted in 

 the bed till the following May, when it must be planted on the flower- 

 stand in soil 5 inches deep. The plant has to produce either fourteen 

 flowers or twenty-four. Particular care must be taken to prevent the 

 flowers blossoming at different times, and also to arrange the plants 

 in rows according to the heights to which they will grow when they attain 

 maturity. The surface of the soil on the stand should have the appearance 

 of having been long undisturbed, and any " scratch " on it is detestable 

 in the eyes of the expert, as a plant once shifted there is not supposed to 

 be moved again unless it shows its unfitness for the stand, and if so moved 

 it forms indisputably an evidence of the gardener's lack of skill. The 

 first "stopping " must be made while the plant is still in the bed. On 

 the stand three plants are planted together, and on the second "stopping" 

 the branching will be increased to about twenty in all. Of these, fourteen 

 branches will be selected. The same remarks as were made in the pre- 

 ceding paragraph as regards the arrangement of the plants can be also 



