395 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, March 27, 1860. 
is of more service to the cow than coddling ; and, except¬ 
ing at calving time, the run of the yard and the open 
shed, if they choose, is all that is wanted. J. Robson. 
(To he continued.) 
CHRYSANTHEMUM CULTURE. 
Having found it troublesome to grow Chrysanthemums well 
in years gone by upon the old system of keeping them in pots 
the whole summer, I determined to try an experiment, the result 
of which has been a decided success, with far less labour. 
My plan is the following:—Take cuttings the last week in 
April or first week in May 7 , strike them without bottom heat; 
and when well rooted get them at once into three or four-inch 
pots, putting two plants in each pot, if bushy specimens are 
wanted. T say nothing of compost, &e., they being an old song 
with gardeners. Return the plants to the cold frame, giving 
plenty of air after the first few days, and in a month or so they 
will be ready for the trial. 
I choose an open place in the kitchen garden, turn the plants 
out of their pots, and plant them out twenty inches apart, dis¬ 
turbing the balls as little as possible; give a good watering, and 
leave them for the present, merely giving water once or twice 
should the season prove dry. At the latter end of July or be¬ 
ginning of August I then take them up, finding the roots to have 
gone but a little way from the balls, place them in their flowering 
pots, and set them for a week on the north side of a wall to keep 
them from the sun, and afterwards treat as all other potted 
Chrysanthemums. 
The advantages are—1st. Late striking, late planting out, 
making up for lost time. 2nd. A saving of time in watering in 
the hottest and busiest season, usually a time when Chrysanthe¬ 
mums are neglected, and thereby injured ; and last, though not 
least, securing well-bloomed plants f urnished with clean, healthy 
foliage from the very bottom of the stems.-—D. H. 
POTTED VINES IN FRAMES —NUMBER OF 
PINES IN A SMALL HOUSE. 
First. I have some young Vines, in pots, one year from the 
eye. They did not do what I expected last summer ; not grow¬ 
ing more than two feet in height. I had them in 48 and 32-sized 
pots, in a common frame and light, and stable manure under them. 
Perhaps I gave them liquid manure too strong for such little 
things ; but, be that as it may, they arc not more than two feet 
high, and the wood quite brown and hard. Now, how am I to 
get them as much larger as possible in the coming summer, as I 
want some of them to fruit the summer after this—that is, 1861 ? 
The sorts are, Sweetwater , Think Hamburgh, and White Musca¬ 
dine. My means are a common garden-frame and light, and some 
stable manure and leaves, but not in abundance. 1 have also a 
cool greenhouse and a wall eight feet high, with south or south¬ 
west aspect. I can also give them any sort of soil or manure that 
you recommend. 
Second. How many Pines can I grow without their injuring 
each other, in a smali house twelve feet square ? but 1 shall want 
a path at the back to water and stir the bed, which is to be of leaves, 
and a hot-water tank under. I mean fruiting Pines only, the 
sorts mostly, if not all, Queens . I have no Pines at present. I 
am promised a few strong plants when I am ready for them. 1 
do not think of putting up a pinery until the autumn, so as to 
be prepared for another winter; and then I intend to heat by hot 
water, in a tank heated by a boiler over my oven furnace, it will 
then cost little or nothing for fuel. I have got full particulars 
for Pine culture in the Cottage Gardeners' Dictionary , but I 
want to know the number 1 may grow with safety in such a 
place in No. 8-pots?—A Country Raker. 
[We thoroughly sympathise with you in your gardening efforts. 
We would not like to damp any one of your desires or antici¬ 
pations, but if we speak what we feel, it would be to hint the 
propriety of making yourself master of Vine treatment before 
you did much with Pine growing. So far as we can discover 
from the data given to us, you would need most of the glass at 
your disposal to make the most of your Vines in pots. If you 
find the roots of the Vines pretty good, that will be a proof that 
you have not injured them with manure waterings ; but that is 
easily done, especially with young plants. If you have nothing 
of the sort now in your cool greenhouse, and have plenty of 
Vines, we should certainly plant as many out as would go under 
the roof four feet apart. They would make good shoots the 
ensuing summer. Re assured that mere length is not of the 
most importance, when fruiting in pots is the object. Those you 
j intend for this object we would treat thus, not doing them, 
i perhaps, in the most scientific way, but simply and less liable to 
be misunderstood. Each of these Vines intended for this pot 
culture we would out down to the lowest bud or two. In a few 
days we would take the pots to the bench, and shake carefully 
almost the whole soil from the roots, and not remove any roots 
except those that are injured or decayed. Pack the roots care¬ 
fully in very fibry well aired loam, with just a sprinkling of leaf 
mould, and some bits of charcoal or lime rubbish to keep the soil 
open. Set the plants half plunged in your dung-bed, water with 
water at 75°, and keep plenty of air on. As soon as the buds 
, show signs of swelling, sink the pots a little lower, provided the 
heat is not higher than 80° at their base. The top temperature 
being, as yet, seldom, except in sunshine, being about 50° to 55°. 
I As the shoot, or shoots, lengthen, rub off all but one. By the time 
that shoot is eight or twelve inches long, we should expect the 
plants in 32-pots would need a 16 pot. Rough fibry loam being 
again the chief compost, and that well aired and heated so that 
the roots shall receive no check, taking out only one plant at a 
time. These shoots will grow most stubby if trained against the 
light; therefore, we would plunge the pot near the back of your 
bed, and bring the shoots to the front, at the distance of a foot 
from the glass. A few sticks stuck in the bed will enable you to 
do this. 
As the shoots grow, all the laterals that appear at the joints 
are merely to be stopped, not removed. Ry the time these shoots 
were four feet or five feet long, we should expect the pots to be 
full of roots again, and this time we would give them No. 8-pots, 
and would have all the beds turned over, with, perhaps, a layer 
j of additional sweet dung at the bottom. At this potting we 
would use a number of pieces of bones—say, a good handful, 
about the size of Walnuts, for drainage; and we would also use 
a couple of handfuls of smaller pieces from bones not too fresh, 
mixed with the soil for each pot. We would, also, in potting, 
take care that the old ball and the new soil did not rise within a 
couple of inches at least of the rim of the pot, to permit several 
top dressings afterwards. The potting must be done firm. These 
pots plunged in a mild bottom beat, will cause the shoots to 
progress freely. As the laterals push after being stopped at the 
base of tlie shoot, they must be stopped again, but not removed. 
The more leaves you can find light, for at each joint, the stronger 
and thicker will your stem he, and that is of more importance 
than mere length. 
At this stage you will not be able to have more at the most 
than three Vines in a light. As the shoots get as long as the 
width of the frame, turn them round a little and let them go 
backwards. We do not care about stopping them when thus 
j treated and trained. When growing m the usual way—that is, 
from south to north, we would pinch out the point when four 
1 feet long, so as to increase the strength of the shoot by giving 
strength to the laterals below ; choosing one shoot again for the 
leader, and stopping again at the other four feet. But when 
trained the reverse way, the shoot will not so much need this 
j stopping. The object of stopping is to concentrate strong, 
mature, fruitful wood near home, at the bottom of the cane or 
shoot. Without such attention, the finest wood and the plumpest 
buds will be at no great distance from the point; and, therefore, to 
secure these, a long rod twisted round stakes will be necessary 
when fruiting. Ry stopping, or the course of training recom¬ 
mended, as much fruit may be had from a shoot from four to six 
feet in length, as from one of twelve or more feet. 
There will be little room for the shoots after turning them 
back again. Ry this time the bed will be cooled, and, therefore, 
the roots will receive little check by taking the pots out of the 
bed. If the bed is at all warm, lift the pots out of it, and let 
them stand on its surface, or move the material from round them 
for a few days before you take the plants out, so that no check 
be given. Attention to these minutice is the great secret of 
success. Now, the best place you could take your Vines to, 
would be the twelve-l'eet house you propose for your Pines. We 
will suppose it is about August when the Vines thus want 
moving. Probably the end of July, or earlier, according to their 
growth. The extra heat and moisture you could give them then 
would just suit them. Care must bo taken that the leaves shall 
expose their upper surface to the light, however you place or 
