THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 30, 1858. 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
389 
Day 
of 
Mtli 
Day 
of 
Week. 
MARCH 30—APRIL 5, 1858. 
Weather n 
Barometer. 
ear Lon 
Thermo. 
DON in 1 
Wind. 
857. 
Rain in 
Inches. 
Sun 
Rises. 
Sun 
Sets. 
30 
Tu 
Cytisus racemosus. 
29.239—29.144 
55—42 
S.W. 
.04 ' 
42 af 
5 
27 af 6 
31 
W 
Cytisus filipes. 
29.447—29.187 
57—35 
S.W. 
.02 
40 
5 
29 6 
1 
Th 
Acacia conferta. 
29.460—29.279 
56—44 
S.W. 
.02 
38 
5 
30 6 
2 
F 
Good Friday. 
29.370—29.113 
58—42 
S.W. 
.14 
36 
5 
32 6 
3 
S 
Acacia Dilhvy nice folia. 
29.723—29.495 
58—35 
S.W. 
.02 
33 
5 
34 6 
4 
Stjn 
Easter Sunday. 
29.758—29.714 
54—48 
S.E. 
.48 
31 
5 
35 6 
5 
M 
Easter Monday. 
29.641—29.548 
67—49 
S.E. 
.06 
29 
5 
37 6 
Moon 
R.andS. 
Moon’s 
Age. 
Clock 
afterSun 
Day of 
Year. 
8a 6 
15 
4 
34 
89 
9 23 
16 
4 
16 
90 
10 39 
17 
3 
57 
91 
11 53 
18 
3 
39 
92 
morn. 
19 
3 
21 
93 
1 1 
20 
3 
% 
94 
1 59 
21 
2 
45 
95 
OF THE # ___ _ o _ _ _ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
temperatures of these days are 55.5° and 35.0°. respectively. The greatest heat, 78% occurred on the 4tin in 'fsilU and th^ 1 owes t°cohl 1 
15% on the 30th, in 1856. During the period 129 days were fine, and on 88 rain fell. ’ ’ ana tne Iowest cold ’ 
CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE—BEGONIAS, 
TUBEROSES, AND LOBELIAS IN BOR- 
DERS. 
I hade up my mind every autumn, since that of ’51, 
to write about the out-door Chrysanthemums between 
London and Kingston, both by the rail and omnibus 
routes ; also over Wimbledon Common and Kingston 
Hill, and what I intended to say each time was this—• 
if the rest of the great approaches to London were as 
badly planted with Chrysanthemums, either in the 
borders, or against the low division walls, it was not 
worth while to go one step out of doors to see the 
whole of them put together, if that were possible. 
But, ever since, I had forgotten to write about it at 
the proper time, until a letter, which came the other 
day, put me on the scent exactly at the proper time ; 
and now it will not be the fault of The Cottage 
Gardener if every out-door Chrysanthemum, within 
twenty miles of London all round, is not taken up and 
divided, if it is worth dividing, before the end of the 
next three weeks, or say, at all events, before the 20th 
of April. 
I recollect, as far back as the autumn of 1827, that 
we had a fair show of Chrysanthemums in the Expe¬ 
rimental Garden of the Caledonian Horticultural So¬ 
ciety in Edinburgh, against the south wall; it was then 
my duty to “cover up” these at night, while .they 
were in bloom, every other week, alternately with Mr. 
Sharp, now' gardener to Lord Eglinton, the Lord- 
Lieutenant of Ireland; Mr. Barnet, who looks better 
now than he did then, being the head-gardener. The 
Chrysanthemums at the “Experimental” w'ere talked 
of that year round Edinburgh as something very much 
out of the common ; one of them, called Early Blush, 
in the way of Queen of England, was, indeed, as good 
on that wall as any flower of the kind that I have met 
with since. 
In the spring of 1828, the question was argued be¬ 
tween Mr. Barnet, his tw T o bothy men, and a Mr. 
Downy, from Ireland, as to the best mode of having the 
i Chrysanthemums treated that season, in order that 
w r e might excel ourselves, as it were, the following 
autumn. Mr. Barnet was then flush with his honours 
reaped in the Chiswick Garden, and was considered 
the best authority on Strawberries and Chrysanthe¬ 
mums then in Scotland; Mr. Dowmy was many years 
in Ireland among fruits and flowers; Mr. Sharp re- 
j presented the experience of the “ Heart of Mid- 
Lothian,” and of the shires of Fife and Perth, beyond 
the Forth; and your humble servant represented the 
Clans north of Dunkeld, the Duke of Athol’s. Mr. 
Barnet, who w r as strong-headed then, carried the day 
against all of us put together, and would have his own 
| way—the way he managedthem in the Chiswick Gardens 
—and that “way” happened to be a suggestion by 
Mr. Loudon, in the “Gardener’s Magazine,” on the 
plan pursued at Chiswick, w hich plan was described 
in the “ Transactions ” of the Society by Mr. Munro, 
their gardener. The upshot of it was, a better show of 
out-door Chrysanthemums that season than was ever 
seen previously in Scotland. I have heard, and read, 
of better shows of them in England, and I had my 
own fingers in the pie repeatedly ; but I honestly con¬ 
fess, that with all our superior kinds, I have not yet 
seen a better show of planted-out Chrysanthemums in 
England than that show was in Edinburgh in 1828, 
and that is the very old plan I am now going to recom¬ 
mend ; but first, let me quote what was said by an 
eye-witness, three years before then, about the Chis¬ 
wick Chrysanthemums, which “ for variety, brilliancy, 
and luxuriance, presented a display never hitherto 
equalled in Europe. There are now in the garden 
about fifty sorts; the whole of these were assembled 
in one house, and in full bloom on the 20tli of Novem¬ 
ber (1825), and the greater part of the varieties were in 
equal perfection, closely trained against a south wall.” 
The way those against the wall were treated was to 
make cuttings three inches long at the beginning of 
April, and early in May the plants were stopped, and 
had one shift. They were not stopped again; but, at 
the end of May, were turned out of the pots against 
the wall. When long enough for nailing against the 
wall, they were thinly trained all the season, and when 
the flower-buds appeared, they were thinned out as 
carefully as Grapes are thinned now. 
Mr. Salter, of the Versailles Nursery, blooms at 
least 300 kinds of the large Chrysanthemums in the 
open borders, tied to stakes; so there is no fear but 
our new kinds are just as hardy, if not more so, as 
those of 1825. Therefore, those who wish to have 
enormous blooms, as cut and dressed flowers for ex¬ 
hibition, cannot begin their cuttings too soon after the 
1st of April, or even now, if they have room. There 
ought to be a good mass of roots to each plant, and 
the plants stopped before the 10th of May ; or say by 
the right time to put in the cuttings for pot culture. 
The names of all the largest, as well as the best kinds, 
will be found in my accounts of the Stoke Newington 
Show, and of Mr. Salter’s collection, last autumn; 
and to make the most of them for cut flowers of enor¬ 
mous size, we shall call the first step. The next move 
is to make quite certain that all the strength of 
the roots shall go up to the flower-heads, without 
let or hindrance. In order to effect that, and to lessen 
the summer attendance on them, we must have no 
suckers. Therefore, cut out three or four of the 
bottom buds from each cutting, along with the leaves, 
and see that the next lowest eye, or eyes, do not 
get buried in the pot, or in the border; that rule 
will be one-half the battle. By stopping the plants at 
the beginning of May, each of them will have three 
good shoots at least, and may be planted from thirty 
inches to three feet apart against the wall; but a 
dozen of the best kinds should be brought up with 
one stem only. Still the plants should be stopped, 
and the strongest shoot of each be kept. 
If you strike them as early as the beginning of 
No. 496. Vol. XIX. 
