Chrysanthemums. 



357 



energy saved which should be concentrated into the development of 

 only one flower. The same rule applies in the choice of the crown, 

 but the principle is different. In selecting a crown, the cultivator 

 removes shoots; in selecting a terminal, he removes flower buds, and 

 therefore he saves in the first case energy of vegetative growth, and in 

 the latter case reproductive 

 (/. <?., flowering) power. Some 

 cultivators use a tooth pick 

 to dislodge the very young 

 parts, and others wait until 

 they can be picked or cut out 

 with a knife. Others are 

 expert with the thumb-naii. 

 Mr. Molyneux advises that 

 the work be done in the early 

 morning, or in the evening 

 when the parts are brittle and 

 may be snapped off. The in- 

 genious cultivator is likely to 

 invent all sorts of methods 

 and formulas, but the work is 

 tedious at best. 



In the description of novel- 

 ties, the trade catalogues, as 

 a rule, give directions about 

 the buds. This is especially 

 true of the English cata- 

 logues. As a rule, also, when- 

 ever no directions are given, 



the American cultivator has a right to infer that the terminal bud is to 

 be preferred. Every silence, when the opposite is true, is an mvasion 

 of the rights of the purchaser by the disseminator. As a rule, how- 

 ever, exhibitors cannot afford to put any large share of faith in 

 novelties. The special cultural requirements of varieties are indefi- 

 nitely varied and complicated, and a cultivator can hope for nothing 

 more than acquaintance with a new sort in a single season. Often 

 and often he fails and cannot be sure of the cause of his failure. 

 Mercilessly cut down the list of varieties and learn the chosen few like 



183. — Term'mal buds. {They are fess cTiis- 

 tered here than in Jig n re l8r, a7id the 

 central lud is larger) 



