226 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



which follow to grow on, removing all others as fast as they appear, 

 and disbud, leaving but one to each branch. They may also be very suc- 

 cessfully grown with somewhat less care by planting into the garden. 

 The same care will be necessary as when the pot system is used. They 

 should be lifted and potted or boxed, not later than August 1, to allow 

 them to become well established in their new quarters before the buds 

 begin to form. Lifting after the buds have set, and subjecting the plants 

 to frost, are the principal causes of deformed flowers. 



The chrysanthemum is partial to low temperature, but the varieties 

 now grown will not endure severe frosts. It does not kill the plant, but 

 blackens the buds. At the approach of frosty nights, a snug harbor can 

 easily be prepared by setting four posts, to which an ordinary hotbed 

 sash is fastened on the south side, with the other sides closed up with 

 boards or heavy cloth. Such protection is generally ample until Novem- 

 ber 1, and sometimes later. 



American homes are not blessed with this beautiful flower as are those 

 of our English cousins, where nearly every household has at least a few 

 plants. Repeated failure in their cultivation no doubt is the cause of their 

 being so sparingly grown by the amateur. I think you will have no fur- 

 ther trouble, by remembering these few simple rules: Give abundance 

 of sun and air, keep roots moderately moist, stake, tie, and attend to the 

 feeding and disbudding; never disturb the roots after the buds are 

 formed, nor allow Jack Frost to get at them, and success will crown 

 vour efforts. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Morrill : The cultivation and improvement of the chrysanthemum 

 has been making wonderful progress in the last few years, and the gentle- 

 man who has just spoken to us is one of the most wonderful propagators 

 and improvers of this flower. Many of you perhaps have a particular 

 liking for the chrysanthemum, and I hope you will take this matter up 

 and ask whatever questions may be on your mind. 



Mr. Vanderwert: I have tried to raise chrysanthemums without a 

 greenhouse and there is an insect that tops them a little too soon and 

 keeps at it a little too long. After they get to be a foot high, I can do no 

 more with them. The insects which attack them are about two thirds 

 the size of a lady-bug, and flatter than that, and unless you look pretty 

 sharply you will not see them. They slide off and disappear. How to 

 manage that insect I have never learned. 



Mr. Smith : I had some talk with Mr. Allis on this subject, and since 

 then I have learned that the tarnish bug is very active (and they are as 

 you describe) and so quick in their motions that you can scarcely catch 

 one. The best remedy I know of is either tobacco in the liquid form or 

 dry tobacco. But if you plant them out in the garden and do not watch 

 the bugs very closely, they will destroy every chrysanthemum. They 

 puncture the plant and extract the sap. which checks the growth and they 

 will keep on until there is not a leaf. The best remedy I know is tobacco. 



Mr. Reid: Mr. Smith, I understand some of the specimens here are 

 your own productions. Will you give us a little talk on these, and tell 

 us something of your processes? 



Mr. Smith : Of course all of these new varieties are obtained by fertil- 

 ization, or applying the pollen of one flower upon the pistils of another. 



