THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, AND ITS CULTURE. 
surface of the soil taken away, pots a size 
larger should be procured, fresh drainage and 
fresh soil applied to the plants, the soil pressed 
well round the ball of earth, which if much 
bound should be loosened ; the whole should 
be well watered to close the earth about the 
roots, and the pots should then be replaced in 
the pit or frames they were in before ; these 
plants will in general throw up more shoots 
than are wanted, a selection of the strongest 
and best should be made after they have grown 
up a little, and all the lanky ones should be 
removed altogether. As they all advance 
they may be allowed to grow until the earliest 
cuttings are wanted, and the strongest shoots 
may be topped for that purpose. The length 
to which the shoots are shortened should be dif- 
ferent ; and in proportion to their strength the 
strongest should be left a good deal longer than 
the weakest, because they are capable of support- 
ing the greater number of lateral branches, 
but the tallest should not be more than six or 
eight inches high, and the weaker ones not 
more than half the height ; they may now be 
put out of doors, in the same way that young 
plants are, in the shade a little, and watering 
must be attended to. These plants will be 
considerably shorter, and more bushy in their 
habit, and bear a great many more flowers. 
But there is no way of producing the Chrys- 
anthemum so well, so elegant, in such good 
colour and condition as to foliage and flower, 
as that of taking the tops of the shoots at 
different seasons, and growing them without 
heat. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS FOR SHOWING CUT 
BLOOMS. 
The system of culture for growing the best 
show blooms to cut, must be totally different 
from that which we have recommended for 
showing the whole plant. In the one case 
we want to exhibit a handsome bushy plant, 
with as many flowers as it will carry well and 
bring to an ordinary size ; in the other 
we care nothing about the plant, and only 
want an out-sized bloom to be cut off and 
shown in a stand. For this last purpose 
select a few of the best sorts, strike a portion 
in autumn, and another portion in early 
spring, in thumb-pots ; as soon as the roots 
reach the side change them to large sixties ; 
when the roots fill these change to forty-eights. 
All the while they are growing keep them out 
of doors in a sheltered situation and tied up to 
a stick but not too tight ; when their roots 
have filled the forty-eight sized pot, prepare 
the blooming-pots, size sixteen ; let there be 
a good two inches of crocks at the bottom and 
prepare a good rich compost, one-third good 
loam from rotted turfs, one-third turfy peat 
earth broken small, one- third well- rotted cow- 
dung, or dung from an old melon bed ; let 
this be well mixed and laid together a little 
while before using. When you shift, put 
upon the crocks that are for the drainage as 
much soil as will make the top of the ball of 
earth even with the top of the pot, and having 
taken the ball out whole with the plant un- 
damaged, fill up all round with the prepared 
soil, pressing it down between the ball and the 
pot. Take off all the side shoots all through the 
culture, from the time the cutting is first 
struck till the period of bloom. When the 
plants are shooting up pretty strong, take out 
the small stick to which they were tied, put 
regular carnation sticks and let them run up 
in the same way, be ready with the same kind 
of shade as the carnation. Besides having 
these in pots, plant some out of doors, but do 
not let the side shoots grow, and in other re- 
spects treat them as if they were in large 
blooming-pots. When the buds show them- 
selves, reduce them to the best two, and as 
soon as you can determine which is the most 
likely to answer your purpose, remove one of 
these, that all the strength may be thrown into 
one flower only : the plants in pots should be 
put into the greenhouse, or for want of that 
into a deep pit, or even into a dwelling-house, 
as soon as the weather becomes uncertain, 
because, as there is no succession of blooms, 
a frost would settle these altogether. Those 
in the ground may be bloomed upon tables 
like the dahlia, and covered with flower-pots 
in the night and during bad weather ; the 
bloom when once opening will not be improved 
by rain, nor by the sun when it is too power- 
ful, but covered over during the bad weather, 
and in the night, there may be a tolerably 
sharp frost without injuring the flower, and 
the plant stands a good deal of rough weather. 
Those who grow tulips under an awning will 
find the frame closely covered, protection 
enough for pots, and on taking the tulips up 
in June, the bed itself would carry the chrys- 
anthemums to a very good bloom, if they were 
planted out a foot apart, the dwarf ones out- 
side, the taller ones in the middle ; but only 
one shoot must be allowed to grow, and all the 
side shoots from that must be removed as fast 
as they grow. In the middle of September 
the side-cloths must be put up, and the top- 
cloth be put on, that they may be all made 
close in case of frost, and every night. They 
will have done their bloom in time for the 
tulips again, for as there is but one bloom, or 
two at the most, they will come earlier and 
be done with by the first or second week in 
November, which is time enough for the 
tulips. Those in the house will come the 
finest because they will have received no 
check. Those in the open ground will, how- 
ever, do well, and the lot flowered in the tulip 
