About the end of October, when the flowers all look shabby, or have been gathered for indoor use, your plants should be cut down to within an inch of the ground. This helps the new growth from which you may want to take cuttings. You must wait till the young shoots are six inches high, and then cut them off close to the ground with a sharp knife. The leaves must be removed from the lower half of the stalk, and you must make a clean cut across the stalk just below a joint from which leaves have been taken. You can put six of these cuttings in a five-inch pot, or a large number in a wooden box; and remember that cuttings root better close to the edge of a pot than in the middle. They should be set two inches deep, and firmly pressed in, and the soil should be fine and mixed with sand. The pots or boxes must then be placed in a cool frame or greenhouse. The less you water cuttings the better, but a sprinkle may be necessary sometimes to keep the soil moist. In six weeks the cuttings should have rooted, and begin to make little new leaves at the top. These may then be pricked out singly into small pots. Do not put young plants into the open garden until the spring frosts are over. If you have no frame or greenhouse, and yet want to increase your Chrysanthemums, you can take them up at the end of March, divide them with a sharp knife, and replant the pieces. A gardener who tried this way wrote to _Gardening Illustrated_ to say that the chrysanthemums he divided came into flower earlier and made stronger plants than the orthodox cuttings. He took his up in February and March, and put his pieces in a frame for a few weeks. But if you have no frame, you had better wait till the winter frosts are over. [Illustration: LARKSPURS AND PINKS.] VIOLETS.