1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
343 
thinks it the best autumn sweet apple—-it has also pro¬ 
ved fine at Macedon, in western New-York. Ed.] 
The Chinese Chrysanthemum. 
The chief attraction of this plant is the lateness 
©f its period of flowering. In mild autumns, suc¬ 
ceeding the dahlia, it continues flowering in the 
87— THE CHRYSANTHEMUM, 
warm sheltered border, till finally checked by the 
severe frosts of approaching winter. The roots, 
with us, have endured the severest winters unpro¬ 
tected. Treated as a green-house plant, and kept 
in neat compact bushes, instead of the long, slen¬ 
der, bare stems, too often seen, it forms a fine 
blooming ornament for the early part of winter. 
The following remarks on the mode of treating this 
plant, adopted by the Chinese, who are very suc¬ 
cessful in its culture, are copied from a correspond¬ 
ent (Robert Fortune) of the London Gardeners’ 
Chronicle :— 
“ The method of cultivating the Chrysanthemum in 
China is as follows. Cuttings are struck every year 
from the young shoots, in the same manner as we do in 
England. When they are rooted, they are potted off 
at once into the pots in which they are to grow and 
bloom; that is, they are grown upon what would be 
called by our gardeners “ the one-shift system.” 
“ The soil used in potting is of a very rich descrip¬ 
tion. About Canton it is generally obtained, in the first 
instance, from the bottom of lakes or ponds, where the 
Nelumbeum or Water-Lily grows. It is then laid up 
to dry and pulverise for some months, when it is mix¬ 
ed with old night-soil taken from the manure tanks 
found in every garden. A heap of this kind, after be¬ 
ing laid up for some time and frequently turned over, 
is in a fit state for potting the Chrysanthenum. Ma¬ 
nure water, taken also from the tank already noticed, is 
liberally supplied during the growing season, and the ef¬ 
fects are visable in the luxuriant dark green leaves 
which cover the plants. 
“ In forming the plants into nice compact bushes, 
which, with due defference to Chinese taste, I think much 
prettier than animals and “ seven-storied pagodas,” 
their system is as follows: The plants are trained each 
with a single stem ; this is forced to send out nume¬ 
rous laterals near its base, and these are tied down in a 
neat and regular manner with strings of silk thread. 
By having the plants clothed with branches in this way, 
and by keeping the leaves in a green and healthy state, 
the specimens never have that bare and broom-headed 
appearance which they often present in England when 
they are taken into the green-house in winter. 
u About Shanghae and Ningpo the Chrysanthemum 
is still better managed than it is near Canton; but the 
success which attends it may also be attributed, partly 
at least, to the more favorable nature of the climate, 
the plant being indigenous to the central or more north¬ 
ern parts of the empire. The system of cultivation is 
nearly the same; the main points attended to being 
those which have been noticed, namely, choosing a rich 
soil, planting at once into large pots; training to a sin¬ 
gle stem, and inducing it to send out numerous laterals, 
and giving liberal supplies of manure water during the 
growing season. The Chinese are fond of having very 
large blooms, and, in order to obtain these, they gen¬ 
erally pick off all the small flower-buds. 
“ In China, as in England, the Chrysanthemum flow¬ 
ers during the winter months. When in bloom it is in 
great request among the people, and is used in the de¬ 
coration of court-yards, halls and temples. It is every¬ 
body’s plant, and blooms alike in the garden of the lowly 
Chinese cottager as in that of the blue-buttoned man¬ 
darin. 
“ Although we are indebted to China for the parents 
of those varieties of Chrysanthemums which enliven our 
gardens during the dull months of winter, yet, strange 
to say, the progeny is more numerous in Europe than 
in China itself. Some of those beautiful kinds raised by 
Mr. Salter in France would be much admired even by 
the Chinese florist. It is a curious fact, however, that 
many of those kinds, such as formosum and lucidum, 
which were originally raised from seed in Europe, are 
also met with in the north of China.” 
Watering Newly Transplanted Trees. 
In very dry seasons, like the present,—or, as it was 
a few weeks ago,—it is often important to water newly 
transplanted trees; but the common mode is very ob¬ 
jectionable. When the water is poured on the surface, 
the soil is apt to crack, and let the moisture below es¬ 
cape through the openings, so that its utility may often 
be very doubtful. Latterly I have applied the water 
differently. Dig a hole near the tree so as not to dis¬ 
turb its roots, and pour in a pailful. Then draw in the 
loose earth till the hole is filled, and covered up com¬ 
pletely, so that nothing wet is visible; and no cracks 
will ever appear. A tree treated in this manner will 
not need watering again for a week. 
Ligatures for Budding. —All the budding that I 
have, done of late, has been bandaged with the leaves 
of the English bulbous Iris, which are sufficiently 
strong for this purpose, if gathered and kept from the 
wet as soon as vegetation ceases. They are even good 
yet without such precaution, though the ends indicate 
the approach of decay. Each leaf will make two ban¬ 
dages. David Thomas. 8 mo. 24, 1849. 
[CT* This will be found one of the best months 
in the year to obtain subscribers to “ The Culti¬ 
vator;” and we trust our Agents will give as 
much attention to the matter as possible. 
