422 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
September 11. 
It should be planted in a well-drained pot, in a 
mixture of equal parts sand, small fragments of brick, 
and peat, and kept in tbe most shady part of a green¬ 
house, where the temperature never falls below 35°. 
The water employed should have half-an-ouuce of 
common salt dissolved in a gallon; and this Fern 
should not be watered over the leaves, though it 
delights in a moist atmosphere, and, therefore, flourishes 
under a glass shade. When grown “ in a hothouse it 
will attain a large size, and when the air is kept moist, 
does not require a glass. In such circumstances, I have 
seen the fronds eighteen or twenty inches long; cer¬ 
tainly it luxuriates in warmth.”* ( Soucrby’s Ferns, by 
Mr. Charles Johnson.) 
Two slight varieties of this Fern have been noticed. 
One has the leaflets much narrower, and more pointed, 
so as to have a spear-head form, and has been named 
Asplenium marinum var. acutum. The other variety 
was mistaken by Mr. Hudson for the Adiantum tra. 
peziforme, of Linnaeus, and was called by him Asple¬ 
nium trapeziforme, but it is only A. marinum with 
leaflets more deeply toothed and jagged, than ordinary. 
It was sent from Scotland by Dr. Alston to Mr. P. 
Collinson, and was subsequently found in that country 
in coves of the sea-shore near Wemys, by Mr. Lightfoot. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
If the weather is moist, the first thing I would advise 
to be done now is to stop the roots of all Chrysan¬ 
themums which are growing in tbe open ground and 
are intended for pots. The long, dry weather before 
and after the St. Swithin rains, caused so much hand¬ 
watering that the principal roots are just next the sur¬ 
face this season, as 1 can tell from my own plants; and 
such dwarf, nice plants as I never had before. The 
more dwarf ones, from the end of May cuttings, are 
planted in rows, and I have just dug down between the 
rows as deep as the spade would go, cutting off every 
fibre which extended beyond four inches from the stem, 
or stems ; but I did not cut across, yet, between plant 
and plant in the row—that will be the next move ; and, 
from the 20th to the 25th instant, will be about the time, 
unless the weather is very dry indeed. 
I have another reason for mentioning this just now, 
which is, to remind the readers of The Cottage Gar¬ 
dener of a plan which was suggested last autumn, and 
if forgotten at the time cuttings were made this spring, 
the oversight, if thought worth a trial, as I do, might 
be remedied now. It was to take out the bottom eyes 
to prevent suckers ever rising from such kinds from 
which you might wish seeds, or to make dwarf, bushy 
plants after the model of the prize Pelargoniums. By 
this plan, the heads must be kept from frost, and to be 
cut back exactly as Pelargoniums and Geraniums are 
cut back, both in branch and root —indeed, much 
shorter, in the roots of Chrysanthemums. Whether this 
plan will succeed, or not, it is certainly worth a trial; 
and any one who has plants from cuttings of Chrysan¬ 
themums, in the open ground, may yet give it a fair 
trial, by opening down to the roots, and then picking 
out the eyes ou the lower portion of the stem—say to 
the length of four or five inches from the roots. 
* An evidence of its lilting warmth is afforded by its being found a 
native not only of the south of France and Spain, and in northern 
Africa, the Canaries, and Madeira, but in no other part of Europe. 
While on the subject, allow me one more suggestion; 
which is, that we should collect notes all over the 
country, as to which kind grows the longest or tallest; 
which the dwarfest; and which attain the intermediate 
growths in the open air. Those making such notes 
should state, also, when the cuttings were made; when 
they were planted out; and how often they were stopped; 
and the date of the last stopping for the season. 1 have 
done all this for the first time this season; but we want 
more “ returns ” before we can be sure of which are the 
tallest or dwarfest; or which is tbe very best time and 
way to make the cuttings ; and the latest day on which 
the plants can be stopped without hindering them 
flowering at the proper, or usual, time. 1 am quite sure, 
that a set of precise rules for the management of these 
plants in the open air would be valuable to a great 
number of people; and that to grow them in the open 
ground is by far the best and easiest plan; also, that 
dwarfer plants can be had that way than by keeping 
them in pots. I have most beautiful little bushes of Pom- 
pones, now, not a foot high, and with eight, nine, and 
twelve branches; and if I put three of such into a No. 
IG-pot, early in October, I could make as good-looking 
plants of them as ever were seen. But will they flower 
as well as taller plants, or plants nursed up in pots from 
the cuttings? That we shall soon see. The dwarf, 
yellow Pompone, called Hendersonii, had flower-buds, 
well formed, with me by the 25th of August, and will 
be ready to fill front borders and beds near tbe windows 
by the 10th of October; so, that with frost or no frost, 
we can have a late change with this one Chrysanthe¬ 
mum ; or, which is nearly as good, we can pot some 
good Geraniums, as old Tom Thumbs, for specimen 
plants, before the frost can touch them; and fill then- 
places with Hendersonii, to save us from gaps for the 
rest of the autumn. 
SAYING SEEDS OF CHINA ASTERS. 
If the autumn should turn out wet, which is not un¬ 
likely, after so much heat and dry weather in August, 
China Aster seeds will not be good this year from the 
open ground ; but with care, and a good season, we can 
ripen as good seeds of them here in England as those 
which come over from the German growers. The 
necessary care is to have the best sorts in very rich 
ground ; the plants not to be crowded ; and all those with 
single and half-double flowers to be rooted out as soon 
as they show their ugly faces; but still, they need not 
be destroyed, as every one of the family can be removed 
at any time, and be transplanted into the rougher 
grounds—as in the front of shrubs. Or, when you have 
them in a bed which takes all your stock, and none to j 
spare, how are you to manage the inferior ones ] 
without making gaps in your very best bed? It is I 
done by merely picking off the bad flowers as often as 
they are on the point of opening, and letting the plants 
fill their part of the bed just as if they were ever so 
good ; and no one knows the difference, because the 
bad flowers are never allowed to open. I have also 
seen—and I have done it myself, about the middle of 
September—a dozen of the very best plants, and in¬ 
cluding all tbe colours among them, potted from the 
beds, as if they were so many Balsams; the richest soil, 
and somo rich watering, as for Balsams. 'They were 
kept in the shade for a few days, and, after being well- 
established in the pots, they stood in a dry, cold pit, or 
frame, with the glass off, except to keep the rain and the 
night dew from them; but the lights were tilted for air, 
at top and bottom, every night. This is about the very- 
best way for saving seeds of them in England; the 
change to the pot gives them such a check as really, i 
seems necessary to take the rankness of growth from | 
them, or lowering their pride, as we say ; and the rich ! 
things afterwards go to feed a superior yield of best I 
