So high do these plants stand in the favour of the Chinese gardener, that he will cultivate them extensively, even against the wishes of his employer; and, in many instances, rather leave his situation than give up the growth of his favourite flower. Robert Fortune Read Quote
When these suckers had formed roots in the open ground, or kind of nursery where they were planted, they were looked over and the best taken up for potting. Robert Fortune Read Quote
We are told that the first part of the process is to select the very smallest seeds from the smallest plants, which is not at all unlikely, but I cannot speak to the fact from my own observation. Robert Fortune Read Quote
We all know that any thing which retards in any way the free circulation of the sap, also prevents to a certain extent the formation of wood and leaves. Robert Fortune Read Quote
This may be done by grafting, by confining the roots, withholding water, bending the branches, or in a hundred other ways which all proceed upon the same principle. Robert Fortune Read Quote
There are about a dozen of these gardens, more or less extensive, according to the business or wealth of the proprietor; but they are generally smaller than the smallest of our London nurseries. Robert Fortune Read Quote
The plants which stand next to dwarf trees in importance with the Chinese are certainly chrysanthemums, which they manage extremely well, perhaps better than they do any other plant. Robert Fortune Read Quote
The plants are principally kept in large pots arranged in rows along the sides of narrow paved walks, with the houses of the gardeners at the entrance through which the visitors pass to the gardens. Robert Fortune Read Quote
The dwarfed trees of the Chinese and Japanese have been noticed by every author who has written upon these countries, and all have attempted to give some description of the method by which the effect is produced. Robert Fortune Read Quote
The Chinese, by their favourite system of dwarfing, contrive to make it, when only a foot and a half or two feet high, have all the characters of an aged cedar of Lebanon. Robert Fortune Read Quote
