870 



HORTICULTURE 



December 20, 1913 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



A paper read by C. W. Johnson, Secretary 



of the Chrysanthemum Society of 



America, before the ilinuesota 



State Florists' Association. 



(Continued from J>age ~Jl) 



The mid-season varieties should be 

 planted into their permanent quarters 

 in the benches between the first and 

 20th of June, to be able to get the best 

 results. Choose a fresh, live soil con- 

 sisting of one part well-rotted manure 

 to three parts of sod. Chrysanthe- 

 mums delight in a rather heavy soil 

 and will produce a much larger flower 

 of more substance in a heavy soil than 

 ■what they will when grown in a light 

 one. Even when planted in what ap- 

 pears to be a stiff compost it is a good 

 plan to firm down the beds between 

 the plants after they have become 

 established before staking them up. 



You are all versed on the general 

 routine of the culture of the plants 

 during the summer months, therefore 

 it is not necessary for me to go very 

 deeply into details on this point, but 

 let me urge a close application to the 

 plants' requirements. Do not allow 

 them to suffer for want of water or 

 carry it to the other extreme. Attend 

 to the staking up of the plants in good 

 season before the stems become 

 crooked. Syringe liberally the under- 

 side of the foliage to keep the plants 

 tree from red spider and maintain a 

 moist atmosphere during very hot 

 weather. Attend regularly to the re- 

 moving of the side shoots so as to en- 

 courage the main stem to make growth 

 so that the wood will be in the right 

 condition to form the bud on time. 

 This item is of the utmost importance 

 in the culture of chrysanthemums for 

 cut-flower purposes, because a few 

 days overlapping in taking the buds 

 will alter the character of the blooms 

 and throw them later in maturing, 

 both very important considerations. 

 Referring to the taking of the buds, or 

 In other words selecting the bud to 

 form the flower, the first week of Au- 

 gust is the time when every chrysan- 

 themum grower begins to sit up and 

 take notice as regards taking the buds. 

 One of the leading qualities that a 

 chrysanthemum should possess from a 

 commercial standpoint is that It will 

 make a double flower from either bud, 

 so that the grower who cannot give his 

 plants a long season of growth is sure 

 of a double saleable flower, even 

 though the buds are late in forming. 

 The taking of early buds is not advis- 

 able with very many of our standard 

 commercial varieties. Our records 

 show that August 15 is the date that 

 we can safely begin to take buds on 

 the early varieties In our section of the 

 country. We begin to take the buds of 

 Polly Rose as soon after that date aa 



NEW FRENCH HYDRANGEA. 



Mme. Agnes Babili.et 



possible, but very few of the buds on 

 the other varieties are taken before 

 August 20. There is an exception, 

 however, to this rule. When very 

 early blooms of Golden Glow or 

 Smith's Advance are wanted, buds of 

 these varieties can be taken as early 

 as July 1 and develop perfect flowers. 



Feeding. 

 The question of feeding or stimu- 

 lating growth by applying liquid ma- 

 nure or commercial fertilizers is one 

 to which every grower should give his 

 closest study. While chrysanthemums 

 respond to a liberal amount of feeding, 

 it is very easily overdone, especially 

 with the commercial cut bloom stock. 

 We are becoming each year, more and 

 more convinced that we can put 

 enough nourishing material in the soil 

 or by the way of light mulchings that 

 together with careful culture will al- 

 most eliminate the necessity of apply- 

 ing liquid manure to this class of 

 stock. 



Exhibition Varieties. 



The grower who undertakes to grow 

 for exhibition must prepare himself 

 for a close application to the task so 

 that he will be thoroughly acquainted 

 with his plants. Exhibitors are accus- 

 tomed to take bigger chances along 

 the lines of feeding to obtain size in 

 the blooms than what the average 

 grower will do. Exhibition varieties 

 also require a longer season of growth 

 than what is advised for the commer- 

 cial stock. Therefore, early propaga- 

 tion is necessary. The cuttings should 

 go Into the sand the latter part of 

 January or early February and from 

 that time on there must not be any let 

 up in watching their every require- 

 ment. Shift the young plants along 

 into larger pots as they require It, In- 

 creasing the richness of the compost 



with each shift. They should be ready 

 for their final shift or permanent place 

 by May 20. A number of exhibitors 

 grow their exhibition stock in pots dur- 

 ing the entire season, potting them 

 along from the sand into the different 

 sizes until they get into 8-inch at last 

 of May, which is the size they are to 

 flower in. The only advantage the pot 

 system has over that of growing them 

 in the bench is that you have the 

 plants and roots more under control. 

 Taking the buds is even more impor- 

 tant on the exhibition varieties than 

 with the commercial stock, many of 

 them being useless for exhibition pur- 

 poses unless an early bud is taken. 

 Climatic conditions of the different 

 sections of the country govern to a 

 great extent the taking of buds on ex- 

 hibition varieties. We of the middle 

 west cannot take a bud as early as 

 August 10 and get as good results as 

 the growers of the eastern states. The 

 pompon and single varieties are claim- 

 ing a great deal of the growers' atten- 

 tion and more of them are being grown 

 each year: also a great improvement 

 of the varieties over those of a few 

 years ago is taking place and many 

 very beautiful varieties of these types 

 are being exploited. Improvement Is 

 also taking place in the list of large- 

 flowered varieties, adapted to pot cul- 

 ture and the cap family (selections of 

 Caprice du Printemp) are the best 

 suited for pot culture that have come 

 to us for some time. 



In conclusion allow me to again em- 

 phasize that to be successful In any 

 branch of chrysanthemum culture the 

 grower must know his plants, follow 

 closely every little detail In the routine 

 of the work in caring for them and be 

 on the lookout for any improvement of 

 variety or method of culture. 



ONCIDIUM SPLENDIDUM. 



R. G. Simpson of Croyden, Tarry- 

 town, sends a photograph, showing a 

 fine specimen of Oncidiuni splendidum 

 which has been In flower there for 

 the past three weeks. The scape Is 

 four feet nine Inches In length, and 

 bears 38 large flowers. Accompany- 

 ing the picture, which would not make 

 a satisfactory reproduction, are the fol- 

 lowing notes. O. splendidum is a na- 

 tive of Gautemala. The leaves are 

 erect, from six to nine Inches long 

 and of a leather-like nature. The 

 scapes are usually around three feet 

 and erect In habit. Pseudo-bulbs from 

 two to three Inches high. The sepals 

 and petals are yellow marked with 

 fhocolate. The lip Is bright yellow, 

 and spreading and the crest magenta 

 purple. 



I consider O. splendidum fine for 

 group work, although, it is not nearly 

 .so graceful as O. varicosum, var. 

 Rogersll. It Is of easy culture simply 

 requiring a cool moist atmosphere 

 where it grlves the best results. 



The photograph of Siberian irises 

 and lupines reproduced in our special 

 number last week were taken on the 

 grounds of the Mt. Desert Nurseries. 

 Bar Harbor. Me., and kindly furnished 

 by that establishment for our use. 



