MANURES AND FERTILISERS. 
53 
potting, leaving one to two inches of space to receive a 
topdressing of compost and manure so soon as buds begin 
to form. This is not at all a bad practice for the beginner 
to pursue, because it avoids the risk of a greater body of 
soil becoming waterlogged and sour before the roots can 
penetrate it. The topdressing should consist of two parts 
of good decayed turfy loam and one of finely-sifted old 
rotted manure. To every bushel of this add one pound of 
bone-meal, a quarter of a pound of sulphate of ammonia, 
and half a pound of sulphate of potash, or about four 
pKJunds of wood ashes. Mix all thoroughly together. 
Slightly loosen the surface of the soil in the pots by means 
of a pointed stick, then put in enough of the mixture to fill 
the pot to within half-an-inch of its rim, and ram it down 
firmly. The surface roots will soon ramify into this, and 
derive considerable benefit from the additional food. About 
a month after topdressing begin to feed with liquid 
manures as previously advised. 
Feeding Outdoor Grown Plants. — All the early-flowering 
Japanese and pompon varieties grown in beds or borders 
for garden decoration will be greatly benefited by occa- 
sional applications of liquid manures as advised for pot 
plants. Apply once a week, and in dry weather always 
see that the soil is first moistened with water. Each plant 
should be given about a gallon of the manure, and this 
applied over an area of not less than two feet around each 
plant, because the feeding roots are generally distributed 
about that distance. Soot water, liquid stable manure, and 
fowl droppings, also guano, are suitable simple fertilisers 
for border chrysanthemums. 
