534 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ December so, issi. 
but cuttings struck in heat are by no means so sturdy as those 
that are placed earlier in a cold frame. 
Potting .—When the cuttings are well rooted—which, if inserted 
at once, will be about February—they will require potting singly, 
still using light soil, and return them to a cold frame as before, 
placing the tallest at the back of the frame and the shortest in the 
front, drawing the lights off on all fine mild days to keep the 
plants dwarf and sturdy. About April the plants will be bene¬ 
fited by another shift, this time into 6-inch pots, or 32’s, using more 
loam in the soil than in the first potting, returning them again to 
the frames until all fear of frost is past, when they may be placed 
out in an open space to await their final potting about the middle 
or end of June. For untrained large-flowering plants to supply 
flowers for cutting for exhibition a 16-size pot, or 9 inches in 
diameter, is very suitable ; specimens may require a larger size, 
according to the strength of the plant. Pompons will thrive and 
bloom freely in a 24 or 8-inch pot; indeed, some may be success¬ 
fully grown even in smaller pots, and will be found useful. 
Employ a compost of two parts good yellow loam, one part of 
well-decomposed manure, and sufficient sharp sand or road grit to 
make the whole porous ; a little bone dust or pounded oyster 
shells will be found a valuable addition. Efficiently drain the 
pots, and place a layer of the roughest portion of the compost 
over the potsherds before filling in the soil. Pot firmly. 
Stogjnng .—Some cultivators like to stop the growth of their 
plants once about the time they give them their first shift, and 
doubtless good flowers may be produced in this way, but as yet I 
have failed to see that they produce finer flowers than from plants 
that have never been pinched at all. An advantage can be gained 
in the height of the plant, and for a home display, or for the 
arrangement of groups, plants that have bad the leading point of 
the shoots taken out at the time of the first shift have a decided 
advantage on account of their sturdiness ; but if large flowers 
only are desired my advice is, Never pinch. If specimen plants 
are required select the strongest plants at first, and commence to 
lay the foundation of the plant by early stopping it, and at inter¬ 
vals afterwards take out the extreme points of the longest shocts 
until the last week in June, or at the latest the first week in July. 
Training, Stalling, and Watering .—As soon as the plants are 
transferred into 32-sized pots a small willow or other light stake 
should be placed to them in the case of single stems to prevent 
them being blown off by the wind, and for specimens each branch 
should receive the support of a neat stick of sufficient length to 
answer the required purpose. When the plants are fully grown 
great taste and regularity are needed in tying out so that the 
training is not made offensive to the eye, like the flat speci¬ 
mens often met with at exhibitions; the growths twisted and 
distorted so as to destroy all beauty. When the untrained plants 
have received their final potting they will require a stronger stake, 
which will also in time require to be secured to a horizontal wire 
or stout string to prevent the plants being blown about. The gales 
at the end of September are generally very destructive to Chrys¬ 
anthemums unless they are well secured, for it is very easy in these 
gales to lose the whole of a season’s efforts. Chrysanthemums 
require water frequently, especially if the plants are arranged 
along the edges of a hot garden walk or in an open position, for it 
is not considered a wise plan to plunge the pots, more especially 
if the plants are left to root through, which will check them and 
prove injurious to the flowers. On hot days it is a good plan to 
damp the foliage well. Clear water will suffice for them until the 
end of August, when most of them will be disbudded and the 
flower buds formed, then they will stand in need of something 
more stimulating than clear water. Clay’s and Standen’s manure 
are very good and easily applied. The former manure is now 
generally used for softwooded plants, and I have frequently heard 
successful prizetakers of Chrysanthemums say that they believe 
their success has been mainly due to the use of Clay’s fertiliser. 
Guano and sulphate of ammonia are also good, but must be used 
cautiously. My own choice has been the diluted drainings of 
farmyard manure and soot water, supplying it frequently and 
weak, with a few supplies of guano or patent manure during the 
time the buds are swelling. 
Disbudding .—About the middle of July it will be observed that 
the plants when grown in a natural manner have only one straight 
shoot, at the extreme point of which a flower bud will appear. It 
is not this bud that must be retained, but from just below this 
flower bud there are four leaf buds, which will commence swelling ; 
and in the course of a month, if the plants are in a healthy con¬ 
dition, these three or four breaks will each have a flower bud, and 
then disbudding must be resorted to if large flowers are required— 
merely leaving the centre bud and pinching away the other shoots 
below, which if left would again throw out other growths and 
flow'ers, but these flowers would be found both late and small, and 
therefore useless for exhibition. 
Housing .—Any dry and open greenhouse is a suitable place for 
housing the plants. Usually about the first week in October is a 
good time. Early frosts are scarcely then sufficiently sharp to do 
much damage to the advanced buds, but if there is a prospect of 
frost house them at once, as all the lower petals will be so damaged 
as frequently to cause the calyx to decay also. I had some plants 
that were out in two sharp frosts in the early part of October 
this year, and they suffered considerably. Two plants—Miss 
Mary Morgan and Jardin des Plantes—were killed, while my friend 
Mr. Jordan told me that he lost granaiflora and one or two others 
in the same way. A Peach house is well adapted for aiding the 
further development of the flowers. No one would scarcely credit 
the difference it makes between good flowers and bad in housing 
plants in a light, open, and well-ventilated glass structure, and 
lofty dark and gloomy conservatories. Here again, it is not a 
wise plan to stand them too thickly, and if a little heat can be 
applied on damp foggy days it is a great advantage. 
Insects .—At all stages of their growth the Chrysanthemum is 
very liable to the attacks of green fly, which infest the extreme 
points of the young growths. In the case of young plants it is 
a good plan to dip the points in tobacco water, but with larger 
established plants a dusting of tobacco powder after rain or 
heavy dews should be tried. This can easily be ■washed off after 
a day or two. Earwigs are also destructive generally at night, 
damaging the foliage, but more frequently the flower buds and 
growing points. Pieces of Broad Bean stalk or small rolls of 
paper placed between the stem and the stalk will frequently 
entrap them, when they can be blown out in the morning and 
destroyed. Notes on dressing the flowers and a selection of the 
best varieties in each section will be given next week.—J. W. 
Moorman. 
We are informed that the date of the Exhibition of the 
Reigate Rose Association has been fixed for Saturday, 1st of 
July, 1882, and that an attractive schedule of prizes will be duly 
announced. 
- The Horticultural Exhibitions at the Royal Botani¬ 
cal Gardens, Manchester, Mr. Bruce Findlay informs us, will be 
held in 1882 on the following dates 14th March, 4th April, 
2nd May, at the Town Hall. The National Horticultural Exhi¬ 
bition opens at the Gardens 26th of May ; Rose Show, 14th and 
15th of July ; Show of Gooseberries and Dinner-table Decorations, 
7th of August ; Cottagers’ Show, 8th and 9th of September ; and 
the Chrysanthemum Show at the Town Hall, 21st of November. 
- Probably it is not generally known that the collection 
of Ferns at Kew includes more than eight hundred species 
and varieties, excluding the numerous forms of British Ferns and 
many doubtful ones amongst exotics. This is one of the finest 
representative collections of the great Fern family in the world, 
and it is surprising how so many plants from such widely diffe¬ 
rent situations and climates can be maintained in satisfactory 
condition. Even those pretty but fastidious genera the Chei- 
lanthes, Nothochlaenas, and Pellaeas appear to be improving, 
though the two former are rarely seen thoroughly healthy. 
Further accommodation might be advantageously supplied to the 
Fern collection at this establishment, for neither of the houses 
open to the public are constructed in the best possible manner. 
-- The plants of Messrs. J. Carter Sc Co.’s “ Blue Primula 
Holborn Gem,” shown at the last meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society, were in better condition than they have previously 
been exhibited, being dwarf and compact in habit with neat 
trusses of flowers. The very distinct tint marking this variety 
could not, however, be seen to the best advantage owing to the 
