About the

should be kept down as near the edge of the pots as possible. middle of September train the plants into the shape you want them, by neatly staking each shoot, leaving the stick longer than the shoots, as they continue to lengthen until they come into flower. As soon as the flower buds appear, disbud. This is done by removing all buds except the one in the centre of each branch; for if the plant be vigorous, these will be quite enough to insure a fine head of bloom, but if a quantity of bloom is preferred to large flowers, little (if any) disbudding need be done. They should be housed about the middle of October; but in this be guided by the state of the weather, as they are better outside whilst the weather is open, and the buds do not show colour; the foliage improves by remaining in the open air. When housed, avoid fire heat, except when absolutely necessary, but give them as much air as possible.

"Pompons are cultivated in the same manner as the large-flowering varieties, but more stopping and less disbudding are necessary to ensure success. Another style of plant which has become very popular lately is the standard. Either Pompons or the large varieties will do, if care is taken to grow only the suitable varieties of which now-a-days there is no scarcity. Vigorous autumn cuttings or suckers should be selected, shifting as already described, and staking the plant to the height you want the stem, which for exhibition is not generally less than 2 feet 6 inches. After they are a little beyond the required height, stop them, trying to get as many breaks as possible from the first stopping to form the head. Be particular in keeping all side shoots pinched off. A small framework of laths erected under the head is the handiest for training them on. The sorts selected are early varieties which enable us to stop them a fortnight later than the others, which is necessary to obtain a good head."

COMPOST AND MANURES.-The best compost for the Chrysanthemum is one mainly composed of sound red loam, and the more vegetable fibre it contains the better. My own practice is to buy a few cartloads of this during November. It is dug from a mountain side where the grass and other herbage is short and fine, being eaten off closely by sheep. Almost any kind of plant will grow in it, and it is of that texture which holds much water and yet is never "soapy," but friable, even after it has been squeezed in the hand. Sand in any pure form I do not use in the culture of the Chrysanthemum (except for rooting cuttings in), but instead I add a cartload of old lime-mortar to, say, five loads of the loam. A barrowload of pure soot is added to the heap as it is turned over for the first time in December. If possible let this operation be done during dry, frosty weather. The soot is useful as making the soil unpalatable to the worms, and as it consists mainly of charcoal or carbon in a fine state, and holds also some ammonia, it is manurial also. Some growers advise adding a fourth or more of well-rotted manure to the loam, but I am convinced that the finest and most floriferous growths are those made in red loam, lime rubbish and soot, as above described. The right time to apply the manure is after the flower-buds are formed in August and September, about which time the soil becomes partially exhausted and quite filled with roots. It is quite possible and easy to grow large plants with enormous sappy leaves by adding manure largely to the compost at the final shift into blooming

pots (say in May or June), but it does not follow that plants so luxuriantly grown, and so healthy in July, give the finest flowers in November. It must never be forgotten that size of leaf and apparent vigour of plant is no guide to good bloom, no matter whether the desired results are quality or quantity. I rely on a sound, sweet compost, careful and regular watering, and from the first week after the cuttings are rooted I freely expose the plants to sun and air, except during sharp frost. What is requisite is not growth only, but sound, firm wood, or growth well matured. Once every week during summer the plants receive a dose of soot water. I am now firmly convinced that many growers fail in using a compost containing too much manure during the early stages of the plant's existence, and by relying on a basis of sound loam we have the plant more entirely under control, as manurial stimulants can most easily be given in the liquid state when it is deemed desirable, or when it is most useful to assist forward and to aid the development of the flower-buds. Now, here is a piece of advice given to me some time ago by Mr. N. Davis, of Camberwell: "Never give liquid manure to the plants while forming their buds, or else blindness will be the result." This advice more especially applies to plants from which "perfect" or " prize " blooms are expected, for we know that really creditable decorative bushes, well laden with third-rate flowers, may be grown by giving manure water freely as soon as the blooming pots become filled with roots, say in June or July; indeed, for specimen plants or large bushes it is almost a necessity; and Messrs. S. Dixon, in their notes on Chrysanthemum culture, say, in speaking of large trained specimens, "As soon as the roots reach the sides of the (blooming) pots we commence giving liquid manure. I am particular in clearing up this point of when and how and to what plants to apply manure water, as there has been much misunderstanding on this point and on that of the delicate question of how and when to stop and disbud, which is fully alluded to and explained in another place.

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The addition of much manure to the compost causes unstopped plants to grow too quickly, and so their growth is not sufficiently matured. On the other hand, specimen plants or decorative bushes are stopped frequently up to the second week in July in the south of England, or to the last week in June in the north of England, Scotland, and in Ireland. All this stopping and training of the shoots naturally checks the growth, and so a richer compost may in their case be used with more safety than for unstopped plants with only one to three stems from which large blooms are to be obtained.

SPECIMEN CHRYSANTHEMUMS. According to a correspondent of the Gardener's Magazine, it is commonly supposed by those who have not had much practical experience in Chrysanthemum culture, that whether the plants are required for exhibition or for the embellishment of the conservatory, it is quite early enough to strike the cuttings in March. But this is a grave mistake, as many growers find to their cost in their earlier efforts. When plants are required simply for decorative purposes, and their dimensions and the quality of the flowers are of no great importance, it is of but little consequence if the work of propagation is delayed until the end of April. In raising plants for specimens and for the production of first-class blooms, it is essential that the cuttings should be

struck very soon after the termination of the flowering season. Some varieties do not produce a new growth so early or so freely as others, and the best advice an inexperienced cultivator could have upon this point is the recommendation to take the cuttings of the respective kinds as early after the end of the third week in November as they are obtainable. By striking the cuttings before Christmas several great advantages are obtained, the most important being the gain in time and the practicability of dispensing entirely with the use of artificial heat. Very little progress is of course made by the young plants until the end of February or early in March, according as the weather may be mild or severe, and it is not desirable it should be otherwise, as any considerable growth made during the short days of mid-winter is not likely to be very satisfactory. The gain in growth is considerable nevertheless, as at the time the cuttings struck in spring have to be in the propagating pit the autumn-struck plants will be well furnished with roots, and in a condition to make a short-jointed growth from the first. My experience induces me to attach considerable importance to growing Chrysanthemums entirely without the aid of artificial heat, for although the skilful cultivator may, by removing the young plants from the propagating pit at the earliest moment, and hardening them off as quickly as possible consistent with their safety, avoid their being seriously injured, a cool structure is unquestionably the best for them during the time they receive the shelter of glass.

CHAPTER VI.

WATERING.

No plant requires more constant attention as to watering than does the Chrysanthemum. This is especially the case during July and August, when the pots become filled with roots and an additional strain has to be borne, as the plants are at that season about making up that portion of their growth upon which the flower-buds appear. Rain or soft river water is best if it is readily obtainable, but if pump or spring water must be used, expose it for at least some hours in tubs or other open vessels, so that it becomes warmed and aërated. My own practice is to water twice a day after the plants are placed in their blooming pots, say in May or June. Dribbling a little water on the surface will not do; nothing but a thorough soaking serves such a gross-feeding plant. Syringing the foliage every evening an hour or two before sunset is of great advantage in keeping the foliage clean and bright and free from green fly and other insects. When manure water is applied it is essential that the soil be thoroughly moist beforehand. If the earth is in any way dry always give a soaking of pure water before the manure water be applied. It then finds its way downwards, regularly becoming equally diffused throughout

the ball of earth within the pot, and every rootlet is fed, and none are injured, as might otherwise be the case if watered with crude manure water when the earth was in a dry state. Soot water is a great aid to culture in many ways, and should be carefully prepared, so that no soot floats on the surface. Syringing with a clear solution of soot makes the leaves of a beautiful dark and glossy green tint, and is an excellent preventive of green fly. We water the whole collection every morning about eight o'clock, paying great attention to the thorough soaking of every plant; and to do this effectively when a plant has heen allowed to become dry, three or four waterings are necessary. As the plants increase in size and the ball becomes filled with roots, it becomes necessary to watch the edges and sides of the ball narrowly, otherwise most of the water which should diffuse itself gradually and thoroughly throughout the ball of earth merely trickles down the inside of the pots, leaving the ball as dry as tinder, although apparently a thorough good watering had been given. We watch our plants very narrowly, and every week devote some time to ramming down the edges of the ball tightly with a blunt lath. A little labour and attention in this way is abundantly repaid. In very hot dry weather a mulching of rotten hotbed manure may be given, and this is especially valuable if the earth has been in any degree washed away in the operation of watering. Even a handful or two of short lawn grass from the mowing machine will economise labour and water also if it be sprinkled on the surface of the soil in which the plants are grown-I mean early in the season, before the soil is in any way exhausted by the ramifying rootlets; after that takes place mulching with rotten manure is most valuable.

STOPPING AND DISBUDDING.

Both these operations are of great importance in the growth and training of large specimens for show. Stopping the points of the main shoots must be carefully attended to. First, say in December or January, the rooted sucker or cutting has its point carefully pinched out, and this causes branches to appear from the axils of the three or four leaves below the part pinched off. Pinching or stopping must be done at the exact moment when side branches are desired, as only the bud at the very end or top of the shoots must be removed. To allow a shoot to grow 3 inches or 4 inches longer than is requisite, and then to stop it back into the partly hardened wood, is fatal in all ways. Here are Messrs. Dixon's rules on stopping, which may well be reproduced in this place. For specimen plants or decorative bushes stop until the second week in July, in the south of England that is; in Ireland or north of England the last week in June is quite late enough to stop; after that time is fatal to good flowers. Again, never stop and shift on the plants into fresh pots at the same time. Ten days or a fortnight should always be allowed between these operations. The repotting or shifting then strengthens the laterals. "For exhibition specimens," say Messrs. Dixon, "these rules should never be departed from." After the first stopping one to three shoots only should be allowed to grow on. Pick out all other growths with a knife. Unless the cuttings were carefully disbudded or

cleaned ere they were

inserted in the cutting pot, basal growths or suckers are apt to annoy one. Pick all these carefully away as soon as seen. Tall plants for large blooms are rarely stopped more than twice; they naturally stop themselves twice-indeed, in May and in July. To allow them to do this, however, is a sheer loss of time, and the better plan is to pick out the May and July flower-buds as soon as they appear, leaving only one shoot to lead up from immediately below the point on the shoot whence the flower-bud has been removed. It will thus be seen that stopping and disbudding are very nearly related in the middle stage of Chrysanthemum culture.

DISBUDDING PROPER, however, is taking out all side growths below the flower-bud, which is retained as the most likely to produce a fine bloom. Every axillary growth, or those which appear below the flower-bud, must be picked out, care being taken that the leaves are uninjured in the operation. August is indeed a busy month to the grower of Chrysanthemums, as it is but rarely that the careful work of disbudding can be left to ordinary assistants. So far as decorative bushes are concerned, where quantity and fair, rather than superlative, quality of the blooms is desired, disbudding may be reduced to a minimum. A due thinning out of the weak shoots, or rather the prevention of their appearance, removal of sucker growths, and ample feeding, and judicious stopping will produce fine plants, each shoot being either a wreath of flowers, or bearing a truss of four or five blooms at the top. Writing in August, 1880, Mr. Hinds says:

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Chrysanthemum growers in all parts of the country will now be on the qui vive for the buds which will produce their fine show flowers early next November. Outside a very narrow circle the method of growing large flowers is indeed a mystery. Different kinds of compounds are recommended for potting; the size of pot in which they should be grown is diligently inquired after; when to pinch, how to pinch, and how many shoots should be grown to a plant are all questions that crop up periodically among the uninitiated. There are many who think they have only to order the good kinds' to insure success. But what a fallacy! The good or evil will be accomplished during the present month. Those who grow flowers for size usually grow from three to nine shoots upon a plant. I have seen good-sized bushes bearing fine flowers under a skilful system of cultivation and disbudding. Many of the early flowering kinds are now showing bud--of course in an en bryo state; still it is there. Young shoots will be observed at the base of the bud which, if allowed to grow, will render the bud useless. But first of all examine the form of the bud and the vigour of the plant. If the bud is cone-shaped, and the plant does not appear to be over vigorous, remove the embryo shoots at the base of the bud at once. Of course some knowledge of the kinds, as to whether they are early or late varieties, is indispensable. In a doubtful case it is prudent to leave the bud and one shoot, so that in the event of the bud turning out to be imperfect or too early for the kind, there is a chance left of obtaining a later flower. from another bud. The removal of lateral growths, skilful disbudding, and feeding the plants occasionally with weak soot water will contribute much towards a display of fine flowers next autumn."