Soil

A warm sheltered well-drained border, manured with leaf mould abundantly, for the out-door plants. For those in pots, four parts light fresh turfy loam, four parts leaf mould, and one part rubbly charcoal.

In Borders, the stools require to be taken up and divided in early spring, not more than three suckers being left united, otherwise the flowers are numerous and small.

By Suckers In Pots

Turn out the old pots in March; separate the suckers by a gentle twist; plant three suckers in a thirty-two pot; shade them and shelter in a cold frame for about a fortnight; then expose them to the sunshine; shift into larger pots as they increase in growth; place them in a gentle hot-bed in April, and keep them under the frame until the middle of May; when ten inches high, pinch off the tops of each stem. They will throw out shoots from each bud; retain only six shoots, removing all the others; plunge the pots in a sunny sheltered border; water daily in dry weather, and give liquid guano always once a week, so soon as the flower buds appear. Let the pots they flower in be sixteens, that is, nine inches in diameter at the top. Move them into a very airy green-house or conservatory, to bloom.

"The shifting of the plants in the earlier part of the summer," says a well-informed writer, "should be particularly attended to. If this is neglected, no good after-management will save them from losing their leaves, and looking badly in autumn and winter. As soon as they are fairly starting into growth, the top of each should be nipped with the finger and thumb, which will cause several shoots to spring from the under part of the plant, and thus form it into a compact bush. This may be repeated two or three times with advantage in the earlier part of the season with the free flowering kinds; but after the plant is fairly formed it should be discontinued, otherwise the flowering will be injured." - Gard. Chron.

Cuttings

The same authority says, that" the proper time for striking cuttings depends upon the objects which the propagator has in view. Nurserymen who want a good stock of a particular kind may propagate it at almost any season, and generally begin very early in spring. But, for ordinary purposes, from the middle of March to the middle of April is quite soon enough; and the amateur can then do so without any artificial heat, which is of great consequence to those who have very limited gardens.

"It matters very little whether the cuttings are taken off" with roots or without them, as in the latter case they will form them in a few days, and soon begin to grow rapidly. The frame should be kept very close, moist, and shaded, until the cuttings have formed roots for their support; when this takes place, a little air may be admitted gradually as the plants will bear it, and then afterwards they must be fully exposed." - Gard. Chron.

After-Culture

"After the flowering season is past, and the old stems cut down, the plants should be removed from the green-house or conservatory, and placed in a cold frame, where they are merely protected from severe frost. Here they should have plenty of air, and on fine davs the lights should be drawn quite off, and the plants fully exposed. When the winter is mild, they will stand very well unprotected; but owing to their having been grown and excited in the green-house, they are more apt to suffer from severe weather than if they had been planted out in the open air. For this reason it is always better to have the means of giving them some slight protection. If they are kept too close and warm in winter, they begin to grow fast: the leaves are yellow, and the stems weak, and consequently they form bad cuttings when the season of propagation comes round. But if they are merely protected and attended to, as has been already described, they grow slowly, and make excellent cuttings. Those who wish to make very large specimens of these plants with little trouble, some-times plant them out in a rich border in April or May, as soon as the cuttings are rooted.

Here they grow with great luxuriance, and are very large and bushy, when the time comes for taking them up, and removing them into the green-house. In autumn, they are taken up very carefully, and placed in a shaded situation for a few days, until they recover from the effects of the operation, and are then taken to the green-house.

There is another plan for making small dwarf flowering specimens, which deserves especial notice. The young shoots which have grown to a considerable length, have their points 'layered' about the month of August, in small pots. As soon as they are well rooted, they are cut from the parent stock, repotted, and placed for a short time in a shaded place until they recover. They are then subjected to the same treatment as the others, and generally flower on stems about a foot or eighteen inches in height." - Gard. Chron. Give liquid guano twice a week so soon as the flower buds are well formed.

Seed should be saved, and crosses effected, from semi-double flowers.

Mildew

"At the end of summer chrysanthemums are extremely liable to be infected with mildew. Those plants upon which it makes its appearance, should be immediately separated from the rest, and well dusted with flowers of sulphur. This should be allowed to remain on them at least a day or two, and may afterwards be washed off with a syringe or garden engine." - Gard. Chron. A very weak solution of common salt syringed repeatedly over the leaves, and, after remaining a few hours, washed off by a syringing with pure water, would be equally effectual.