Aster

THE ASTER, Callistemma hortensi

THIS charming flower, which ranks with the balsam in importance as an annual, has no history, and is nothing unless well grown; therefore the best employment of the space at our command will be to frame a compact essay on the cultivation of the aster in first-rate style, with a view to the production of flowers good enough for exhibition.

It is impossible to grow good asters in a poor soil, and the water supply should be constant and plentiful. If grown in the same bed every year, it should be regularly well dug and tolerably manured, as if intended for a crop of peas or cauliflowers. But finer flowers may be secured by growing them every year in fresh soil that has not carried asters before, or at least only once in seven years or so.