250 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
January 22. 
dry. Mr. Mitchell, of Enfield, has grown his early rhubarb 
this winter in the following manner. He lifted the roots, 
packed them, with a little mould between them, on the 
floors of long sheds, and covered the crowns two feet with 
tree leaves. These produced sufficient heat to bring it for¬ 
ward gently; and I never saw better or finer rhubarb at 
Christmas. The usual plan of forcing it about London con¬ 
sists in digging long pits to the depth of two to three feet, 
introducing eighteen inches of hot dung, and then packing the 
roots closely together in a little mould, covering the crowns 
with hoops or with six inches of straw; then hurdles or mats, 
and finishing with six or eight inches of straw, the amount 
of the latter depending on the severity of the winter. In 
this way strong well-flavoured stalks are produced, provided 
the weather is dry. The colour is bright red, and the leaf 
is always very small. Many prefer forced rhubarb, on ac¬ 
count of its tender fibre. No skinning is required, and it is 
much less acid than that from the natural ground. Those 
who desire this kind of rhubarb, therefore, might easily 
obtain it by placing about a barrowfnl of straw over each 
crown. This covering would be cheap, and, besides bring¬ 
ing it on a little earlier, it would help to manure the ground 
and keep off frost. Rhubarb growing out of doors is so 
simple that little can be said respecting it. The ground 
being heavily manured, a plant is taken up and divided into 
as many eyes or buds as it possesses. These are planted 
four feet apart, and by the autumn they will have produced 
roots from 6-lbs. to 10-tbs. in weight. The oldest roots are 
generally taken up for forcing; and by always having a good 
rotation, the grower has the the power of continually chang¬ 
ing the ground, and thus obtaining a heavier crop. The 
forced plants will furnish eyes for a continual succession, 
without growing plants for the purpose, and the eyes may 
be divided and planted again for a main crop. I have prac¬ 
tised this plan on a small scale many years ago.” 
“ The following are four first-rate sorts: Mitchell’s Early 
Albert, Randall’s Early Prolific (this is as yet little known, 
but is a greater bearer than the Linnaeus; it is high coloured 
and well-flavoured), Myatt’s Linnaeus is next in earliness, 
and Myatt’s Victoria is the latest.” 
Of Thomson’s Dictionary of Domestic Medicine we 
will speak decidedly when we have a copy of the work 
complete. At present itp romises well, but we have, in 
hooks thus published, so often been deceived by first 
appearances, that we decline giving an opinion until 
we have the work entire. 
Of the cheaper successor to “ The Gardeners’ Maga¬ 
zine of Botany,” The Garden Companion and Florists' 
Guide, we can give no higher praise, for it is the 
highest, than to say that whilst its illustrations are as 
beautiful as those of its predecessor, the contents are 
superior, because more practical. As a specimen we 
will extract the following from an excellent paper on 
Pompone Chrysanthemums :— 
“ As the Rose is the admitted queen of the summer, and 
the Dahlia the autumn’s king, so may the Chrysanthemum 
be ranked as the lung of winter; for, coming into bloom 
just at the season when the autumn monarch succumbs to 
the terrors of the ice king, it may be said to be the floral 
connecting link between the old and the new year, like an 
oasis in the desert, or a star to cheer the florist when all 
around is drear and dark. Unlike most other plants, the 
Chrysanthemum seems to delight in smoke-pent, cities, for 
within a stone’s throw of Fleet Street, in the Temple 
Gardens, abutting upon the Middlesex side of the river 
Thames, may be seen every autumn a display of this flower, 
which, for effect, rivals the American Nurseries of Bagshot, 
or the grand display of these plants at Chiswick and the 
Regent’s Park. Our attention was first directed to these 
gardens one thick November morning, when, the fog being 
of true London character, we landed at Paul’s Wharf, and 
wended our way westward through Thames Street, White- 
friars, and the Temple, where, through the aid of a sudden 
gleam of sunshine, we descried, amid the yellow mist, a 
grand display of this splendid flower. At the first sight we 
thought they must have been transplanted from some 
suburban nursery or garden, but a closer inspection satis¬ 
fied us that they were the veritable productions of the place. 
In Lincoln’s Inn Fields, also, the Chrysanthemum flourishes, 
and would do so more fully if more attention was devoted 
to its management; and in most of the Squares a few 
straggling plants may be seen, amply testifying, that, if 
properly managed, they would make London gay even when 
the country is cheerless, for they are less likely to be injured 
by frost in London than in the suburbs. 
“ With these facts before us, it is in the nature of things 
that Chrysanthemums should be rising in public favour, and 
the gorgeous specimens which have been produced not only 
of plants, but of cut flowers also, at the Stoke Newington 
and other exhibitions, prove that the Chrysanthemum, as a 
Florists’ Flower, will become as popular as the Rose, the 
Dahlia, and the Hollyhock. 
“ Among the novelties lately brought into notice are the 
varieties figured upon the annexed plate, all of which belong 
to the class of Pompones, or small varieties which have 
originated from the Chusan Daisy, a variety introduced by 
Mr. Fortune, from China, and the ordinary kinds. These 
varieties are specially remarkable to the hybridizer as having i 
taken on, in crossing, the varied colours of the large kinds | 
without increasing in size, for though some of them are 
larger than the Chusan Daisy, the majority scarcely exceed 
it in size, and some of them are even smaller. In form, 
also, several of the varieties are nearly perfect, while one of 
them, called La Nain Bebe, when the flowers are fresh, has 
the scent of Violets! The plants in habit are mostly 
compact and shrubby, but some of them are a little inclined 
to become tall. Most of the varieties flower very freely, and 
therefore are likely to become very useful plants for bedding 
out in the flower-garden for a winter’s display; hence we 
shall address ourselves to their treatment for that purpose, 
in the present notice, and leave the subject of their cultiva¬ 
tion for exhibition till a more suitable time. 
“ Premising, then, that you have supplied yourself with 
a stock of plants of each of the varieties which you are 
desirous of getting a quantity of for flower-garden purposes, 
place them at once in a warm greenhouse or pit, at a tem¬ 
perature of 45° to 55°, and as fast as they produce cuttings 
of sufficient length, take them off, and strike them in the 
propagating pit, or a close frame. Continue that practice 
until you have a sufficient number of each kind, and pot the 
cuttings off as they get well rooted; but bring them up 
hardy, and keep them as dwarf as possible. The young 
plants, after they are established in small pots, may be pro¬ 
tected under temporary frames, until they are planted out 
in June. Having pi’ovided a sufficient quantity of plants, 
the next step will be to prepare the ground, and this should 
be rather strong and well enriched, so that the plants may 
be taken up with good balls. Now, if large specimens are 
wanted, averaging say eighteen inches in height, and the 
same in diameter, the plants must be put out in rows three 
feet apart, the plants standing two feet apart in the row; 
but, if smaller plants will suffice, then you may take the 
cuttings in June, and after rooting them in a close frame, 
plant them out direct from the cutting pots, taking advantage 
of dull showery weather, and just sticking them in with a 
dibble, as you would a lot of cabbage plants. These young 
plants will not require so much room; and hence, if they 
stand eighteen inches apart each way, that will be sufficient. 
As soon as they are established, and begin to grow freely, 
go over them, not later than the middle of July, and stop 
each plant by cutting the head off within a few inches of the 
ground: this will cause them to branch, and to become 
dwarf and very compact plants. If the larger plants are put 
out, they will require the same treatment as to cutting back, 
or they may be allowed to go on, and have all the points of 
the shoots layered the first week in August, by which means 
they will form very dwarf and compact plants for potting. 
One thing, however, must not be forgotten, and that is, that 
these small varieties must never be stopped later than July, 
or the probability is that they will not flower. Through the 
summer and autumn, the only care the plants will require 
will be to keep the ground clear from weeds, and deeply 
hoed occasionally; to water the plants in dry weather, giving 
them, when necessary, a thorough soaking; and to protect 
them by timely tying and staking, from being broken by the 
