Chrysanthemums. 34- 



representing 17 varieties were used in the two experiments, but ulti- 

 mately only 26 plants, representing seven varieties, were strictly 

 comparable in each experiment, for reasons stated hereafter. Each 

 plant had four long branches, and each branch bore one flower. The 

 flowers averaged about five inches in diameter. The cuttings were 

 rooted early, and the plants shifted successively to six-inch pots in 

 which they were flowered. The same potting soil was used as for all 

 the other potted chrysanthemums, which was three parts rotted clay 

 sod, one part sand and bog mold, but no manure. The object was to 

 produce typical potted plants of a salable character by the methods 

 commonly used by florists, and all the plants proved to be of this 

 character, though some of them were not typical of the variety as to 

 color, and some could not have sold for pink flowers. In only two 

 respects was the common treatment varied. 



In the shading experiment, 24 plants were exposed to the sunlight 

 at every stage of their growth, while ^6 plants were shaded soon after 

 the flower buds appeared by means of a rather heavy coat of white- 

 wash applied to the glass directly above them. Some of the varieties 

 in the experiment were shaded from the time the buds were the size 

 of marbles until they came into full flower. Others had already burst 

 their buds and were out an inch or more before the glass overhead 

 was whitewashed. This coat of whitewash remained until the flower- 

 ing season was over. 



In the nitrogen experiment, 23 plants were given only the amount 

 of nitrogen which all our potted plants received, while 37 plants were 

 given an extra supply of nitrogen. This extra supply of nitrogen was 

 applied in liquid form. It was a solution of nitrate of soda. In 100 

 pounds of this nitrate of soda, there would be 13.90 pounds of nitro- 

 gen. The applications were begun when the plants were well rooted 

 in the flowering pots. At first the interval between applications was 

 four days. Later it was reduced to three. When the flower buds 

 appeared the applications were stopped. 



The results of the two experiments were very interesting, and 

 contrary to what I had been led to expect from some statements in 

 the trade publications. Shade is said by some to deepen the color, 

 but the reverse was true in this case. The difference was perceptible 

 at once in five varieties (Mrs. Perrin, Madame Felix Ferritin Marie 

 Valleaii, Helen Bloodgood and lord) and at a second glance in two 



