340 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
November, 
Crysanthemums —V alue—Cultivation. 
Everybody should have Chrysanthemums. 
“Why!” Because they are beautiful, are very 
easily grown, and what is their highest recom¬ 
mendation, they are in full bloom late in the sea¬ 
son, long after other flowering plants have been 
cut down by frost. Even when the snows of 
Winter have fallen, the chrysanthemum, a soli¬ 
tary occupant of the flower border still lifts its 
head gay with a profuse bloom of yellow, pink, 
rose, red, white, purple, and intermediate colors. 
Some of them are of a single color, while others 
sport various tints on a single flower. As Octo¬ 
ber, November, and even December wear away, 
and its companions, one by one, yield their fra¬ 
grance and their petals to the rude winds and 
biting frosts, and are disrobed of all their beauty, 
the perennial chrysanthemum braves both storms 
and frosts, frequently until mid-winter. 
As a lenglhcncr of the floral season, therefore, 
this plant is to be highly prized, apart from its 
own inherent beauty. Nor is it w'anting in the 
latter quality; a collection of choice varieties— 
whether of the older tall-growing sorts, or of the 
more recently introduced pompones—forms as at¬ 
tractive a show as can well be found among tbe 
earlier bloomers. They thrive under such neg¬ 
lect, even, as scarcely another plant will endure. 
Until recently only a few coarser sorts were 
cultivated, often under the name “Artemesia;” 
but we now r have more than 200 varieties named 
and figured in the catalogues of florists, includ¬ 
ing many dwarfs or pompones, called bv ihe Chi- I 
nese “ Chusan Daisy.” 
The large flowering 
kinds grow from 2 to 4 
feet high; the pompones, 
6 to 12 inches only. 
Most of the varieties 
can be obtained of the 
nurserymen at 25 cents 
to 50 cents per root. 
Some of the newest and 
rarest sorts are higher 
priced, at first. These 
roots may be set out in 
Autumn or Spring, at 
any time when the 
ground is unfrozen.— 
They are increased from 
year to year by dividing 
the roots into a number 
of parts and resetting 
each. The commercial 
nurserymen increase 
them rapidly by taking 
the stalks, cutting them 
into slips 4 to 6 inches in 
length, and setting these 
slips into pots filled with 
prepared soil, even in any 
light garden soil. They 
usually take root readily 
with a little care as to 
shade and moisture, but 
ordinarily for home cul¬ 
ture it is safer to propa¬ 
gate by dividing the 
roots. Two or more 
neighbors may well pro¬ 
cure each a different as¬ 
sortment, and then ex¬ 
change with each other. 
Though very hardy, 
and adapted to general 
out-door culture in al¬ 
most any climate, chrysanthemums are also suited 
to pot-culture, in the green-house, parlor, or con¬ 
servatory where they are usually trained in sin¬ 
gle stalks pinched back to form a bushy head. 
They also force well, and can be brought into 
bloom at any season of the year, or at all seasons. 
I,ike dahlias, the names of varieties are so nu¬ 
merous that it is difficult to advise what to select. 
The catalogues of dealers usually give short des¬ 
criptions of the different kinds from which a se¬ 
lection may be made. Some further information 
may be found on page 52 of this volume (Feb. No.) 
Protecting Roses for the Winter. 
Almost every kind of rose is bonefitted by pro¬ 
tection. in Winter. A few, like the old Cinnamon, 
may go through unscathed, hut most, even of the 
hardy June roses, are killed back several inches, 
and the flower-buds of the remainder seriously 
injured. To make sure, therefore, of a good 
bloom, every year, it is best to give all roses 
suitable protection. 
The tall Prairie roses should be loosened from 
their frames, poles, or verandas, and laid flat upon 
the ground, and fastened there with stout pegs. 
If one has no care for looks, he may simply lay a 
stick or twm of wood, or a few boards, on the 
branches to keep them down. The common gar¬ 
den or June roses should be fastened to the 
ground in tbe same way. As some of them are 
hybrids, with a little tender blood in them, it is 
well to throw a few leaves and a few shovelfulls 
of dirt over them. Hybrid Perpetuals, or Re- 
montants, are a little tenderer, and should have a 
thicker blanket. After pegging them to the 
ground, draw up a little bank of good soil around 
the collar of each plant, throw over the branches 
an inch or two of forest leaves or other litter, and 
then finish with a little soil over the whole. 
The Bourbons, Chinas, Noisettes, and Tea 
roses, are, as a general rule, too tender to be win¬ 
tered out of doors, north of New-Fork. In the 
writer’s own experience, in Central New-York, 
the hardiest among the Bourbons are Hermosa, 
Bon Queen, Mad. Bosanquet and a few others ; 
while those fine varieties, Malmaison, Jupiter 
and Paul Joseph, very often die, or come out in 
Spring, half dead. Among the Chinas : Agrippina, 
Sanguinea, and the Pink Daily, are the most ro¬ 
bust, yet these perish every few years. Among 
the Noisettes : Aimee Vibert, Champney’s Pink 
Cluster, and Caroline Marinesse, are some of the 
hardiest. The Tea rose must be wintered within 
doors. If one has a green-house or cool pit with 
glass frames, all the Bourbons, Chinas, Noisettes 
and Teas are best transferred thither in Novem¬ 
ber, and kept in pots, or “ heeled in ” until 
Spring. 
But for those who have not such conveniences, 
we give the following method which we have 
practiced with considerable success : Early in 
this month, bend the tops to the ground and cover 
them with leaves several inches thick, put a 
mound of old manure around the collar of each 
bush, and set two boards over every plant, nailed 
together at the edges, so as to form a roof for 
shedding water. If the ground has been well 
drained, this method will answer a very good pur¬ 
pose. South of New-York, even less than this 
care is sufficient. In Pennsylvania, Virginia, 
and southward, a few evergreen boughs have 
been found an excellent protection. 
----—o — . ».-- 
Flower Pit. 
For want of a suitable place to keep perennial 
flowering plants, many persons leave their choice 
bloomers in the ground over Winter, with the 
certainty of their being destroyed, and an uncer¬ 
tainty of obtaining others of equal beauty anoth¬ 
er Spring. Few know how easily and how cheap¬ 
ly a protecting pit, like the one here represented 
can be made. All that is necessary is to select a dry 
spot of the garden, dig a hole three feet deep, and 
of the size required to contain the plants. Board, 
stone or brick up the sides, put in the plants, and 
cover the whole with boards and straw, or earth, 
and it is complete. The form should be 
a parallelogram, not over five feet wide, and as 
long as may be needed. If there is any probabil¬ 
ity of water settling in at the bottom, make a 
drain to carry it off. To make it doubly secure 
against freezing, an inside lining of boards is 
sometimes used. If only for a temporary pit, 
tbe sides may be made of posts and boards with¬ 
out the stone or brick work. Having placed ten- 
