Chrysanthemums op 1866. 305 



from the illustrations in some of these bulletins and the descrip- 

 tion will tell the color. It is well to make a list with several 

 substitutes. The best plan of all, if you attend chrysanthemum 

 shows in the fall, is to note down the names of desirable varieties 

 in case the names are given, as they should be. Another good 

 point to understand is the theory and practice of draining a flower 

 pot. The florist who is unwilling to show a buyer how he 

 can straddle the stem of a plant with two fingers, tap the pot 

 gently and lay bare the whole root system and drainage of his 

 plant, is losing an opportunity to instruct his customer and to 

 hold his future interest. If anything is wrong with a 

 potted plant, look at the roots. Some people are afraid 

 to handle plants. A potted plant has no objection to 

 being turned upside down, and whoever has seen the 

 broken bits of crock and the reason for the hole in the 

 bottom of the pot (not made to be closed) will never again 

 sprinkle the leaves of a plant or the surface of the soil only, when 

 he desires to water it. Nature soaks her plants once in a while 

 and capillarity does the rest. Chrysanthemums are for the com- 

 mon people as well as for the florist. Buy strong plants early (in 

 May or early in June) and if you have no pots, plant them in small 

 soapboxes. Make the soil rich, keep the plants free of insects 

 and away from strong winds, train the plant into four or five 

 strong branches (or more or less, as you desire), and pinch out 

 all the buds, save eight or ten. If you want the largest blooms, 

 grow to a single stem and allow only one flower to a plant. As 

 cold weather approaches, the plants may be moved to the win- 

 dow, where they should bloom to perfection. 



Amateurs are frequently disappointed in the growing of the 

 novelties. The system of prizes and certificates is of more use 

 to the professional or exhibition grower than to the amateur 

 who is looking for a list of varieties. No amateur can make a 

 mistake who gets good plants oi Lactniaium, one of the good old 

 forms. Lillian B. Bird is one of the most attractive of the tubu- 

 lar kinds and has always had, at Cornell, the softest and purest 

 of light pinks we know among chrysanthemums, unless it be 

 Good Gracious (See Fig. 81). This figure shows a " low cen- 

 ter ' ' and a ' ' weak neck " two of the ancestral bogies of florists. 



